A TEAM of teenage girls from Aldworth Arrows Basketball Club exceeded expectations by claiming second place in a four-team tournament held in Belgium.

The trip was part-funded by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council as part of their twinning programme, with the exchange between the Arrows and the Castors Braine I’Alleud taking place for a 14th year.

A 12-strong team from the Basingstoke club made the trip, including eight girls still eligible to play under-13 basketball. Their warm-up match against the Castors National League team showed exactly what the girls would be up against as the hosts won 59-21.

However, the match taught the Arrows a lot and they improved greatly in their first match of the tournament, despite a 33-9 defeat at the hands of the hosts.

Next up was a hard-fought match against Nivelles, with the Arrows managing to score the last two baskets of the match to secure a 28-25 victory, with Elsa Anderson and Bethany Horan both scoring 10 points.

That set up a final match against Royal IV that would decide who finished second and third in the table. Defences dominated but the Arrows came out on top, Anderson scoring eight points in a 17-14 win that secure the runners-up spot.

Anderson ended the tournament with 26 points to her name, while Horan amassed 20 and Elizabeth Butler-Clack chipped in with 13. The other players were Lakiesha Maxey (four points), Chloe France, Chloe Tiller, Millie Morrison, Danielle Purdue (four points), Celine Williams (two points), Bethan Waite (two points), Cerys Fisher (two points) and Eva Dean (two points).