MANDURAH Magic’s Ashlee Sidebottom returned from the Under 20 WA State Women’s National Championship in Dandenong with a silver medal.
Sidebottom, one of WA’s strongest performers, did her best to help her state claim gold but it was not to be with WA defeated by Victoria in the final 75-41.
In the round stage WA won four games and lost two to finish in third position.
This set up a preliminary final with second-placed New South Wales, who had previously defeated WA by one point in the pool stages.
WA, led by a 17-point effort by Sidebottom, was able to even the ledger with a 12-point victory to set up the grand final playoff against Victoria, who had defeated South Australia by 30 points.
WA had had fallen five points short against Victoria early in the competition and was looking for redemption, but the local side was wiped off the court in a 34-point loss.
Sidebottom once again top scored for WA with 16 points to finish her campaign as WA’s highest point scorer and was the sixth-highest averaging player for points scored per game for the championship with 13.62.
In the other pool games, WA defeated South Australia by eight points and Queensland by 13 points followed by big victories over Australian Capital Territory (31 points) and Tasmania (45 points).
Sidebottom will return for the Mandurah Magic this season with the side’s first game on March 13.
