Collie sent an Under 13 and U14 girls basketball team to play in the Basketball WA country championships earlier this month and performed well above expectations.
The U13 teams was a group of seven girls and only three of these had previously played in this type of competition.
We are really proud of the progress they made from the first game through to the last, and how they represented Collie.
In the first game against Waroona the players were initiated when they were fixtured on the Show Court 1 at Bendat Stadium, but continued on to improve and later play against them in the grand final.
Waroona came out firing and gained an early lead which we were never able to reign in going down 30 – 4. The girls were able to regroup and every other fixtured game played they went on to win.
Their fighting spirit was awesome and nail biting to those of us supporting our girls.
Close wins in the following games were recorded against Narrogin by two points (14 – 12), Margaret River one point (16-15), and Manjimup also one point (21-20).
By the time we played the first game on Sunday morning the team was working together well and ensured second place on the ladder with an eight-point win over Mandurah (23-15).
In this division first place on the ladder went straight to the grand final and second and third place had to play off for the opportunity to play Waroona.
Collie v Margaret River saw the girls in another low scoring nail biter eventually running out winners 14 – 12, so onto the grand final they went.
The girls showed in this game the improvement they made over the weekend, and fought hard against Waroona, a bigger and stronger team.
At half-time the score line was Waroona 10 with Collie yet to make a shot. In the second half the girls dug deep showing their fighting spirit, defending harder and working the ball around better in offence.
Collie finished runner-up with a final score of 27 – 11.
Team members were Adison Stone, Tilly Fraser, Charlie Cockrane, Shamaya Michael, Padme Del Mundo and Nina Bercene.
Under 14 girls started the weekend off against Margret River; coming out strong scoring the first four points of the game, they continued to work hard throughout to win 24-20.
Esperance was next who had some tall girls. Miller Harker, Emily Davenport and Anahera Taare manned these players up well in the keyway, taking the game 24-22.
A long five-game break and then the girls came up against Narrogin who came out strong. Our girls fought hard but were unable to stop Narrogin’s play makers, going down 27-30.
Our final game of the day was against Mandurah. Collie girls combined beautifully with Amber Michael, Alyssa Spencer and Layne Marley defending hard creating many turnovers and giving Collie plenty of scoring opportunities.
Sophie Bury controlled the ball well providing some great passes to our inside players. Collie came out winners 43-7.
Collie started Sunday off against Dongara who were a well balanced strong team. Collie struggled to keep up, as Dongara defended hard all game. Collie lost 12-33.
Final game was against Bindoon. Collie finished the weekend off strong coming out fierce with all team members combining well.
They pressed up hard resulting in turnovers giving all players the chance to score. Collie won 34-6.
The girls finished up third on the ladder. Team members were Sophie Bury, Layne Marley, Anahera Taare, Emily Davenport, Amber Michael, Alyssa Spencer and Milla Harker.
Thank you to all coaches, managers, scores and spectators for making the girls weekend possible and so enjoyable.
A special mention to the massive contingent of Collie umpires over this weekend: Zac Pilatti, Jakob Pilatti, Ijah Coyle, Chloe Broadbent, Alyssia Wishart and Monique Wishart.
