HAMILTON Hurricanes Basketball club sent teams to the Junior Country Championships in Mildura in the Under-14 age groups for both boys and girls over the weekend with the girls advancing to the division one title round while the boys were doing battle in division two.

Under-14 Girls

SATURDAY had the Hurricanes record three strong victories to get the championships off to a winning start, as the squad took care of business against Mildura Heat 47-17 (Emily Iredell 25 and Leni Robertson 10), Horsham Hornets 52-29 (Iredell 18 and Yolanda O’Sullivan 10), and finally Portland Coasters 42-18 (Iredell 13 and Elsie Brown 10).

Sunday and the Hurricanes were looking to repeat the results of the previous day, but Ballarat Miners put a spanner in the works handing the squad a 20-35 loss.

The second game of the day saw the Hurricanes quickly regroup and get back to winning with a 29-16 victory against Warragul Warriors, led by Iredell with 12 points and Brown with 10.

The final preliminary game and the squad had a tight game with Geelong United in the first half, but then drew away in the second half to run out victors, 45-33.

With a 5-1 win-loss record, the Hurricanes were in a division one quarter-final on Monday morning and after a seesawing clash, they won, 38-35, against Korumburra, with Iredell putting up 28 points.

A semi-final against Wodonga awaited, with Hamilton leading by one point at the final break and winning by three at the final buzzer.

Bendigo awaited the Hurricanes in the final, with Hamilton gallant in defeat, going down, 18-66.

Iredell finished the weekend with 161 points, continuing her strong squad season form, with Pippa Richards, Leni Robertson, Grace O’Sullivan, Yolanda O’Sullivan, Willow Boughton, Taya Sherlock and Elsie Brown also playing important roles across the weekend.

Under-14 Boys

DAY one and the Hurricanes drew Warragul Warriors in the first round and despite leading at every change of end the Hurricanes fell away in the final quarter to lose, 34-36, as Zanda Ewing having the hot hand with 16 points.

Round two and the Hurricanes swept aside Phillip Island Rips, 72-39 with Cooper Kearney (17), Ewing (13), Taima Thomas (13), and Beau Brian (11) all recording double figures on the scoresheet.

The final preliminary game on Saturday saw the Hurricanes lead at the main break against Wallan Panthers but fail to regroup in the third quarter and finally go down, 38-46, as Ewing (12) and Brian (10) continued to score well.

Sunday and the Hurricanes dropped their opening game to Echuca Pirates 45-56 as Ewing (18) continued to score freely.

Round two for the day the Hurricanes drew Pakenham Warriors and despite Thomas (12) and Ewing (11) scoring well the side went down 41-60.

The final game of the day saw the Hurricanes thoroughly outplayed by Traralgon T-Birds 28-56 with Oliver Winnell (eight) top scoring.

The Hurricanes drew Ballarat Miners in the division two quarter finals and were jumped in the first quarter to be behind by seven points at the first break, but the side regrouped in the second period to trail by 10 at the main break.

The second half and the Hurricanes outscored Ballarat 23-18, eventually going down by five points in a thrilling game, 45-50 with Ewing (16), Brian (10), and Thomas (nine) combining well.

Well done to Beau Brian, Cooper Kearney, Harry Manley, Jack McCulloch, Lucas Dumesny, Oliver Winnell, Zanda Ewing and Taima Thomas on a fantastic Junior Country Champs campaign.