For the first time in 28 years the Bendigo Junior Braves have won a medal at the Basketball Australia Under-14 Club Championships.
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The Bendigo Junior Braves’ under-14 girls team won a silver medal in Newcastle on Saturday, going one better than the 1988 squad which featured Bendigo’s greatest basketball product Kristi Harrower.
“They have great speed, tenacity and a will to play for each other,’’ BBA director of coaching Jono Goodman said of the under-14 girls squad. “For them to walk away with a silver medal is fantastic for Bendigo.”
The Junior Braves played Victorian rival Knox in the grand final. The Raiders looked capable of blowing the Bendigo girls away when they opened up an eight-point lead in the third quarter.
However, the Bendigo girls dug deep and with a little less than two minutes remaining in the game the scores were level.
Knox made a couple of big plays down the stretch to win 51-46. Piper Dunlop (14 points) and Ellie Vlaeminck (12 points) led the way for the Junior Braves in the grand final.
Bendigo squad – Emma Gilligan, Matilda Osborne, Emily Collins, Caitlin Richardson, Angelica Jack, Darcy Williams, Abbey Clohesy, Madeline Marks, Meg McCarthy, Sophie Pica, Piper Dunlop, Ellie Vlaeminck. Coach – Charlie Smythe.