A CHAMPION team will always better a team of champions, and the Orange Eagles under 16 boys’ outfit proved that during the final of the 2015 Waratah Western Junior League Finals in Orange on Sunday.
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Every member of the Eagles’ under 16s boys’ side scored points in Orange’s 70-53 victory over the Griffith Demons, led primarily by Cooper Tarleton’s 24 and nine points from Nathan Lynch.
Coach Steve Scott said his side had strength from the point to the post, and believed every member of his 10-strong squad was able to heavily contribute to the division two triumph.
“I knew we’d have a team that would be verging on division one or the top of division two,” he said.
“We really had a balanced team. We didn’t have any state level players like Bathurst, but we had a very evenly spread level of talent, which helped us against Griffith. We were strong from top to bottom.”
After finishing the three-round stages of the tournament in fifth, Scott’s Eagles played Griffith in the division two major semi-final and, in arguably their best win of their season, were forced to come from behind to claim a 62-44 triumph and the first passage through to the 2015 grand final.
Griffith then had to fight for a place in the decider, and did so admirably over the West Wyalong Wildcats Silver outfit, winning 68-63.
But the Wildcats never really stood a chance against the ultra-consistent Eagles. The hosts stamped their authority on the division courtesy of a 17-point win, one every player is now savouring.
“We’ll lose half of the side next year. But the under 14s boys have been really successful, and we’ll get some of the guys who went through that division one undefeated. We’ll be strong again next year,” Scott said.
In the other under 16s, the Eagles’ girls’ outfit achieved one of the more memorable turnarounds in the space of 12 months.
The Eagles went from last in division two in 2014 to second in division one this year, going down against a red-hot Bathurst Goldminers 69-37 in the final.
Orange also had three Most Valuable Players crowned following the tournament, with Clary Annis-Brown the stand-out from Scott’s under 16s outfit, Jayden Baker the MVP from the Eagles’ under 14 division one premiership winning side and Joe Miller earning honours after Orange went down to Griffith in the under 18s boys’ division one grand final.