HAMILTON Hurricanes junior basketball representative squads enjoyed a great Bendigo tournament over the Australia Day long weekend with the Under-12A boys going all the way and winning the division one competition.

Under-12A Boys Div 1

‘UNDEFEATED champions’ is a title the littlest Hurricanes can wear with pride after the boys in the Under-12A competition went through the Bendigo tournament without dropping a game.

Round one saw the team account for Whittlesea 44-14 (Harry Manley and Cooper Kearney each scoring 12 points), followed by round two where the Echuca Pirates fell, 15-42, after Cooper Crawford (20) had the hot hand.

 Friday had round three opponents starting with the Horsham Hornets with Hamilton putting up 46 to double their opponents’ score, as Crawford and Kearney netted 12 points each.

Round four saw the Hurricanes pushed by Bacchus Marsh but still claimed victory, 33-26, as Crawford (17) and Kearney (10) dominated again.

Round five was the Hurricanes’ closest encounter, with a 22-17 victory against Bendigo Braves with Manaia Bremner (eight) standing tall.

The finals arrived with the Hurricanes ranked first and the side swept Colac Kookas Green aside, 40-17, with Crawford, Kearney and Bremner all recording eight points each.

This brought the Hurricanes up against Portland Coasters in the grand final and as is fitting for such a match, it went to the wire with the Hurricanes taking the title by two points, 35-33.

Bremner (12) and Crawford (11) posted winning individual tallies.

Crawford was equal top scorer for the tournament with 75 points, while the Hurricanes saw Kearney (52 and Bremner 45) earn a place in the top five scorers too.

Under-12A Girls Div 1

THE Under-12A Girls team didn’t enjoy the success of their male counterparts, but the team gained immense experience from their tournament as they retuned home with a grand final runners-up finish.

The side lost their round one and round two games against Wodonga and Bacchus Marsh respectively, but then went on a winning run by taking out their round three game against Bendigo, 30-4, as Tatum Bell shot 10 points.

This brought them into a quarter final against Portland, which the side won, 21-17, with Pippa Richards (seven) top scoring, while the side took care of Bacchus Marsh again, 22-19, in the semi-final with Taya Sherlock having the hot hands with six points.

The grand final saw the Hurricanes pitted against Wodonga for a second time, but the result went against the Hurricanes, 8-27, as the Hurricanes ran out of puff.

Under-14A Boys Div 1

THE Under-14A Boys team had an early finish to their tournament, bundled out on Saturday morning after losing the first round of the finals to Horsham.

Round one saw the side lost to Kilsyth by 20 points, 16-36, with Zander Ewing (five) top scoring, while round two had the team winning, 45-37, as Ewing kept his hand going with 13 points.

Round three and the side was beaten by a single point, 23-24, by Wangaratta with Harvey Miller (13) leading the way, which led to the finals loss.

Under-14B Boys Div. 4

THE Under-14B Boys had no better luck than the ‘A’ team, dropping out of the tournament early after winning only one of their preliminary matches.

Round one saw the side play Melton and they had a winning start to the weekend with a 34-7 thrashing of their opponents, as Jack McCulloch (10) top scored.

Myrtleford awaited the Hurricanes in round two and the winning form departed, as Hamilton went down, 22-31, with McCulloch (eight) again having a hot hand.

The team couldn’t recapture their winning ways as rounds three and four saw defeats to Rochy Tigers, 12-41, and Echuca Pirates, 27-32, respectively as Taima Thomas (four) and McCulloch (eight) led the way in each game.

Under-14A Girls Div. 1

HEARTBREAK befell the Under-14A Girls after going through the preliminary and semi-final rounds, only to fall short in the grand final in the division one competition.

Thursday saw the side get away to a winning start with a strong 26-12 victory against Wangaratta, as Charlize Cooper led the way with 12 points.

Round two allowed the team to rest up with a bye, before returning Friday for round three to take down Mildura, 65-12, as Cooper kept her scoring streak going with 23 points.

Hamilton faced Ballarat in round four, winning 32-12, as Cooper and Maddox Ryan both recorded 12 points, while Ryan (13) and Cooper (11) kept their scoring going in round five with a 48-11 victory against Echuca Pirates.

In the semi-final the Hurricanes defeated Swan Hill, 20-11, as Ryan continued her scoring form with nine points, but come the grand final the team fell at the final hurdle against Horsham.

Cooper and Ryan were kept to a combined six points, as Emily Iredell took up the scoring with eight points to her name.

Under-16A Boys

THE Under-16A Boys team was drawn in the championship competition after great lead up tournaments to the titles, and the step up in standard was felt by all, as the team recorded only a single victory across the weekend.

Thursday’s round one clash was a tough start against Mildura, losing 31-39, as Riley Iredell (nine) led the scoring, but the second game on Thursday didn’t go the way of the Hurricanes either, losing 48-16 to Geelong.

The team returned on Friday but suffered the same fate, as Ballarat whipped the Hurricanes 75-26, with Frank Gill (11) doing well under the ring.

The afternoon’s round four game saw the Hurricanes stage a fourth-quarter surge against Wodonga, but still the side went down 45-49, as Jack Sobey (15) and Gill (11) scored well.

Their final preliminary game on Saturday morning saw the Hurricanes play their best game of the tournament against Portland, as Matthew Calvert led the way with 10 points to lead his side to a 31-23 win.

Under-16A Girls Div.1

LOSING its first two games on Thursday cruelled the chances of the Under-16A Girls team from advancing to the finals, as the side regrouped to win the remainder of the preliminary rounds.

Thursday saw the side lose to Ballarat in round one, 25-32, with Ruby Cleaver (11) leading the scoring, while round two was another defeat, this time at the hands of Horsham, 36-30, as Saskia Gould put up 11 points.

The team regrouped to record its first win as they accounted for Sunbury on Friday, 25-23, as Gould led the way with 10 points.

The side kept winning, as Bacchus Marsh was swept from the court with a 26-20 scoreline, thanks to nine points from Cleaver.

To reach the finals the side needed a result to go their way in other matches, but they had to take care of business against Sale which they did, 34-23, with Gould again leading the scoring with nine points, but that finals spot wasn’t to be, as results in other games didn’t go as required.

Under-18A Boys

HAVING won their way into to the championship section of the tournament through great performances in the lead up to the event, the Hurricanes performed well against every team they were drawn against, despite not recording a victory.

This is the toughest competition many of these teams will play in as a group, and the results in all games prove just how competitive the championship is with no team thrashed in any games.

Round one on Thursday had the Hurricanes play Traralgon, and despite great first and second quarters which had the Hurricanes play the opposition off court, Traralgon came back in the second and fourth quarters to dish out the same to the Hurricanes and eventually edged out Hamilton, 33-37, as Josh Miller posted 10 points.

Closest rival, Portland, awaited the Hurricanes in round two, but despite leading by four points at the third-quarter break, the Hurricanes went down, 29-32, with Miller and Daniel Spillman each putting up seven points.

Friday morning saw the team enjoy the bye in round three which allowed the side to rest until the late afternoon time slot, but round four saw the side get well behind at the half, only to have a resurgent second half that gave the team a shortfall of six points, 41-47, against Shepparton - Miller (13) again led the way.

Ballarat was far too good in round five, as the Hurricanes went down, 29-44, with Miller again scoring 13 points to be the highest scorer for the team at the carnival.