Two titles for Pilbara juniors at country week basketball

Pilbara youngsters have shone brightly at the Basketball WA Country Championships in Perth, picking up two championship division titles and a slew of impressive results.

The first two weeks of the championships saw five Karratha teams travel to the Bendat Basketball Centre in Perth and battle it out against some of the highest flyers from around the State.

And it was the Pilbara girls who shone brightest, with the U12 and U13 teams lifting the championship trophies at the end of the weekend.

In the U12 competition, the Pilbara girls came out firing, winning their first four games against Bunbury, Albany, Busselton and Geraldton.

But it was their fifth game which proved a stumbling block, coming up against the also-undefeated Mandurah Magic girls, and falling narrowly short of finishing the group stage undefeated, losing 19-14.

But the girls rebounded in their semifinal match-up against Bunbury, doubling their opponents’ baskets to see it end 24-12.

Then it was a do-or-die showdown between the only team that had bested them so far, Mandurah, in the grand final tie.

And with a point to prove, the Cyclones were quick to pile on the points and take a five-point lead into the half-time break 12-7.

Mandurah had a quick start to the second half, but ultimately Karratha were too strong, sinking 11 points to Mandurah’s 12 in the second half to see Karratha take the title 23-19.

Karratha’s Willow Reeve was named grand final MVP for her stand-out team play.

The stellar efforts of the U12 girls were backed up by their older peers, with the U13 Karratha Cyclones girls team leaving nothing to chance, going undefeated in the group stage on their way to a second championship title for Karratha.

Isabel Chambers was the MVP for Karratha in that final, capping off a brilliant start to the five-week country basketball championships for the Pilbara.

Elsewhere throughout the two weeks, the Karratha U12 boys finished fifth in their competition after managing just a single win in round four against Albany, while the U15 boys narrowly missed out on bronze, finishing in fourth place in their competition.

The Karratha U13 boys had a strong competition, falling short of a grand final berth. Their semifinal loss to Busselton earned them the third-place medal.

Week three of the championships will see a number of Karratha and Hedland teams compete over the February 10 weekend.