Bendigo Braves division 2 girls locked in a grand final victory on Sunday at the 2021 Basketball Victoria Under-18 County Championships.
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The Braves girls narrowly defeated Bellarine by five points to secure championship victory, final scores 46-41.
The Braves had the lead during the early stages of the game, but the scores bounced back and forth.
"It was a heck of a battle and an incredible game to watch. It was difficult to tell who was going to get it over the line," Bendigo Basketball DOC and team coach Joe Hurst said.
"Our girls kept grinding and in the final minutes you could really feel the energy on the court."
Hurst said a little bit of of "home cooking" and determination saw Bendigo get ahead of Bellarine.
The standout performance of the match went to Caitlin Richardson who knocked in 24 points for the Braves.
"She was the glue that help bind everything that we were doing and also created countless opportunities during the grand final," Hurst said.
"She did a great job scoring, steadying the ship and setting the pace when it was needed the most."
"But every single player did their part and went up another gear during the weekend."
The Braves Division 2 girls' finals campaign started with a 43-27 quarter-final victory over the Moe Meteors.
To secure their spot in the championship match they defeated the Southern Peninsula Sharks 52-29.
Hurst couldn't have been prouder of what the team accomplished.
"The whole team was super excited with the win and they really set the scene early on and showed how competitive they were on the court," he said.
"They justified their efforts and were able to grab gold."
The Braves boys were defeated by the Traralgon T-Birds 49-31 in the quarter-finals.
Under normal circumstances the under-18 and under-16 championships would be played at the same location, but due to COVID-19 restrictions they were contested at different sites.
At the under-16 tournament in Traralgon the Braves boys were defeated by the Warrnambool Seahawks 28-52 in the semi-final.
The Braves girls were defeated by the Sale Sonics 46-27 in the quarter-final.
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