ECHUCA Basketball Stadium became a hive of activity on the AFL grand final long weekend with teams travelling from across Victoria to compete in the town's annual basketball tournament.
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There were a number of Pirates teams in action ranging from the under 12 division to under 18s, with the junior keen to make the most of home court advantage.
The under 12s division one boys team was the best performed of all Pirates sides in action winning their division following a 37-28 win over Mansfield in the grand final.
Mitchell Sutton starred throughout his team's five games, scoring 66 points at an average of 13.2 per game.
Meanwhile, the under 18 division one boys team fell short in their grand final, going down by 10 points against Wodonga Wolves.
Echuca Pirates results
Under 12 boys division 1
Final position: 1st
Top scorer: Mitchell Sutton - 66 points.
Under 12 boys division 2
Coaches: Kaine Anderson and Luke Edwards, team manager: Robert Hogan.
Final position: 3rd
Top scorer: Liam Beasley - 25 points.
A fantastic tournament from a group of very talented young basketballers.
Each player played an important role in the team and listened to the coaches to start playing as a team.
The boys determination and desire to apply pressure to the opposition saw lots of turnovers and in offence, great passing meant a lot of scoring opportunities.
All of the boys are playing in their first representative season, therefore the improvement over the next five tournaments will be amazing.
A great weekend which saw them finish with three wins and two losses.
Under 12 girls
Coach: Bec Kellet, team manager: Micheal Napier.
Final position: 4th
Top scorers: Diaz Agg, Elise Napier and Jazz Milligan - 16 points.
The girls took the court in their first game against a much older Wangaratta side with only three top age players.
We had plenty of shots that failed to go in, with Wangaratta running out winners 36-6.
Highlights were the Violet Agg’s first goal, Elise Napier's rebounding and Jazz Milligan gave it everything.
Game 2 was bright and early Saturday morning against the perennially strong Wodonga.
Again the girls were up against a much older and experienced side.
The message from Bec was work on the defence and the girls responded with an even first half.
Eventually the weight of experience and height meant Wodonga got ahead in the second half with the final score of 34-4 not reflective of an improved performance.
Georgia Beasley, Jazz Milligan and Violet Agg were best on court
The girls came into game 3 with an air of confidence against Mansfield A.
Diaz Agg started the game on fire and led the way with six points.
The early lead developed by the Pirates was narrowed by Mansfield in the second half but the Pirates ran out winners 24-18.
Diaz was best on court and was well supported by Milla Ryan and Milly Morley who shot her first goal.
After the euphoria of the girls first win, game 4 was against Mansfield B.
Sadie Jones and Grace Napier relished the extra game time and got stuck into the contest, while Elise Napier used her height to control the boards.
Jazz Milligan top scored with five points and was supported by Diaz and Elise with two each and one to Milly Morley as the Pirates won 20-8.
Overall it was a great first tournament and everyone finished with a smile on their face.
Under 14 boys division 1
Coach: Simon O’Toole, team manager: Brooke Keam.
Final position: 4th
Top scorer: Darby Jones - 33 points.
The team had a great start to the season, playing four solid games including a win against Yarra-Mul Lakers.
As the tournament progressed the team played fantastic as a team and looked very dangerous and will only get better the more they play together.
Under 14 boys division 2
Coach: Josh Hutton, team manager: Helen Fontana.
Final position: 4th
Top scorer: Jude Phyland - 34 points.
In an exciting first match, the team ran out winners against Cobram by 13 points.
Top scorers were Bailey Shead with 10 points, Jude Phyland with six and Patrick Barry with five.
The second match began promisingly with strong performances from Liam Shead and Patrick on offence as Bodhi Griffiths and Zade Maschewski played strongly in defence.
Unfortunately, Wodonga played amazingly well in the second half, bringing it home with a final score of 44-21.
Game three against Seymour was incredibly close with some top scoring from Jude and great plays by Jack Oliver and Liam, although Seymour came out on top 22-20.
With Cobram pulling out of the competition due to injuries and illness, our boys were offered an extra game, playing against Wodonga for a second time.
They took up the challenge and were neck and neck in the first half of the game with excellent scoring from Jude and Bodhi .
The second half again went Wodonga’s way again, however, with Wodonga ending up easy winners by 16 points.
In our final match, an overpowering Mansfield took the spoils with an easy win of 48-16.
Our top scorer for this game was Jai Hutson with a well earned 10 points.
Under 14 girls division 1
Final position: 3rd (lost semi-final)
Top scorer: Makenna James - 26 points.
Under 14 girls division 2
Final position: 5th
Top scorer: Ruby Morley - 38 points.
The girls had a promising start to their Pirates season getting one win and only losing twice by one-point.
The girls worked well as a team for their first tournament under coach Mary Byrne, working hard on their defensive pressure.
Under 16 boys division 1
Coach: Stu Poulton, team manager: Suz Langborne.
Final position: 6th
Top scorer: Will Poulton - 15 points.
Being a side which is lacking height, the boys knew it was going to be tough.
First up they faced YM Lakers and the boys slow off the mark and this cost them the game going down by only nine points.
The following game, the boys came out more determined against the Wangaratta Warriors.
The defensive press worked in their favour due to the speed and athleticism of the likes of Will Poulton and Declan Hallett.
Jobe Shanahan was reading the play well, intercepting several passes to create turnovers.
The Pirates coming from behind to take the match in a two-point thriller.
In game 3, Shepparton were way too strong for the Pirate boys and they went down by 19 points.
The final game for the tournament was against Benalla Breakers.
The boys were well in it for most of the game, however due to not being able to consistently sink their shots they went down by 10 points.
Coach Poulton congratulated the team on their overall effort for the tournament, as they were mostly competitive against much taller and larger teams.
Under 16 boys division 2
Final position: 3rd
Top scorer: Harrison Milburn - 32 points.
Under 16 girls division 1
Coach: Chris Hutton, team manager: Jenni Candy.
Final position: 3rd
Top scorer: Raina Fimmel - 28 points.
The team experienced a tough start to the tournament going down to Warrnambool 30-19.
Warrnambool’s defence proved to be very challenging for our girls.
The second game was against Macedon and the girls started playing their own game winning 37-15.
Our third game was the best of the tournament against Wodonga.
Even though the girls didn’t win they played amazingly only going down 26-18.
Our final game on Sunday was where the girls finally hit their straps winning 48-15 against Wangaratta.
Overall a fantastic first tournament.
Under 18 boys division 1
Coaches: Col Munro and Regan Smith, team manager: Evonne Caine.
Final position: 2nd
Top scorer: Anthony Huismann - 31 points.
The Echuca Pirates have started out the season on a high.
Even though they didn't get a win in any games leading up to the semi-finals, there was only a small margin in each game.
In the semi-final they faced Wangaratta, who hadn't dropped a game all tournament.
In a nail biting game, Echuca come away with a one-point win, taking them to the grand final against Wodonga.
Wodonga come out strong, but our boys put up a great fight but unfortunately the shots were not sinking in the first half.
Echuca picked up on defence in the second half, as they added pressure further pressure up the court.
Unfortunately the margin was too big to close with Echuca losing 40-30.
Congratulations to Luke Caine for being named MVP by the referees in the grand final.