Sport
29 January, 2025
Young Hornets make most of junior tournament, four teams make finals
Horsham's 14 junior rep teams played in Bendigo from January 25-27.
Four of the Horsham Hornets' junior representative teams made finals appearances as the association took to the court at the Bendigo junior tournament from January 25-27.
The under-12 boys Sleep and under-14 girls Webb squads were defeated in the grand finals, while the under-12 girls Askew and 18 girls Grace teams made the semi-finals.
"It is the best country tournament in the state, so you're going to get some good country teams," Horsham Hornets coaching director Matt Lovel said.
"All in all, I think the teams performed quite well. I don't think there was a team that went through without a win."
Lovel was especially pleased to see the performances of the association's younger teams.
"I don't get to see them all tournament season, but to see where, especially those 12s and 14s, started off and where they are at this tournament, you can just see massive growth," Lovel said.
The under-16 girls squad, coached by Jordyn Burke, and the boys squad, coached by Cam Bruce, played in the championship division.
Unlike the lower divisions, teams use a shot clock and play four eight-minute quarters instead of two 20-minute halves.
"You're usually coming up against the top sides in the big regional centres, so it's a good learning curve for them," Lovel said.
"Sometimes, a bit of a shock to the system. Once they get a bit comfortable with it, whether it is the second quarter or third quarter, they ended up doing quite well.
Horsham junior Levi Munyard represented the Ballarat Miners, who finished runners-up in Bendigo's under-18 boys' championship final.
Rani Potter (Nunawading) and Micah Livingstone (Dandenong) played in the Elthan Dandenong junior tournament.
Some of the Hornets will take on the Portland junior tournament.
The under-16 girls Morrison, 16 boys Dougherty and 18 girls Grace squads will compete from February 1-2.
While the under-14 girls Webb squad will play from February 8-9.
Attention will then turn to the junior country championships.
The under-16 and 18 division one and two championships will be held in Bendigo on February 15-16.
While Melton and Bacchus Marsh will host the Division 3, 4 and 5 tournaments on March 15-16.
The under-14s will get their time to shine from April 5-7 in Ballarat, while the under-12s wrap up the tournament season in Bendigo from April 11-13.