PORTLAND’S junior basketball season reached its exciting conclusion on Friday evening as the best teams across each gender and age bracket faced off in their respective grand finals.

Under-16 boys
Clippers proved too strong for Bulls in a high-scoring encounter, winning 77-67 thanks to a big second half display.
Bulls led the charge early with 20 points from Chad Daniel and took the lead into the half 42-38.
However, Clippers stepped up defensively in the second half, able to restrict their opponents to just 25 points while scoring another 39 of their own to secure the win.
Mike Allen was among Clippers’ top scorers with 27.

Under-14 girls
A dominant second half from Fire (Weeyn) was the difference between them and Sea (Meerteeyt Nyamat) in their 41-25 victory.
Sea got out to an early 15-14 lead via an even spread of multiple scorers.
However, they weren’t able to match Fire’s scoring pace in the second half, as the victors nearly doubled their output in the second half compared to the first.
Arlee Wilson led the way for the victors with 15 points, while Ruby Rowe added 12 and Emily Carr had 10.

Under-14 boys
In a dramatic finale to their season, United was able to get over the top of Boomers by the slimmest of margins, winning 41-40.
Both sides took some time to work their way into the game, with a low-scoring first half seeing United leading 15-13.
The scoring pace picked up dramatically in the second half, with Nason Lovett-Murray and Patrick Impey leading the charge for Boomers and United respectively as they scored 24 points apiece.
The teams went goal for goal down the stretch before Impey earned a pair of free throws in the final seconds with his team down one.
He was able to drain both and thus secure the premiership for his team in a thrilling contest.

Under-12 girls
Sun (Nganoong Tyeereeng) also had a nail-biting win in their clash with Koalas (Weengkeel), coming away with the spoils 32-29.
Nikyrah Bamblett led the charge for Koalas, scoring 14 points for the match as they took a 17-15 advantage into the half.
However, Sun found their mojo in the second half, winning it 17-12 to ultimately take the points in a close victory.
Annabelle Barr led the way with a game-high 19 points.
Under-12 boys
In a high-scoring encounter it was Ravens that got the best of Hawks in their battle, winning 63-52.
The victors got most of their work done in the first half, leading by 12 at the break courtesy of Tyler Leishman (25 points) and Raphael Downes (19 points).
Hawks kept the game tight in the second half thanks to Judd Egan (25 points) and Max Bott (13 points) but were ultimately not able to close the gap.