THE Hamilton Basketball Association sent teams to the Colac Classic junior basketball tournament last weekend, as the junior squad season starts to wind down.

Under-14B Boys

THE Under-14 Boys development team had a fantastic tournament in Colac, winning three out of four pool matches.

Great wins in the first three games before going down to Maryborough by only five points in a tightly contested final game.

The highlight of the weekend was the first game against Port Fairy, where the boys showcased so much of what they’ve been working on throughout the year with amazing teamwork, while executing great plays.

It was a pleasure to watch this style of game and such quality basketball, and to see them come out victorious for the first time against a team they’ve met multiple times this year.

The team narrowly missed out on the finals on percentage only, after a great end to their squad season.

Under-14 Girls

THE girls battled it out all weekend in a very high intensity standard of basketball.

The first day saw the girls secure two wins against Geelong 2 and Warrnambool, finishing top of their pool.

The Hurricanes’ semi-final against Colac was always going to be a tough one on the Kookas’ home court.

The history between these two teams, always brings out a spectacle and it didn’t disappoint.

Hamilton took the early lead, defending hard and capitalizing on each turnover.

The Colac crowd got louder, and they came back, forcing the game into overtime.

With a depleted bench, the girls tried their best, but were undermanned and went down by one point.

The girls finished strong, beating Geelong 1 in the consolation final to place third.

Under-14B Girls

THE Under-14B Girls headed down to Colac for their final tournament of the 2023-24 season.

The girls got off to a blinding start, showing their trademark relentless defence and unselfish teamwork, to defeat Geelong, 46-17.

Unfortunately, an unforgiving draw saw the girls unable to back up their win almost seven hours later for their second game of the day, losing to Colac 16-23.

The girls still had one more game on Saturday, late in the night and faced a very strong Maryborough side which looked the goods from the tip off, defeating Hamilton by 22 points.

The Hurricanes finished the day third in their pool, facing Geelong 3 in a consolation final Sunday morning, which ended in a 25-25 draw, bringing the season to an end.

This team has shown so much improvement, learning to play as a team, and the importance of playing strong defence to win games.

Under-12A Boys

THE Under-12A Boys finished a respectable third overall across the weekend.

Winning two of four games, the Hurricanes lost only to the overall grand finalists, Geelong United and Ballarat Miners.

Playing well against all opponents, wins came against Surf Coast Chargers and Bellarine by eight and 13 points respectively.

The Hurricanes’ skills and fitness training shone through, as both games were all but drawn at half time, before overpowering their opponents in the second half in both contests.

Under-12A Girls

THE opening clash was a tough game against Ballarat Miners with some great teamwork but lost 20-36.

Game two saw Hamilton hit the court running against Geelong United, winning 35-18, with some great defensive pressure putting 40 minutes of basketball together.

This set the Hurricanes up for the semi-finals against Warrnambool, as they broke away quickly with a 10-point lead.

The girls dug deep in the second half, even hitting the front for a period of time.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t hold on, going down 23-31.

The consolation game four saw the Hurricanes face Bellarine in a physical and scrappy game, going down 18-20

Under-12B Girls

THE Under 12B Girls Hurricanes embarked on their last tournament of the season.

Being challenged in divison two, the girls showcased skill, team spirit and lots of enjoyment.

Hamilton came away with a win, a draw and a couple of losses - but all with a smile.

It was a thrilling weekend of basketball where the girls improved every game.