The U17 Hay Lions Netball team travelled to Murrabit to take on Wandella in the Golden rivers Netball League Grand Final and came away with a 2 goal win in a toughly contested game.
The girls were so excited that the U17 football team had won and they were determined to join them in the celebrations.
They started a little slow with some unforced errors due to nerves but they settled and started to play their usual well drilled game.
At the start of the second quarter the girls went out with determination to take control of the game but the Wandella team are tough and it became a very physically contested game, everyone wanted the ball, every ball was fought for and the Lions kept their composure and began putting the pressure on their rivals. Belle Barnes had her best game of the season, blocking the pass, intercepting, slowing down the play and making space for her team to get the ball through to the shooters. Ruby Stewart and Chloe Slattery did not drop the momentum throughout the game and in the last quarter made it impossible for the Wandella shooters to take the lead from Hay, they intercepted and rebounded with guts and determination, they were throwing themselves at everything, they wanted the win. Grace Christensen and Hannah Stewart had the task of controlling the centre court and they did this throughout the entire game. Wandella have a very dominate centre player who they rely on and Grace and Hannah played all over her and took away her power. Our shooters Lily Tassell and Ellie Hicks took a little while to settle their nerves but once they had their eye in they displayed their shooting power and took shots from anywhere in the circle and ensured our team came out the winners. Lily made some incredible intercepts in the final quarter from the base line and converted those into goals which put our team ahead in the final 10 minutes of the game. From then on the girls knew they had to convert from every centre pass they had and avoid any turnovers, they played smart netball and managed to win 26 to 24. Neither team was giving in and they gave everything they had until the final whistle blew.
Every player of the team stepped up and had their best game of the season, the girls are very skilled and deserved the win. The support from the families, friends, the U17 football team and the other clubs on the sideline played a big part in the girls winning and we would like to thank you all. A special thanks to Katie Arandt who was our bench player and support throughout the season, Kate Hicks for being our First Aid officer, Bronwyn Hicks for time keeping and Rhonda Slattery for scoring the grand final game, without our volunteers we do not have the games. Thank you to the players for an amazing season and a spectacular grand final.