The under-14 boys, under-16 girls, under-18 girls and under-18 boys played some exceptional basketball and made it through to their division finals, but unfortunately none could come away with victory.

Tournament committee head Nicole Lakin said the extra pressure of the home court may have affected Horsham’s teams.

“It’s hard to win at your own tournament,” Lakin said. “There’s more expectation and a lot more pressure on the kids with all their family and friends there.”

The under-18 boys team faced the closest heartbreak, losing to Mildura by just four points in Sunday’s final, 43-39. Coach Damien Kilpatrick said it was a difficult one to take. 

“The boys deserved to win and should’ve won it,” he said. “But as disappointing as it was, the boys had a bloody good tournament, and we’ll learn a lot from it.”

Lakin, who also coached the under-16 and under-18 girls teams, said the quality of basketball played was something to be proud of. 

“I could not be happier with the progress of our teams,” she said. “Some of the passages of play looked incredible, it looked like professional basketball. It brought a smile to my face, it was like that’s why you train and that’s why you work so hard.”

The under-16 boys, under-14 girls, under-12 boys and under-12 girls all finished third in a great effort across the board. 

“It was a great tournament, everything went smoothly and the town was absolutely buzzing,” Lakin said. “Everyone represented the town so well.”