The Tamworth Thunderbolts' representative teams have pulled off a series of stunning performances in the second round of the Junior Waratah North Eastern Junior League, as four of its six teams went undefeated over the weekend.
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64 games were held at the Tamworth Sports Dome across Saturday and Sunday, featuring games in the Under 16s and Under 18s Boys and Girls divisions.
Tamworth, which had one team in the Under 16s Boys, Under 16s Girls, and Under 18s Girls, and three in the Under 18s Boys, proved formidable in front of their home crowds.
"There would've been 200 kids playing, and through the course of the weekend we would've had a couple of thousand people through the stadium," Thunderbolts president Scott Ward said.
"It was just a really nice atmosphere, it was nice to be there and not have too many restrictions."
The Under 16s sides, the Under 18s Girls, and Under 18s Thunderbolts Blue all enjoyed unblemished results over the weekend.
Initially, 83 games were scheduled to be played, but teams from Lismore and Byron Bay were forced to pull out due to the flooding in their regions.
Although the Tamworth basketball committee was confident that its sides had the ability to perform well leading in, Ward said the association was still pleasantly surprised by the sheer dominance on display from the majority of its teams.
"We were hopeful that some of our teams would do quite well," he said.
"Our Under 16s Girls team went through the regular season last year undefeated, and Greg Irwin who's coaching that team does a great job with the girls, so we were hopeful.
"I coach the Under 18s Women's team, and I was hoping to come away with at least one win from the weekend, so to get three, I was very happy.
"The expectations for the 18 Boys are fairly high, so I was optimistic that they could go undefeated.
"So it wasn't completely unexpected, but you can never go in expecting to win games. You've got to do the hard work to make sure you get over the line."
Given the long-term nature of the tournament, with finals scheduled to take place across July and August, Ward said to get these early wins under their belts was crucial for the Thunderbolts.
"It really has positioned us well, because we just don't know what might happen for the rest of the season," he said.
"If we get hit with COVID or something like that, we know we've at least got these wins in the bank and we've positioned ourselves well to go into the finals in reasonable shape."
The Under 16s Boys currently sit in third place on the ladder with four wins and four losses. The Under 16s Girls are in second, with a record of six and one, and the Under 18s Girls are in first with seven wins from seven games.
In the Under 18s, Tamworth Blue team is in second with six wins and one loss, Tamworth Dark is in fifth with three wins and three losses, and Tamworth Light is in eighth without a win to its name.
Round three is scheduled to take place on the weekend of May 7 and 8 in Ballina and Gosford.
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