Leading into the final rounds on Sunday morning saw Wagga Wagga sitting comfortable on the top of the ladder undefeated throughout Saturdays matches, and runners up from 2021 Barellan in second place, followed by Griffith and Tumut.
In the Semi-finals Wagga played Tumut in a high scoring match, Wagga continuing their unbeaten form winning the game 62 -44 to secure their Grand Final spot.
Barellan outclassed rivals Griffith in a 46 -32 score line to cementing a Grand final re-run of 2021 between Wagga Wagga and Barellan.
It was a slow start for both Barellan and Wagga in the Grand Final trading goal for goal in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Wagga’s accurate shooting saw them pull away to a 3-goal lead with 4 minutes to go in the 1st quarter, however never to be underestimated Barellan tightened up their centre court defence taking some good tips on the circle edge, followed by safe passages of play down the court, accurate feeding and strong hands from Tess Henley under the post to pull back the score to a 13 all draw at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw much of the same with both teams trading goal for goal, youngster Ava Pritchard had her shooting eye in, shooting some long-range goals to keep Barellan in close contention for the quarter.
Wagga’s Ava Moller and Kaylah Upfield showed their shooting accuracy helping Wagga pull to a 2-goal lead 25-23 at half time.
Wagga took to the court inthe third quarter making some positional changes bringing Kate Wallace into WD, and a switch up of shooting positions proved valuable.
Wagga’s Kate Wallace worked tirelessly with GD Claudia Wheatley and Centre Issy Hogg to shut down Barellan centre court play, forcing Barellan to make some difficult passing decisions, allowing Wheatley and Wallace to pounce on a number of deflections and intercepts to help Wagga secure a good lead going into the final quarter 40-29.
Final quarter saw Barellan continue their fighting spirit, Jasmine Gilmour and Zoe Hutchinson working tirelessly in defence taking some strong rebounds but were unable to transition the ball down the court with Wagga again dominating in the centre court defensive end to regain possession.
Wagga closed out the final quarter strongly to conceal a convincing Grand-final win over Barellan 58-36.
One of the highlights from the Grand final was the excitement and anticipation from the Wagga and Barellan junior representative teams, who were also competing in a gala event on Sunday, but who were able to come in and watch in awe of the skill level from both teams on display in the Grand final game.
HART Regional League is also not possible without the team of dedicated umpires officiating matches over the weekend, thank you to all the team in white and a special thank you to the Umpire Allocators Sherylle Shehey assisted by Kelly Hill, Vicki Kaylock and Michelle Sarkis who worked with the umpires throughout the competition.
A big thank you also goes to our selectors Carolyn Burgess, Leanne Frow and Jemima Norbury who were selecting for the Riverina Regional State Cup team on Saturday.
