17 and UNDER
THE 17 and Under clash between South and Millicent was predicted to be one-sided with the Saints having key players across the court. \
South battled hard all game, but Millicent’s quality all over the court saw them run out winners by 44 goals.
Played in perfect weather the game was a highly skilled contest and it was the Saints mid court in Mia Gysbers, Piper Paul and Eva Crowe who set the pace to set up scoring opportunities for Mylee Lynch and Poppy Venn.
Lynch finished with 13 for the quarter to be the dominant goaler on court.
South’s Gracie Dalton battled hard for South, however, Edie Easterby was in fine form, intercepting any loose balls and the Saints went into the first change up by 15 goals.
Both sides made changes at the break with Emily Walker entering for the Saints and for South Lily Milich on the defensive wing.
The Saints continued their good form with impressive ball movement in attack and accurate shooting from Lynch and Poppy Venn.
Piper Paul was working overtime in attack hitting circle edge and feeding with precision.
Easterby continued to take intercepts all over the court and provided her team with more opportunities.
The score blew out to a 30-goal margin by halftime.
More changes were made at the main break with the Saints bringing on Asha Gysbers, Jeda Hibberd and Tahnee Grosser.
South’s Dalton played her best quarter with some good movement in the circle and accurate finishing to shoot nine for the quarter.
Milich matched Gysber’s speed through the midcourt to find Dalton at the post.
Grosser entered at Goal Attack five minutes into the quarter and finished with 10 without a miss.
The last quarter was a one-sided affair with South continuing to work hard all over the court.
However, the Saints were too skillful as Mackinlee Alcock remained the best for the Saints in the last to help the team run out as winners by 44 goals.
Millicent will now look to challenge the undefeated North Gambier in the grand final.
15 and UNDER A
Eager to earn another crack at Millicent, North Gambier came out firing in the 15 and Under A second semi final and with goalers Mischa Human and Lila Pearson combining for 11 from 13, the signs were promising for the Tigers.
At the other end of the court, Raine Darimaani, Mia Griffith and Winnie Zadow were denying West any easy ball and Darimaani dominated the air in the rebounding department.
The Tigers had a six goal quarter time lead but the Roos rallied strongly in the second term.
Lara Murdoch started to find more ball and her connection with Swaye Lindner and Brydee Starick saw West scoring more frequently.
Human was still dominant for North and her accurate eight from nine ensured North still had the edge on the scoreboard.
Claire Hunter certainly started to have an impact defensively and the deficit for West at half time was only seven.
The tight quarter clearly sparked something in the Tigers and they dominated the third quarter, winning it by eight to take an almost unassailable 15-goal lead into the final quarter.
Human was again dominant with her 14 from 16 and while West’s Murdoch and Sara Richards also finished accurately, they did not get enough supply as North’s full court defensive pressure kept forcing the Roos into errors.
North’s Lila Pearson wasn’t taking anywhere as many shots but she was feeding Human with great precision while Jenna Baron and Lacey Hunter were doing the same as North dominated every position on court.
The Tigers made some minor positional swaps for the last quarter, with Pearson taking the goal shooter bib and netting 11 from 12 and despite the switching of bibs at the defensive end, the result was the same – it was tough for the Roos to find the ball in good shooting position.
Once again, Richards and Murdoch made the most of their limited opportunities, converting nine from 11 as a combination.
The weight of numbers fell well and truly with the Tigers who now have their rematch with Millicent in what will be one of the most fiercely fought of all the title deciders next weekend.
15 and UNDER B
IT was a physical opening quarter to the 15 and Under B preliminary final as both teams contested hard and pressure applied saw a number of errors.
In the end, it was North Gambier who fared the better on the scoreboard, generating more scoring shots than Casterton Sandford, as both sides struggled to convert accurately.
The Tigers held a two-goal lead at the first change but it was the Cats who had the better of the second.
Casterton Sandford goal attack Ylana Grigg stated to find a lot of ball ad her height loomed large as a match defining factor.
She converted 12 from 16 with Adele Murphy proving to be a key link player with her precision feeding into the circle, while Makayla Rees was impacting at both ends of the court with some key defensive touches as well as precision delivery in attack.
Some strong rebounding from Chloe Kurzman and tenacious work from Marlee Robbins saw the Cats dominate the quarter and turn that two goal deficit into a three-goal half time lead.
The Tigers were certainly stung into action with Lacey Hunter, who started to become prominent in the second quarter and stepped up another level in the third.
Hunter’s 12 from 13 rewarded her team mates for their strong defensive work down court.
Jenna Baron and Lacey Allen also stepped up in this quarter, lifting their work rate and delivering the ball with better accuracy into the circle.
Again, Hunter did not let them down as North went into the last quarter seven goals clear.
The last quarter was a real arm wrestle and it was the respective goal attacks doing the scoreboard damage, but the Cats just couldn’t eat into the Tigers’ advantage.
Every the Cats looked to score successive goals, Ava Halloran and Amelie Adam were able to create turnover ball courtesy of their tight one-on-one checking.
Grace Collins also influenced the final quarter as she and Baron pressured Casterton’s feeders into errors with Halloran and Adam happy to pick off the errant passes.
Hunter, Adam and Baron were best for North, while Murphy and Robbins did the damage for the Cats.
13 and UNDER A
SOUTH Gambier has earned a rematch with the undefeated Saints in the 13 and Under A grand final after a tense second semi final victory over West Gambier.
The Demons narrowly held sway for much of the contest, leading by as many as seven goals at some stages.
The Roos would not go quietly, as they came out hard in the last to force it back to a one goal game before the Demons steadied, created some critical turnover.
Elsie Merchant, who had been the key target all game for South, was able to make them count on the scoreboard.
The South victory was built on a consistent first three quarters, leading by four at quarter time, five at the half and seven at three-quarter time.
Missed shooting opportunities and some passing errors saw the Roos well and truly back in contention
With Hannah Jackson netting five from six for the quarter, West had the upset in their sights.
Savannah Riddoch and Claudia Vorwerk produced some key turnovers in the frantic final quarter, while Harper Lindner found good space on the circle’s edge to find Eva Povey and Jackson in space.
Fortunately for South, Annalie Peucker, who was her team’s best in the semi final, was able to get some important deflections and in combination with Lucy Noonan and Addy Green, created enough turnover opportunities for South to secure the two-goal victory.
The chemistry between Merchant and Harper Bowering in the first half saw the Demons scoring easily with Tegan Sims and Zara Cole connecting well with their shooting duo.
In the end, it was the strong start that set up the grand final berth for South with Cole and Merchant named best, while Povey and Vorwerk were best for the Roos.
13 and UNDER B
THE 13 and Under B clash between South and Millicent was a nail-biting contest between the two teams, as the Saints held on to steal the win from South by two goals to advance into the grand final.
The Saints scored the first four goals through the long-range shooting from Kira Madden and the hard running of Raven Johnson in the centre.
South’s Goal Defence Lara Agostinelli battled hard for her side, but the Saints were too strong with Olivia Hales rebounding any missed shots going into the first change six goals in front.
South made changes at the break and this had an immediate impact as they scored the next eight goals after moving Ellie McCracken from Centre to Goal Attack.
South defenders Zara Harten and Ellie Scotland worked well in the goal circle, shutting down the space of the Millicent goalies.
With a couple of late goals from the Saints the scores were tied at halftime.
Millicent made changes at half time with Maggie Buhlmann entering Goal Keeper, Hales moving out to Goal Defence and Bridie Douglas to Wing Defence.
The three worked hard to create turnovers and restrict South to just two goals for the quarter.
Harten continued to work hard for South, but the Saints continued to score well through Madden to take a seven-goal match-winning league at the last change.
The final quarter was dominated by South as they ran hard and moved the ball well in attack.
Lacey Howard scored eight for the quarter while Willow Bowering ran hard at centre controlling the attack line.
South’s late charge had the crowd on the edge of their seats, but they ran out of time and the Saints won 26-24 to advance into the grand final.
