WARRNAMBOOL Seahawks experienced the highs and lows of nail-biters on their way to a third-place finish at the Basketball Victoria Country under 14 championships in Shepparton.
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The Seahawks bowed out at the semi-final stage to eventual division one champion Bendigo.
Teams were split into four divisions — one, two, three and four — after their pool and championship rounds.
Warrnambool dominated its pool, winning three of its four games convincingly, before a seven-point loss to Traralgon pitted it against powerhouses Geelong, Ballarat and Mildura in the fight for a top-grade finish.
The Seahawks and Supercats progressed to division one, while the Miners and Heat were relegated to division two.
Warrnambool coach Craig McLeod said the Seahawks’ mettle was tested with its three championship round games all decided by less than five points.
It won two and lost one.
“Our first game against Mildura we were down by a point with six seconds to go,” he said.
“We ran a little play for Marcus (Herbert) but he got double-teamed.
“He passed to Logan (McLeod) in the corner and he hit a three to win the game.
“It left his hands and I thought ‘wow, that is in’ and the celebrations from the parents and kids were unbelievable.”
Warrnambool then suffered a two-point loss to Ballarat which made its final match against Geelong a must-win if it was to move into the division one finals.
“We were up by two points with six seconds to go and threw the ball in and it was stolen,” McLeod said.
“A Geelong boy had a lay-up and missed.”
The nail-biting finishes followed the Seahawks into the play-offs.
They needed overtime to overcome Shepparton in the quarter-final, 37-33.
Warrnambool’s campaign ended against Bendigo with the Braves stifling the Seahawks’ offence to notch a 41-18 semi-final win.
McLeod said he was ecstatic with the Seahawks’ efforts against high-calibre opposition.
He said the 10 players — captain Marcus Herbert, Logan McLeod, Fraser Marris, Zeke Reeves, Ben Howard, Charlie Pleming, Will O’Sullivan, Riley Nicolson, Liam Meekes and Flynn Atchison — did a “super job”.
“The boys never give up and their tenacity at the ball was super,” he said.
“All-in-all it was a fantastic weekend.
“Warrnambool junior basketball is looking really strong I believe.”
The Mermaids’ under 14s made the division three quarter-finals.
Their tournament ended with a 26-22 loss to Macedon.
justine.mc@fairfaxmedia.com.au
