EDENHOPE’S Sacha McDonald won a silver medal at the School Sport Victoria national championships on Friday as part of the Victorian 15 and under netball team.
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The team fell just short of a gold medal, losing to NSW in the final 46-36.
McDonald was picked as a bottom-age player and played at goal shooter throughout the tournament.
She had previously represented School Sport Victoria as a 12 and under player, winning a gold medal in 2012.
McDonald said she did not expect much court time as a bottom-age player, but featured in six of Victoria’s nine games.
Although she did not play in the gold medal match, McDonald played a crucial role in Victoria’s semi-final win over defending champion Queensland, shooting 11 goals.
Her best game came on Tuesday last week against Tasmania.
She scored 23 goals to lead the Victorian team to a 53-20 victory.
McDonald shot 78 goals at an average of 13 a game during the tournament.
She only played in one loss, to eventual gold medallist NSW in the round-robin stage.
Other notable games were a 16-goal performance against the Northern Territory and an 18-goal showing against the ACT.
McDonald said she was pleased with her form in the tournament.
“With the court time I got, I thought I did pretty well,” she said.
“The competition was pretty tough, but when I got my goaling statistics back I was very happy with them.
“For the whole tournament I shot at 92 per cent.”
McDonald’s opportunities were limited by top-age Victorian goal shooter Tahysha Salanoa, who was named in the Australian Merit Team at the end of the tournament.
McDonald said her next goal was to qualify for the School Sport Victoria team again next year and be named in the Australian Merit Team.
“It was pretty tough for me to break into the team because our starting seven was really good and it would have been hard to make any changes,” she said.
“I’m still happy with the court time I did get, and next year working towards the Australian team is my goal.”
McDonald will now try out for the Wimmera-Mallee team to compete at the Netball Victoria State Titles in early October.