Saints start rep basketball season with a win

The junior representative basketball season is here, and for Myrtleford Saints, it could not have started better. The first tournament of the season was played out over the weekend at Echuca, with the Saints sending four squads over to test themselves against the best up-and-coming talent from around the state. The under 14 boys squad rose to the challenge, going all the way to the division three grand final and smashing Benalla Breakers to claim victory. After having the bye in the opening round, the Saints started their tournament run on Saturday against the Tatura Titans, banking a dominant 29-point win, 45-16, with Bowie Cartwright (12pts) and Harrison Waymouth (11pts) leading the way on the scoreboard. The Saints then faced their first obstacle in a narrow 29-33 defeat at the hands of the Rochy Tigers, but bounced back with a 47-22 hammering of familiar foes Wodonga Wolves. A 32-10 win over Sunbury on Sunday guaranteed the Saints would finish on top of the ladder in Pool A, setting the stage for a grand final showdown with Pool B winners, Benalla Breakers. The Saints came out of the gates firing, dropping 11 points before the Breakers even hit the scoreboard to give them a surge of momentum. However, Benalla would work their way into the game, fighting back hard with Myrtleford leading 19-12 at the half-time break. The Saints started to pull away early in the second half, putting on 12 unanswered points, before sinking eight buckets straight to charge away as undisputed winners. Quinn Pawlik was sensational for the Saints, finishing with 15 points to his name, assisted by Paddy Millar (nine points), as well as Cartwright and Waymouth (seven each). For Myrtleford’s other grades, it was a tougher time at Echuca. The under 12 boys went through the weekend winless, while the under 16s managed just the one win over Wangaratta 46-12 in the opening round. The under 18 boys had a rough start to their tournament, losing their first two matches, but rallied with back-to-back 27-point wins to close out their weekend. Myrtleford and District Basketball Association president Genevieve Cusack said it was a strong showing from across the board in the first tournament of the year. “It’s absolutely amazing, they’ve all been working very hard,” she said. “Leonard [Ciolli], our coach for the [under 14] team, has been doing a lot of work with them, and their improvement over the last six weeks has taken them so far already. “They’re very strong as a team, there’s a lot of chemistry, they play a lot with each other in other sports as well so they’ve brought that to basketball and we’ve very excited to see what else they do in the coming tournaments. “I’d be keeping your eye out for our under 16 boys, they’re a very talented group and once they start gelling I’m sure they’ll rocket through the roof. “Our under 18s are also very strong, they’re tough and their hustle is outstanding, and our under 12s surprised a lot of parents, they did such a good job.” The next tournament is in Wangaratta on the weekend of 10-11 October.

Saints start rep basketball season with a win

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