The Batemans Bay Breakers had five teams in action during the last preliminary round of the Southern Junior League representative basketball competition held in Canberra a fortnight ago.
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In the under 12 division two boys age group, the Breakers were victorious against the Canberra Gunners White (51-49), Goulburn Bears (58-31) and the Shoalhaven Tigers (54-41) while they also suffered their first defeat in the preliminary rounds, going down to the Canberra Gunners Teal (63-41).
Despite the upset the Breakers hung onto first place on the ladder and will be right in the mix when the finals get underway.
After losing their opening two games of the round to the Bay’s under 12 division two girls, they managed to break through for their first wins of the tournament. Their outstanding efforts were rewarded when they defeated the Albury Cougars 30-25 before overcoming the Goulburn Bears 41-34.
The Breakers’ under 14 division two boys had a tough weekend losing close games to the Goulburn Bears (50-44), Canberra Gunners White (64-51) and Illawarra Hawks (66-55).
However, their strong results in the earlier rounds meant they still finished in fourth place on the ladder and progressed through to the finals courtesy of a tie-breaker.
In the under 14 division three girls age group, Batemans Bay were unable to notch a win against some difficult opposition but still progressed through to the finals. The Breakers were competitive in all their matches in what is a very tightly contested division and they will be confident of springing some surprises in the finals.
The Breakers’ under 18 division one women’s team also showed why they might be a dark horse come finals time by winning three of their four matches in last preliminary round to finish in third on the ladder.
They had victories over the Illawarra Hawks White (72-40), the Moruya Swans (53-52) and the Queanbeyan Roadrunners (78-34) while also pushing the undefeated Illawarra Hawks Red to the limit before going down 49-40.
Batemans Bay Breakers official Kylie Armstrong said it was very pleasing to see the club’s players getting representative basketball experience.
“Given that this is the first time this century that our club has entered teams in Southern Junior League, we are extremely pleased with being able to provide so many local junior players with the opportunity to participate at this event,” she said.
“We are very happy with the results and four out of our five teams getting through to finals being held in Wollongong in late July.
“Although our under 12 girls did not get there, they proved very competitive throughout the rounds and were extremely happy to finish on two great wins.”