Shepparton Gators’ junior basketball sides travelled to Bendigo last weekend to compete in the hotly-contested Junior Country Championships.
The under-16 and 18 boys and girls competed across the competition’s four events, performing well in the group stages to progress to the quarter-final stage.
All teams were unfortunately bested in their quarter-final encounters, despite some terrific performances along the way.
The under-18 boys cruised through to the quarters after two hard-fought victories over Pakenham Warriors and Colac Kookas.
Gun Gator Boston Dowling put up a mammoth 25 points in the Gators’ nail-biting one-point victory over Pakenham Warriors.
A dominant 60-51 victory over Colac in their round three game secured a quarter-finals match-up, going down to a strong Geelong outfit with Dowling again putting on a show with a 24-point game.
The Gators’ under-18 girls enjoyed a strong run-in to finals, besting Wodonga, Korumburra and Horsham with some fantastic displays getting them through.
They eventually lost out to Ballarat 42-32 in a valiant quarter-final showing.
Isabelle Whitelaw, Maia Roberts and Brodie Chapman all put in terrific performances, in what will be their final year for the Gators, according to team manager Michelle Judd.
“It was a bit bittersweet for some of them after two years of not a lot of basketball, but there were some great personal results and I think everyone who was given jobs did them really well,” Judd said.
Shalom Thon, Janaya Pettie and Montanna Burke will be ones to watch for the future, with the young guns producing some big performances to have Gators coaches excited for what’s to come.