Perfect weekend for Narrogin Nets under-15 girls squad on their way to division five State title

The Narrogin Nets under-15 girls team was unstoppable in Perth at the weekend cruising to a division five grand final triumph at the 2023 Basketball WA State Championships.

The Nets enjoyed an unbeaten six-game lead-up to the grand final where they claimed victory by a single point over the Eaton Eagles.

Nets coach Rohan Edgley and assistant coach Todd Hayes were courtside as Narrogin secured the dramatic 28-27 win at Bendat on Sunday.

“It was pretty nervous times,” Hayes said.

“The girls played brilliantly throughout the weekend, they played seven games in total and had some good wins, they played really well as a team.

“Their defensive pressure was unbelievable, they turned defence into attack allowing them to score and they had a great weekend.”

The two sides were hard to separate in the first half with Narrogin’s Alexis Edgley (five points) and Isabella Budby (four) keeping Eaton’s score in check.

Edgley and Budby kept the pressure on and a two-point contribution from Edgley in the final minute sent Narrogin locked with their rivals at 11-all.

Narrogin’s defence continued to cause headaches for Eaton in the second half and Jasmine Cronin made her presence felt early.

With the support of her teammates Cronin would go on to score eight points over the Eagles while the Nets’ Chelsea Ugle delivered a game-changing five minutes, sinking the grand final’s only three-pointer.

Eaton’s Sevilo Uru and Kacey Narkle hit two points each in reply to put the Eagles ahead for the first time in the second half 21-20 with nine minutes left.

Cronin would put the Nets back on track but the lead would be short-lived as the two teams again traded baskets.

Two points from Maylesha Turvey in the final five would be added to by Isabella Corrasaniti giving Narrogin a three-point buffer.

A late exchange of fouls would benefit Eaton as Narkle made two free throws to reduce Narrogin’s lead to a single point.

In a tense finish Cronin and Narkle went to the line in the dying stages, Cronin scoring two points to get the Nets to 28.

Narkle (13 points) followed with two of her own but Eaton fell short by the smallest margin.

Hayes attributed the great result to the Narrogin Junior Basketball Association’s intense Narrogin Nets basketball program.

“They’re getting high-performance coaching, nutrition and wellbeing coaching,” he said.

“All that’s been headed by Jo Thomas, big shout out to Jo.

“It’s something that the association’s never had before and the dividends are being shown.”

Narrogin also had two boys’ teams head to the championships — the under-13 boys 1 team finishing with three losses and one win, while the under-13 boys 2 team got some valuable experience despite not winning a game.