Wangaratta broke through for its first B grade crown with a thrilling 39-38 salute against North Albury – sealed after the final whistle by substitute Tessa Willett.

Willett was introduced at half-time with immediate impact, finishing with 14 goals, including the match-winner at the death after drawing a contact foul.

“I can’t really believe it to be honest,” Willett said after she was awarded best on court.

“It was hard coming on at half-time and I didn’t know if I could get into it because there was so much pressure.

“I’ve never had to do that (shoot after the whistle) in a final, I actually saw the umpire get up and I knew I had to be calm and shoot it like a normal shot.

“When I felt a push in my back I knew that was good because I’d have time to pull myself together and put it up.”

Wangaratta coach Lou Byrne said bringing Willett on proved to be a game changer.

“We had some crucial turnovers and accounted for them, so we knew it was going to go down to the wire from then on,” Byrne said.

“Liv Richards and Freya Clarke in the defence end were just great, that combination worked really well.

“Our goalies and mid-court worked so hard through there.

“There’s four of them that have two (grand finals) under their belt in two years.

“They were in a losing one last year, but I think they didn’t want that feeling ever again and that’s what spurred them on even harder.

“They’re so young, they’re 16 ranging to 18-19 and there’s only one that’s 27.

“It was fantastic how they kept it together and it shows where we’re heading in our club.

“We’ve got this great backup from our youth and the next few years will be really exciting.”

The C grade decider was goal-for-goal for most of the game with North Albury eventually prevailing 40-36 – exacting revenge on Lavington who beat them this time last year.

Hoppers’ captain Andrea Wendt was delighted. 

“It was a hard-fought game and hard-fought finals, so we’re really happy to have a good outcome,” she said.

“We were really determined to have a good first quarter and they got back a little in the second quarter.

“There’s no games after this one, so we put it all out there on the court.

“I think all the girls did a great job and we couldn’t do it without each other.”

North Albury were also winners in the under 16 grand final, edging out Wodonga Raiders 55-52 after extra time.

The score was locked at 45 apiece after four quarters.

MORE 2018 GRAND FINAL COVERAGE