Echuca Pirates under-12 girls celebrated their second placing in the state at the junior country championships.
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Four Echuca Basketball Association Pirates representative teams went deep into the Junior Country Championships, with one even winning it across tough competitions.
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Hosted at various venues across Bendigo and Ballarat, the Junior Country Championships saw basketball clubs from all over country Victoria battle it out in divisions and pools across under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 grades from March to April.
Friday, April 11 to Saturday, April 13 saw the conclusion of the under-12 and under-14 grades, of which four Pirates teams participated and all walked away with strong results.
The girls teams had great success, with the under-12 girls contingent finishing as runners-up in division one after finishing in second with a record of 2-1 in Pool A.
The girls then narrowly defeated Shepparton Gators in the quarter-finals, two consistent halves of play and a strong 14-point performance from Evie Williams proving the difference for the Pirates, 29-24.
The Pirates had a much easier time in the semi-finals, beating Wodonga by 16 points, with Williams once again leading the scoring charge.
Unfortunately, the Pirates were no match for Traralgon in the grand final, falling to the T-Birds 29-49.
While it was a disappointing end for the under-12 division one Pirates, the runner-up placing means that they finished second in Victoria.
The under-14 girls went one better than their younger counterparts, with the Pirates side taking out the division three competition.
Echuca Pirates under-12 boys made it to the quarter finals of division three.
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After escaping the Horsham Hornets by a point in the quarter-finals, the Pirates bounced back and put the Portland Coasters to the sword, winning by eight.
The under-14 Pirates flexed the full breadth of their might in the grand final, beating out the Colac Kookas by 12 points, led by the one-two attacking punch of Pippa Leeds and Chloe Ryan, who dropped 11 and 10 points, respectively.
In the boys tournaments, the under-12s went 2-1 in the group stage before bowing out by three points in the quarter-final against Bairnsdale Bullets.
Archie Flanagan had a monster tournament, scoring double-digits in all four of his side’s matches, including two 20-point performances in round one and the quarter-final.
The under-14 boys performed marginally better, making it all the way to the grand final before being downed by 10 points to the Wallan Panthers in the grand final.
The side narrowly defeated Warrnambool by four points in the quarter-final and took care of business against the Surfcoast Chargers in the semi before falling to the Panthers, 54-66.
The slew of success comes off the back of the Pirates’ under-16s and under-18s girls and boys teams’ mixed results in March.
Both under-16s teams lost in the semis of their individual campaigns, while the under-18 boys didn't make the finals in division one and the under-18 girls were runner-ups in division two.
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