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BENDIGO Braves under-12 boys’ team has gone agonisingly close to being crowned state country champions.
The Braves were defeated 37-42 in Sunday’s division one grand final against Warrnambool Seahawks at Bendigo Stadium.
In a grand final clash which went right down to the wire, Finlay Lockhart top-scored for the Braves with 12-points.
He was well supported by Dash Daniels and Lachlan Borchard, who both finished with 10-points.
Talor Byrne, Logan Barby and Oscar Hill all scored 10 points for the victorious Seahawks.
The Braves qualified for the championship decider with a 43-35 semi-final victory over Ballarat Miners, highlighted by a 25-point game from Lockhart.
The Braves were coached by Jack White.
Meanwhile, the Braves under-12 girls coached by Ben Harvey were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual division one champions Traralgon T-Birds 24-37.
Holly Swatton top-scored for the Braves with eight points, while Amelia Grist finished with seven points.
The T-Birds defeated Sale Sonics 37-22 in the final.
More than 850 players, 200 team staff members, 60-80 referees and educators as well as the estimated 5000 supporters attended the three-day tournament extravaganza.
Basketball Victoria Country manager David Huxtable thanked and congratulated all teams which participated in the championships and made special mention of the coaches, parents, volunteers, staff and referees who make this event flourish every year.
“The BVC Under-12 Country Championships are an important event on the BVC calendar and are always one of our most popular events of the year,” he said.
“It’s great to see many Country Championships journeys started at this event – with our youngest country
players getting a chance to compete against the state’s best regional teams.
“I want to congratulate all our winning associations, as well as every team that competed in the championships.
“We are fortunate to have a multitude of country volunteers around the state doing some extraordinary work within country Victorian basketball and we’re appreciative of their continued support.
“We couldn’t run the under-12 championships, or any other event, without their diligent commitment to country basketball.”