A “raging success” was the general consensus, as the Swan Hill Basketball Association’s Junior Invitational Tournament made its long-awaited return on the weekend.
After three years of interruptions due to COVID and last year’s flood crisis, the annual event returned in full force, with 104 teams and more than 1000 young basketballers competing across the two days.
It proved to be a successful tournament for Swan Hill, with the Flyers under-12 girls squad taking out the Division 1 title, after defeating the Wodonga Wolves 38-13 in the grand final.
Mia Hirst was the match-winner for Swan Hill, shooting a game high 16 points, with Ivy Patterson and Pippy Morton providing great support with six points each.
It was a result that had the large home crowd in raptures said tournament co-ordinator Paul Morrison.
“We’re always happy when we get our teams into grand finals and even more so when we win, but I think the most pleasing fact was that it was at home in front of big crowd,” Morrison said.
“Playing at home makes such a difference. The families and club doesn’t have to worry about all the other expenses, because it costs a bit to travel to these competitions.
“The kids get to sleep in their own beds and play in front of a home crowd, with all their mums and dads, grandparents and friends attending.
“We also had several teams just miss out on the final. They were playing against big associations like Shepparton and Wodonga.
“Wodonga for instance made every Division 1 grand final, they were really competitive. Which is good for us, because the only way for our teams to improve is to play against the really big associations.
“We were never disgraced – we had a lot of good competition and held our own.”
The under-12 girls weren’t the only Swan Hill team to make it through to the grand final, with the Flyers under-18 girls side also reaching the final match of their tournament, only to go down 38-20 to the Wodonga Wolves. Isabella Corrie shot seven points to lead the scoring for the home side.
While Swan Hill’s on court performance proved to be hugely successful, so too were their efforts off court. The feedback from the travelling associations was overwhelming positive post-event, according to Morrison.
“Everything ran smoothly,” Morrison said.
“We have a great group of volunteers and a lot of new people who are involved in the club that have taken a great interest in basketball, which always helps with an event of this magnitude.
“We had a huge number of volunteers, from those running the barbeque and our canteen, to the army of people who were running around to all the venues cleaning and setting up the courts at 9 o’clock on Saturday night.
“We focused on the little things, like making sure all the scoreboards worked and all the games ran on time. They’re all little things, but they make a difference to people at a tournament like that.
“There were a lot of comments on our stadium, because we haven’t had a tournament here for three years. We’ve put a lot of work into getting it up to scratch and it really showed on the weekend.
“That difference was our army of volunteers and the huge amount of work that everyone did. All those positive comments we received is all down to their tireless work.”
