Young Taree Tornadoes basketballers compete well in their first weekend away.

Posted on 12 March 2023

The first weekend of the 2023 Spalding Waratah North Eastern Junior League for U12 and U14 girls and boys is all over and as members of the Taree Tornadoes family head for home here’s a review of the games played in Tamworth.

The Taree Tornadoes U12 girls started the competition in red hot form to record two wins, one over Tamworth 30 to 4 and the other against the Central Coast Rebels 35-25. They then fell to Port Macquarie 47 to 23 after a gutsy effort to finish the weekend in second place on the competition ladder, one spot behind Port Macquarie the ladders leaders.

The U12 boys travelled to Tamworth for two games and came home undefeated with a first up win against Tamworth  59 to 14 before a hard fought battle against Central Coast Waves which found them on the right side of the ledger at the full time siren to record a very good victory 62 to 60. The Waves started the better of the two teams to be in front 19-16 after the first quarter, 30-25 at the long break and 44-38 heading into the final quarter before the Tornadoes made a strong run to the finish line to record a hard fought victory.

The Tornadoes U14 girls also returned home with an unblemished record after their three games getting past the Central Coast Waves 44 to 26, Maitland 24-17 and Tamworth 51-39. The big result was the victory over Maitland, who after the first weekend sit on top of the competition ladder recording three wins from four games with the Taree Tornadoes being the only team able to record a win against them.

The Taree Tornadoes U14 boys started their campaign in fine form to record a 75-34 win over Tamworth. They were then too good for the Central Coast Waves and Cessnock before rounding out their weekend games with a hard-fought win against Maitland Red 58 to 33 to see the team sitting on top of the competition ladder.

Thank you to all players, coaches, referees and parents who represented and supported the Taree Tornadoes junior representative basketball program in what turned out to be a very good weekend of junior basketball.

As well as the performance of the teams, our referees, Stormi Beale, Lachlan Adams. Claire Fleming and Josh Gillard, also represented Taree Basketball well and made a big contribution to the smooth running of the weekend event.