THEY had the whole town behind them and delivered for the mighty Cats crowd which swarmed the Vansittart Park netball courts in Mount Gambier – the 13 & Under B Casterton Sandford Cats all smiles with a coveted flag in their hands.

The young Cats ran away and beat the seemingly unbeatable team – handing the Millicent Saints their only defeat of the season and ensured they themselves would return home full of joy.

Phoebe Rhook’s exceptional performance at goal shooter earned her the title of Best on Court – the cherry on top as she celebrated her birthday in style.

Coach Renae Newell commended the team for their efforts in ending the winning streak for Millicent, a team she said had been tough throughout the season.

“I definitely knew they had it in them – we just needed to see that netball come out of them,” she said.

“Last week they played an absolute pearler and we just kind of hoped that that netball would flow into this week and it did.”

The girls had been hard at work on their skills over the season and it was all showcased on the court on Saturday when they kept themselves calm yet excited to play.

Ms Newell said the team’s focus on simply playing the game had a “huge part” in their victory.

“They were just having fun and that’s all we said: ‘Go out, have fun and enjoy the day and what will be will be’,” she said.

“We’d leave Millicent to have the nerves and we would come out and just have a really good day firing.”

Ella McKinnon had grown in defence, with her height over balls allowing the defenders to take clean intercepts and her drives through centre court allowing the team to set up ready for her.

Nicole Cornish had also improved her skills over the season, being a tight hustler in wing defence and shutting down the attack with her height and fast pace.

Casterton Sandford started off with the centre pass and soon scored the first goal.

Chloe Kurzman played GK and had a tough competitor in Amarlie Thomson, the league runner-up best and fairest.

Chloe kept tight defence on her – making Amarlie constantly rethink her position – and left her unable to do her usual hold as she managed to intercept before the ball reached the goal shooter’s hands.

Down the attacking end, Renee Gorman had a tight tussle with the defenders, showing they were not going to stop her, and managed to keep moving the ball down into the circle.

Renee’s confidence allowed the ball to be moved around the circle and any ball loose she chased.

She managed to score ten goals for the game, contributing to the win.

The girls ended the first quarter with a two-goal lead.

Marlee Robbins displayed a consistently accurate game, driving for the ball and feeding the goalies.

Marlee was settled and reliable all over the court - her ability to read passages of play allowed for the flow moving of the ball throughout the game.

Ylana Grigg played a tight game, keeping her much shorter, fast-paced goalie to only shooting one goal in the first half.

Ylana’s height down the court allowed her to put very tight defence over the ball.

She was also a key player under the goal ring, gaining many rebounds.

At half time it was set to look like a rematch of the first final – a draw, ten apiece.

Rachel Forbes went from playing at wing defence, where she got her hands to many balls, causing crucial turnovers and allowed her to drive down the court to bring the ball into offence was brilliant.

In goal defence, she continued this momentum, shutting down her goal attack to not score a single goal in the last half.

Makayla Rees moved into centre to add some height and continued her strong leads and feeding in offence.

She managed to get her hands to some intercepts which allowed the girls to gain a three-goal lead at three-quarter time.

Adele Murphy came in at wing defence and kept up the tight defence that Rachel had started, gaining intercepts and chase up lose balls to her advantage.

Her rocket arm pass was what was needed to bring the ball out of defence.

The girls settled into the last quarter, with Phoebe Rhook scoring five goals in a row to show Millicent’s fight was over.

The girls put on a spectacular performance in the last quarter, fighting for the win.

Millicent was unable to score in the premiership quarter, so Casterton Sandford took away with the win, 14-25.

Each and every girl contributed to the team gaining a spot in the grand final and the team was supportive and showed great spirit.

The girls would also like to thank the amazing sea of Casterton Sandford supporters for their encouragement and cheering.

Casterton Sandford netball president, Tracie Layley, added her congratulations for the team’s resilience and team spirit.

“Millicent have been up there all year – they are the pinnacle in the junior netball so to knock off a Millicent side is something to be really proud of,” she said.

Neither of the young Cats’ two coaches were left out of celebrations as Ms Newell recognised the hard work and dedication of Mikayla Rice, who was unable to make it to the game in person but Facetimed in to revel in the victory with them.

“She’s come to every training and she provides a lot of knowledge,” Ms Newell said.

“We sort of really bounce off each other – we both bring different things to the team, which is great.”