Two of Mount Gambier’s state junior basketballers, Rachael Hines and Mitchell Hunter, competed in the 2014 National Junior Classic in Melbourne over the weekend. Rachael played for Eastern Mavericks in the Under 18 Girls’ division and Mitchell for Forestville in the Under 14 Boys’ competition.

The Eastern Mavericks Under 18 Girls had the hard luck story of the Classic. They lost one game for the weekend but finished ninth of the 16 teams. They lost to Southern Peninsula 35-53 in one of the pool games and finished at the wrong end of a three way tie. This resulted in them being relegated to the play-offs for positions 9-16.

In the ranking games, Eastern Mavericks defeated Sydney Comets 57-51, Bulleen’s second team 58-40 and Forestville 53-52 to finish ninth. Hines played well to cap off her successful season at the elite level of national junior basketball.

The opportunity to play at the national level of junior Club basketball proved to be a valuable experience for Mitchell Hunter as a member of the Forestville Under 14 team. They defeated Sydney Comets 63-43 but were soundly beaten by Bulleen and Melbourne. In the ranking games they defeated Northern Suburbs 66-58 and then were beaten by Hornsby Spiers 57-59 in the play-off for 11^th and 12^th.

State Under 16 junior Laker, Lachlan Hunter, played for Forestville in the A Division of the Under 16 Boys’ Nunawading Junior Basketball Tournament. Forestville defeated Queensland South 33-31, lost to Kilsyth 26-28, defeated Hornsby Spiders 40-29 and Queensland Central 39-36 in their minor round games. They were then beaten by Eastern mavericks 45-30, in the Qualifying Final. This Tournament will be an important segment in Lachlan’s preparation for the Under 16 national championships in Geelong next month.