The Under 16.1 Girls took everybody by surpise on Queen's Birthday Weekend by going undefeated and taking out the A Grade Grand Final in the Nunwading Tournament.

Despite some inconsistent results during the season, the talent level and competitive nature of the group was evident on the weekend as the girls managed to continually knock off higher ranked opponents. 

The Falcons, who currently sit third in VJL1, had a tough draw for the weekend, facing two VC teams, another VJL1 team and three teams from interstate, while avoiding two other VC teams in the group stage.

On (early) Saturday morning we took on the host team Nunawading, and in a scrappy affair the girls came out with a three point win. It was a great way to start a weekend where the expectations were more about just competing that actually winning.

After a nice 10 hour break, we then faced the Hills Hornets, who had travelled down from the Harbour City. It was really a battle between the size and strength of the Hornets, and the Falcons' outside shooting. In the first half the shooting got us ahead, but the Hornets chipped away and it was a close finish once again with the Falcons getting up by 6 in a high scoring affair.

The night shift on Saturday once again had an interstate flavour to it as we went up against South Australia's Forestville Eagles, and early on it looked like our good form was to continue, but fatigue and perhaps some complacency set in the the Eagles stole the lead, and only some late shooting allowed us to recover the game, with another three point win.

Another VC, team, Kilsyth, awaited us on Sunday morning, and this was an odd game. The Falcons were held scoreless for 12 minutes in the first half, to fall behind by 8 points. The Cobras then went 14 minutes without a basket, but such was the dourness of the contest they maintained a small lead. It was only in the last minute the Falcons actually hit the front and somehow edged out a one point win in the lowest scoring game of the weekend.

With a semi finals berth in sight, the Falcons managed to keep their winning run alive with a close fought win over fellow VJL1 team Knox (2), and then completed a clean sweep of the pool games by taking care of the West Adelaide Bearcats in the evening. The Falcons had earned an unexpected finals spot, and in even more of a surprise they have finished on top, winning games by close margins all weekend.

The biggest challenge yet awaited the Falcons in the semi final with VC top 10 team Diamond Valley (2) showing the Falcons early on how the top tier teams play. The Falcons were down by double figures early and the unbeated weekend looked to be coming undone. Liv Barton sparked the Falcons with three three-pointers off the bench, and the Falcons chipped their way back into the game. A tense second half was broken open with Tess O hitting a three while getting fouled, and Lola knocking a three of her own down on the next play for a remarkable six point possession. The Falcons went on a tear after than and ended up with their biggest win of the weekend, and booked a place in the Big Dance the next day against Melbourne Tigers (1).

A big crowd at Nunawading the next day saw a game that wasn't especially clean, but was especially close. The Tigers held a small lead for most of the game, but it never exceeded four points. The Falcons hung tough and with five minutes to go the scores were tied at 30-30. The next five minutes didn't yield a field goal for either team, but the Falcons were able to get ahead from the free throw line, with late game free throw specialist Laura showing no nerves in the last minute. We then survived a very close attempt from the Tigers on the buzzer to register a 33-30 win and the unlikeliest of Tournament Championships.

The Falcons beat all four VC teams they played over the weekend among their 8-0 win-loss record, with margins for the weekend of 3, 6, 3, 1, 4, 9, 10 and 3. A great effort for a team not playing in VC this season, and now the focus turns to trying to compete for the VJL1 title in a tough competition.