The Mid South East Netball Association fell just short of Country Championships glory on the long weekend, going down to a strong Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara side in the grand final by 13 goals.
Played at the Netball SA Stadium in Adelaide, the MSE kicked off its campaign with a nail-biting 30-27 victory over Great Flinders, while the KNT claimed a huge 54-8 win over Roxby Downs.
In a similar scenario, Round 2 saw the MSE again fight right to the end against Whyalla to secure a 34-29 win.
The KNT controlled its game against Yorke Peninsula to claim a 34-20 victory.
The two sides faced off in Round 3, with the KNT securing the win in a tight battle.
In the end they claimed a 27-22 victory, which set the scene for the eventual grand final showdown.
KNT dropped its first game of the carnival in Round 4, going down to North Eastern in another nail-biter 25-23.
Meanwhile the MSE girls flexed their muscles with a dominant 46-11 victory.
The tight games continued for MSE in Round 5, as they accounted for Yorke Peninsula 28-24, while KNT dropped its second game of the weekend with a 40-22 loss to Great Southern.
MSE enjoyed the bye in the final minor round, while KNT was forced to again fight out a tight battle, this time against Eastern Eyre, with a 26-23 victory.
At the end of the minor rounds MSE sat in second place on the ladder, while the KNT was further down in fourth place.
In the first round of finals the MSE again showed its strength with a hard-fought 23-17 win over North Eastern to book its grand final berth.
As had been the case throughout the minor rounds, strong games came from from Annie Hunter in the mid-court and Halle Carter, who showed her speed and accuracy in the goal circle.
The side built up a five-goal advantage in the first half to set up the win.
KNT had to fight even harder, coming away with a 28-27 win over Great Southern to earn the right to challenge MSE for the top honours.
While the Mid South East girls struggled to settle in the final, there were limited rebounding opportunities from the accurate KNT goalies.
KNT continued to apply pressure all over the court and forced MSE into errors and limited their opportunities to score.
While the game was well contested, the KNT girls were able to build a lead throughout and ran away with the honours after a tough weekend of netball.
In the wash-up, MSE players Hunter and Emma Gould were picked in the Seniors Country Championships team of the year.
In the junior ranks, the 13 and Under Mid South East girls finished their weekend in the Division 2 quarter-final, going down by just three goals to the Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara association.
The girls finished in sixth place in their pool, with four wins and six losses in the minor rounds.
The 15 and Under girls finished in seventh place in their pool, after three wins and seven losses in the minor rounds.
They then contested the Division 2 quarter-final and claimed a 22-14 victory over Northern Areas, before going down to Barossa Light and Gawler 28-21 in the Division 2 semi-final to finish their weekend.
The 17 and Under girls were impressive throughout their round games, with nine wins, one loss and a draw.
That booked a Division 1 quarter-final clash with Hills, a side which won just eight games in their pool.
However, Hills proved too strong in the quarter-final, defeating the MSE girls 25-13.
