There were mixed results for the Young Pacers Under 16 tearms at the NSW Country Cup Basketball Championships last weekend.
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The teams travelled to Newcastle and the Central Coast where the Under 16 boys and girls teams played in Division 3 of the tournament.
They took on various teams from throughout NSW including Cessnock, Central Coast, Bathurst, Maitland, Moss Vale, Grafton, Newcastle and Illawarra.
The boys were pitted against some well-drilled opposition, going down in some very closely-contested matches.
They showed outstanding skill and tenacity and were unfortunate not to get a win on the board.
Coach Rod Cooper was extremely pleased with how the boys played, said Under 16s girls coach Sharon Cooper.
“They’ve improved at every game, their level of participation has improved and improved - next year they will be a force to be reckoned with.
“They’ve had 12 months of growth and development this year, so next year they will be even better. Watch this space for the boys next year, they’ll be being talked about a lot,” Sharon said.
But this year it was the Under 16 Pacers girls side who made a mark in the tournament.
Dnd despite being down on numbers due to Western Junior League, they were lucky enough to procure Cootamundra representative Sarah Officer and under 14s Pacers representative, Grace Silk, for the weekend.
According to Cooper the new team gelled exceptionally well and dominated their grade all weekend, making it to the finals where they came up against a determined Moss Vale side.
The Pacers led throughout the game, however Moss Vale never threw in the towel, clawing their way back to a two-point difference at one stage.
“They let themselves down, went to sleep a bit in the third quarter, but that’s okay, they were able to pick themselves up and keep Moss Vale at bay because they certainly weren’t going to give up without a fight and we weren’t going to lose,” Cooper said.
The girls had to refocus, regroup and put their skills into action before comfortably taking the game, 37-33.
“The girls played well, they improved as the weekend progressed. So when they came into the finals they were more confident of how they were playing over the weekend and had more self esteem from actually winning all through the weekend,” Cooper said.
“I’m over the moon!
“They really dominated in most aspects of the game. Each and every one of them needed to be congratulated.
But according to Cooper a special mention of three team members – Freya Steele, Lizzy Butt and Larni Tanner – was in order, who, despite having other commitments, their dedication not only to the team and the academy was sensational.
Both teams would like to thank their sponsors, the Young Services Club for all their assistance throughout the season, the tournament sponsors IGA for providing a quality well-organised tournament and their coaches Rod and Sharon Cooper, for all their time, effort and patience.
