Tornadoes wind up season with championship win

Minor premiers Tornadoes Black defeated Bulls Maroon 86-80 to win the 2016-17 Bunbury Basketball Association’s Dale Alcock Homes A-Grade championship on Saturday night at the South West Sports Centre.

The game was tight throughout with the lead never reaching double figures as the sides battled hard, with Maroon having a four-point quarter-time lead.

Black took a 43-42 half-time advantage after a good second term, setting up what would be a thrilling finish.

Black extended their lead to six points at the final break, but Maroon would not go away.

An eight-point run by Maroon turned it into a four-point deficit, before Maroon’s Trent Worthington fouled out and Black ran away with the game.

The Shane Goff-coached Black side had an even spread of scorers with Carey Watkins hitting a team-high 17 points, followed by Ryan Smith (16 points), Cameron Raper (15 points), Nat van Dijk (14 points) and Jason Smith (13 points).

Worthington played his best game of the season to win the Most Valuable Player of the grand final, scoring 37 points.

Teammates Paddy Phillips (21 points), James Goodlad (12 points) and Tom Harper (eight points) were solid in the absence of leading scorer Wade Hitchcock, who missed the game.

In the end-of-season awards, Busselton’s Matthew Mansfield won the Most Valuable Player award for the season, while Bulls Gold’s Tre Nichols was runner-up.

The pair joined Hitchcock (Bulls Maroon), Jeremy Paull (Aces Navy) and Brody England (Aces White) to make up the All-Star team for the season.