James Murphy
Western Border Netball Association’s 17 and Under representative side claimed the honours with an undefeated Netball SA Country Championships campaign over the weekend.
In a big three days of netball the team competed against rival country netball associations at Adelaide’s Netball SA Stadium.
Coached by Donna Denton and Michelle Skeer, the 17’s progressed through the minor rounds relatively untroubled, with several big wins on their way to a finals berth.
A five-goal win over Riverland was the slimmest margin, while an eight-goal triumph over Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara was another closer clash.
With three rounds of finals, Western Border started with a 36-14 win over Barossa Light and Gawler in the quarter final, before an equally strong 36-18 result against Hills.
That set up a grand final clash with Riverland.
The decider was a game of two halves, with Western Border off to a shaky start to trail 9-11 after the first 15-minute half.
However, in an impressive turnaround Western Border upped the pressure and was able to find more space in the second to flip the game on its head.
“They (Riverland) took seven minutes to score in the second half and they only scored three goals against us in the second half,” Denton said.
“It was a big turnaround – we scored nine in the first half and then we scored 20 in the second.”
Denton was proud of the result and knew the team had the potential to go all the way.
“They were a beautiful bunch of girls and they just enjoyed representing Western Border,” she said.
For some it was the first taste of representative netball, as Lara Munro and Ebany Jarrad had the perfect Country Championships debut.
On the other end of the spectrum, captain Alyssa Duncan had a fitting conclusion to her junior representative career after six years in the WBNA colours.
“It was really nice for her to captain the team and get the win in her final junior year,” Denton said.
Denton said there were no passengers on the weekend and the grand final in particular was a real team effort.
While the 17 and Under side was the only championship winner from Western Border, it did not hog all the success.
All five Western Border teams which attended the championships made the quarter finals.
That included the championship and development teams in both the 15 and Under and 13 and Under grades.
The 15 and Under development team was knocked out of the Division 2 quarter final, while the 13 and Under development team progressed to the Division 3 semi-final, where they lost to Southern Hills.
Both the 15 and 13 and Under sides made the Division 1 grand finals but were unable to take the final step to championship glory.
The 15 and Under team competed in Pool A and despite a fourth-place finish after the minor rounds, excelled in finals to book a Division 1 grand final berth with Port Augusta.
After a tight match Port Augusta won 31-28 to claim the championship – the same margin as their minor-round meeting which was won 25-23.
It was a valiant effort from Western Border as Port Augusta finished the event with only one loss.
The 13 and Unders finished second on the table in Pool A, with one loss to eventual champions Mid Hills.
Wins over Riverland and Yorke Peninsula in the quarter and semi-final respectively booked a place in the decider, where a close battle with Mid Hills unfolded.
At the final whistle Western Border lost by four goals to finish Division 1 runners-up.
Overall it was a successful trip for the WBNA and one Denton said would not have been possible without the valuable services of Di Gould.
“Di does a massive amount of work to get Western Border to Adelaide each year,” Denton said.
She also coached the 15 and Under side in a huge contribution to the Association.
