Maffra Eagles junior and senior basketball squad teams returned to the court at the weekend, marking the start of their 2023/24 seasons.
Nine Maffra junior squads participated in the Morwell Tournament on Saturday.
For some players, it was their first taste of representative basketball; for others, it was the start of their final junior basketball season.
Maffra teams were successful at the weekend’s event, with five teams reaching the finals and three winning the Grand Final.
The Maffra Under 10 Boys and Girls teams booked their ticket to the Grand Finals after going unbeaten through the divisional rounds.
In a low-scoring but exciting Grand Final, the Under 10 Eagles Girls defeated Moe 13-4, with Maffra’s Harper Fulford winning the Grand Final MVP.
The Under 10 Boys followed suit soon after with a dominant performance, winning 46-19 against Warragul to cap off a brilliant tournament.
Maffra’s Nixon Killoran was awarded MVP for his Grand Final performance.
In the weekend’s last game, the Under 14 Boys came up against Warragul, who they beat by 15 points in the preliminary rounds. The Eagles boys played a wonderful team game and marched away with a dominant 38-point win, 57-19.
Maffra’s Ace Burgiel received MVP honours.
On Saturday night, Senior Eagles teams travelled to Morwell for Round 1 of the Gippsland Country Basketball League (CBL).
With the Eagles Women coming off a two-point semi-final loss last season, they were out to make a statement early, blowing the game out to a 20-point margin early in the second quarter. However, Morwell Magic took their chances and brought the game back to single figures by halftime.
The third quarter featured a little scoring; however, Maffra extended their lead by a further eight points and took a 16-point lead into the final break.
During the last quarter, Morwell put pressure on Maffra, but the Eagles were ultimately up to the task and finished the game 65-53 victors.
Leading scorers were Paige Biddle with 21 points, Jaime Gallatly (20) and Sienna Wynd (12).
The men’s matchup saw a different start to the game, with Morwell running out to an 18-13 lead at quarter time before the Eagles Men kicked into gear during the second quarter to take a 37-28 lead by halftime.
Morwell once again bounced back and reduced the Eagles’ lead to four points before some hot shooting from reigning league MVP Sam Whelan and new recruit Ethan McIntyre helped the Eagles to a 19-point win, 76-57.
Whelan led the scoring with 35 points.
This weekend sees the local rivalry between Maffra and Sale take centre stage at the Cameron Sporting Complex in Maffra, with the women’s matchup at 5.30pm followed by the men at 7.30pm.
Prior to the CBL matches, the two clubs will come together in a series of practice matches between all their junior squad teams, as has become a tradition in recent years.
