2016 Australian under-14 Basketball Club Championships: Hornets start with a win

The side came up against Geraldton and defeated the Western Australian team 66-41.

Coach Damien Kilpatrick said his side started nervously but soon started playing its own game.

“We were 6-2 down early after missing easy layups and making bad turnovers,” he said.

“Once we got on top of the court and started to run we put a run together and led at the first break.

“We started slow each quarter but then our fitness kicked in and we’d get some good points on the board.”

Ben Hobbs led the way scoring 23 points in the win while Sam Breuer notched 21 of his own in what was a good first game for the side.

Kilpatrick said Breur played a vital role shutting down a key opposition player.

“I watched Geraldton train on Sunday and saw they had a couple of really athletic players,” he said.

“We swung our defensive structures around a little bit.

“Cody Bryan also shut down their ball handler and created a lot of turnovers.”

The Hornets side led 32-18 and Kilpatrick took the opportunity to give his bench players more of a run in the second half.

“We could have won by 10 or 15 more but I swung with the action and we kept ticking it over,” he said.

“We’re taking each game by each quarter. We won four quarters and we won the game.”

The side will play two games on the second day to complete the pool fixtures.

The Hornets will play Sturt at midday before tackling North West Tasmania tomorrow night.

The two sides played each other on the first day with Sturt coming away with the win.

Kilpatrick said he watched some of the game and expected the Tasmanian team to match up well with Geraldton.

“Sturt won comfortably as expected, but I’m not going into our game against them thinking we can’t beat them,” he said.

“The game is there for us if we want it but things will have to go our way.

“We’ll throw everything at them.”

Following the completion of the pool section the competition will be divided into championship and shield divisions.

A second win on Tuesday will secure second place for pool stage and a spot in the championship division.

“That would mean we will finish in the top 12 and that is our aim at this point,” he said.

The side is continuing to train twice a day while at the championships.

“A lot of money and effort has gone into getting us here so it’s not a holiday for the boys,” Kilpatrick said.

Fixtures for days three and four will be determined by where the sides finish in their pools.

Finals will begin on Thursday afternoon and the champions will be crowned on Saturday.