Horsham Basketball leaders have hailed the weekend’s Horsham Junior Classic tournament a success, with strong entries and plenty of local winners.

About 80 teams entered the tournament, with junior players from Wimmera and Grampians-based associations including Horsham, Ararat, Stawell, Nhill, Dimboola and Warracknabeal rubbing shoulders with representative squads from across Victoria.

Horsham teams won four grand finals across the weekend, with the boys under-14 A and B squads each taking out their respective divisions, while the association’s girls under-16 and under-14 A squads were also division one winners.

Ararat was crowned champion in the under-18 girls division two, with its boys under-18 squad finishing runner-up in division two.

Warracknabeal took out the boys under-16 division one title, with its girls under-14 squad losing to Horsham in the under-14 division one grand final.

Stawell’s under-14 division two boys team was the sole grand finalist from the association, finishing runner-up to Horsham.

Horsham Basketball president Matt Lovel said the association was thrilled with the tournament’s success.

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“It all went well. I was talking with one of the board members about how smoothly it went,” he said.
“We’ve had some good reports already from it, and we’ll go back and look at some things that we might be able to improve as well.

“Talking to some businesses in town, they noticed the influx of people as well, which was good to see. It doesn’t just benefit Horsham Basketball, but Horsham as a whole.”

Selected

There was more good news for Horsham junior basketballers with last week’s announcement of the Basketball Victoria State Development Program athletes for 2025-26.

Hornet Luella Burke was picked for the program alongside Chavi Sulic and Rani Potter, both of whom are from Horsham but are now playing for Ballarat.

Lovel said the association was proud to see the players named to the program, which aims to identify and develop Victoria’s most talented young players.

“It’s a fantastic effort. It’s great to see those kids doing well,” he said.

“We also had Henry Taylor and Steph Plazzer named as emergencies for the country cup as well, so that’s fantastic. To have all those kids in there is unreal.”

Under 12 Boys Div 1 – Portland 36 def Horsham 29

 MVP: Flynn Reeves

Under 12 Boys Div 2 – Colac 41 def Terang 23

 MVP: Finn Hay

Under 12 Girls Div 1 – Terang 23 def Colac 13

 MVPs: Willow Willis & Summer Davis

Under 12 Girls Div 2 – Colac 13 def Terang 5

 MVP: Laylah Rodda

Under 14 Boys Div 1 – Horsham 57 def Maryborough 18

 MVP: Tex Askew

Under 14 Boys Div 2 – Horsham 56 def Stawell 30

 MVP: Jacob Dossett

Under 14 Girls Div 1 – Horsham 34 def Warracknabeal 25

 MVP: Greta Smith

Under 14 Girls Div 2 – Terang 55 def Warrnambool 12

 MVP: Essi Myers

Under 16 Boys Div 1 – Warracknabeal 34 def Portland 24

 MVP: Tyler Templeton

Under 16 Boys Div 2 – Maryborough 56 def Terang 25

 MVP: Jack Smith

Under 16 Girls Div 1 – Horsham 19 def Portland 15

 MVP: Arlee Wilson

Under 16 Girls Div 2 – Warrnambool 18 def Terang 16

 MVP: Violet McKinley

Under 18 Boys Div 1 – Colac 52 def Portland 31

 MVP: Isaac Tate

Under 18 Boys Div 2 – Maryborough 33 def Ararat 30

 MVP: Jayden Humphrey

Under 18 Girls Div 1 – Colac 40 def Terang 16

 MVP: Izzy Spence

Under 18 Girls Div 2 – Ararat 44 def Maryborough 29

 MVP: Ruby Thomas

The entire November 12, 2025 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!