This year was the second year that the Riverina have had two division for Regional League.
Coolamon were the new association into the competition, and we welcomed back West Wyalong who had not been apart of Regional League for a couple of years.
The last round of games in Division 1 was finished with a very tightly contested game between Wagga U23’s and Barellan Opens ending in a draw, which highlighted what could be a good show down for a potentially tightly contested grand final!
Division 1 Semi Finals 1 saw Wagga taking on Coolamon, winning their GF place comfortably with a 70 – 24 win. In the other semi final, Barellan Opens played Barellan 17’s. This was a lovely game to watch the younger players take the court and push the Opens team for the first half of the game, however experience saw the Barellan Opens team winning their place in the grand final with their victory 69-43, giving us a grand final re-match against Wagga Wagga.
Grand Final Division 1
Wagga got off to a fast start leading 4 – 1 in the first 5 minutes of the game, however Barellan reined the score back in at the end of the first break, with Wagga leading 15 -14. The second quarter, Wagga hedged ahead with good turnovers in defence from Ruby Gillard and Sienna Mulkurti, backed up by good transition down court by Kate & Phoebe Wallace in WD/C, leading at half time 27 – 21. Second half saw Barellan make good use of their rolling subs effectively in their attacking half, seeing younger player Milla Pavitt rotating into the goal circle and working effectively with Jenna Richards offering many good feeding options for centre court players Georgia Fuller and Milla Parr. Richards was also well assisted with the height and of Zoe Hutchison, keeping the Wagga defenders working hard to counteract the rotation of the circle shooters. Wagga went into the the third quarter leading by 3. The final quarter saw Barellan throw everything they had out on the court for one final effort. Barellan had some very good turnovers in the centre court and defence circle rebounding shots to help them surge ahead outscoring Wagga in the final quarter 21 goals to 6.
Barellan ended up winning the game 57- 45, making this the first time in many years that anyone has knocked off the reigning premiers in the Wagga team.Strong performances from Barellan in finals game were Georgia Fuller, Jasmin Gilmour, and Claudia Wheatly, with Jenna Richards being announced as Best In Final.Wagga was well supported by both Kate & Phoebe Wallace, and Elysia Smith, and Bridie Willis.
The Division 2 Semi Finals saw another Opens & U17’s association teams taking the court against each other, with Tumut Opens winning 89 -37 against Tumut U17’s. In the other semi final, Griffith played an undefeated Leeton, with Leeton progressing to the Grandfinal winning 64 – 21.
Grand Final Division 2
Leeton took early control of the game, leading Tumut 21 -11 in the first break. However, Tumut came out strong in the second quarter with some strong attack from Taylor Gorman in centre position, assisted with shooter Lily Webb, providing some smart positioning in the circle and strong drives down the court for passing options. Leeton lead going into the final half they took ahold of the game with strong performances from Brooke Buckley dominating firmly in the GS shooting position and converting her shot successfully. Brooke was well assisted with feeds from centre court players Ruby Wallace and Grace Muir. Leeton ran away with the win 68 – 56 and completed an undefeated weekend.
Tumut Opens players Lily Webb, Courtney Dodds & Taylor Gorman all played with experience across the grand final however weren't able to hold back Leeton's strong performance by all players across the court. Brooke Buckley was announced Best In Final.
Amanda McLachlan
Regional Manager - Riverina
