SOUTHERN PENINSULA Sharks’ under-16 Girls have topped off their thrilling season as champions of the MUVJBL under-16 Girls Victorian Championship on Friday 21 September.
The under-16s side defeated the Dandenong Rangers 64-56 in the grand final which was played at the State Basketball Centre.
It has been an incredibly successful season for the group of girls who also won the Basketball Victoria Country Championship earlier in the year at Shepparton.
To add to the side’s success, four of the girls, Charlie Dobson, Lani Thornton, Paige Price and Gemma Simon, were members of the Basketball Victoria Country State team which won silver at the Australian Junior Championships in July.
The same four players were also part of the Southern Peninsula Sharks’ Senior Women’s side which finished runners-up in the Big V State Championship Women’s division.
Southern Peninsula Sharks basketball operations manager Lucas Allen said it was a “crazy year of success for these girls”.
“This would be one of the most successful under-16 Girls’ seasons that we’ve had at Southern Peninsula Sharks,” Allen said.
“They had a few weeks there where they had a few girls at Nationals which can happen when you have players competing at a high level like that, but then having some of those girls involved at the senior level it definitely helps with their progression which made a big difference in the end.”
Southern Peninsula Sharks also had further success with their under-14 Girls side which finished runners-up in the MUVJBL under-14 Girls Victorian Championship Reserve division.
In other basketball news for the Southern Peninsula Sharks, the Big V held their awards night on Saturday 22 September, where Olivia Pollerd took out the State Championship Women’s Youth Player of The Year Award.
Jaz Shelley was also named in the State Championship Women’s All Star Five and so too Colin Voss, who was named in the Division Two Men’s All Star Five.
