THE Hawkesbury Jets under-16s girls team have gone undefeated throughout their regular season.
The girls defeated the Norths Bears 73-53 on Saturday at the Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium to finish the regular season without a loss.
Coach Peter Lewis said that for the first time all season he was nervous before the game.
‘‘Knowing we had such a close game with the Bears last time [made me nervous],’’ he said.
Lewis said it was an impressive performance from his team, which was made easier by the home crowd support.
‘‘We had all three junior teams at home and the junior teams all stayed to watch the girls,’’ he said.
‘‘There was great support and cheering from the sidelines and I’d like to thank the spectators that stuck around for the game and all season.’’
The Jets entered the game wary of the Bears, who took it to the Jets in the previous game the teams played.
While the Jets went undefeated during the season, the team often had slow starts. Lewis said the team bucked that trend at the weekend.
‘‘The girls all played their part and everyone played well,’’ he said.
‘‘We are usually a team that doesn’t start too well but we did start well at the weekend.
‘‘We let the other team get back into it in the second quarter but we ended up finishing the game strongly and we won by 20.’’
Lewis said Taylor Newbould was the best player for the Jets.
‘‘She was just everywhere on the court and made a lot of tough baskets,’’ he said.
‘‘She is not a tall player by any stretch but made some tough baskets in between some tall players.
‘‘Kayleigh Tolson [also played well] she boxed out really well and got a lot of rebounds which gave us a chance to score offensive.’’
Lewis said he let assistant coach Maddie Cartwright take the reins during the game.
‘‘I let her make the decisions ... she gave the starting five, she ran the show and called subs,’’ he said.
‘‘It was the last game of the regular season. Now is a better time than any to give her an opportunity, I would have taken the reins if I felt I had to but I wanted to give her that experience.’’
At the weekend, the under- 16s boys defeated Macarthur Heat 93-60 while the under- 14s boys lost 71-47 to Macarthur Heat.