Winners: Seymour Blasters’ under-14 boys after winning the Echuca tournament at the weekend.
Continuing on from the extraordinary success of the Seymour Blasters’ men’s and women’s teams in the recent North East Country Basketball League summer season, the juniors have kept the silverware flowing with a pair of titles in the past month.
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Beginning at the Maryborough tournament on the weekend of February 19, the under-16 boys’ team was dominant from start to finish, claiming the title with an undefeated record.
The under-14 boys’ squad then continued this momentum last weekend with a stunning championship run at the Echuca tournament, as the club looks to continue to grow its junior program.
Seymour Blasters committee member and under-16 boys’ team manager Janelle Puppa said these two titles were a major coup for the club.
“It is fantastic (to win these tournaments),” Puppa said.
“We have actually had to cancel our domestic season this year, so basketball in Seymour has been really at its lowest in many years, which has been really disappointing for a lot of up-and-coming players.
“We are really focusing on bringing numbers back to our junior domestic program, so for some kids to go away and win grand finals in tournaments against other teams and towns is very positive, and we hope there are a lot of kids out there who think that could be me and come out to the club.”
The under-16s squad waltzed through the group stage, claiming dominant victories over Maryborough Blue (60-31), CVBA Stars (45-36), Border Stars Academy (43-23), Warracknabeal (45-3) and Maryborough Gold (53-44) to be top seed.
We are the champions: Seymour Blasters’ under-16 boys after winning the Maryborough tournament.
Coming up against CVBA Stars in the grand final, the Blasters were once again clinical from the outset, taking control on both ends of the floor to come away with a dominant 58-36 win.
“Basically the under-16s started off with a couple of close games before really finding their groove as the tournament continued,” Puppa said.
“They aren’t a team that has played together a lot and it is their first season together as a unit, so to go through undefeated and win like they did was excellent and I couldn’t be prouder.”
It was a much tougher road to glory for the under-14s squad in Echuca last week, as it went in to the grand final as the underdog against a rampant Myrtleford Saints side.
Beginning its campaign with a 45-6 dismantling of Deniliquin Giants Development, Blasters then fell 24-19 to the Saints, before finishing the group stage with a dominant 41-23 victory over Mansfield.
Facing Myrtleford again in the first final, Seymour fell 28-19 in a tightly contested clash, setting up a preliminary final showdown with Mansfield, where the Blasters prevailed 37-32.
Facing the Saints for the third time in as many days, Seymour learnt from its previous shortcomings, putting in its most complete performance of the tournament to produce a 34-27 win and take home the title.
“Having only played two tournaments prior to the one on the weekend, I think they had only won maybe one game, so to go through and win the grand final was phenomenal,” Puppa said.
“Losing to Myrtleford twice leading in to the grand final, it was great to see them learn from their mistakes and come out on top in the big one.
“It was a great game to watch and gives the team so much confidence.”
