Bathurst Goldminers win three Western Junior League grand finals on their home court

The Goldminers continued their recent run of strong performances at the top age group by taking out both the boys and girls under 18s deciders and the under 14s girls team added another title to Bathurst's dream weekend.

It was a big effort on Saturday from the Bathurst 18s girls who survived a tight semi-final against Orange Eagles, 57-53, before going on to win 64-63 in a grand final thriller against Griffith Demons.

Bathurst and Lithgow Lazers had traded wins during the under 18s boys regular season but in the game that mattered most the Goldminers came away 84-76 victors.

The 18s boys also had to play to their full potential in the semi-finals in order to be 80-76 winners over Griffith.

It was a case of sweet revenge for the Goldminers under 14s girls who knocked over the only team who had bested them during the regular season, Griffith, in a big 55-35 grand final success.

Goldminers' Zara Phillips (under 14s girls), Kyle Allen (under 18s boys) and Kendra O'Keffe (under 18s girls) were all named the most valuable players in their respective grand finals.

Bathurst almost made it four championships when their under 12s side narrowly went down 58-53 to the Narrandera Knights in the grand final - a team that had beaten the Goldminers by 17 points during the regular season.

Goldminers representative co-ordinator Jade Pheils said the treble of championships was a brilliant moment for Bathurst basketball.

"It was an exceptional weekend for Bathurst, one that probably exceeded the expectations we had for the season," she said.

"We obviously head out there aiming high and looking to achieve our best but we're going out there not only playing the best teams in the Central West but the best teams from the Riverina region as well, so it's a great achievement to just finish in the finals - let alone win them."

Bathurst successfully defended the under 18s boys and girls titles they won in 2019.

It continues the city's dominant streak at under 18s in recent years, with the girls having won every competition since 2015 and the boys picking up championships in 2016 and 2017.

"We seem to sort ourselves out as our juniors come through the age groups and they seem to finish strongly in the under 16s and 18s, and we achieved that again this year with the 18s boys and girls," Pheils said.

"The under 12s girls have had a couple of years together now and they're starting to really string it together. It's a similar story of our under 14s girls who are now playing really well together as a team. They're getting the job done.

"The under 12s finished third in their pool but came through to finish runners-up and our 14s girls came from second as well to win their final. Hopefully there's a big future ahead for our girls."

In other grand finals the 12s boys decider saw Leeton beat Dubbo 47-46, the 14s boys went the way of Lithgow over Leeton 68-47, West Wyalong won the 16s boys decider 59-56 over Griffith while Narrandera took down Griffith 58-53 in the 16s girls.

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