BASKETBALL
JUNIOR COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
THE Australia Country Junior Basketball Cup (ACJBC) came and went last week, with a range of local young guns hitting the court.
Hosted in Albury-Wodonga, junior players from across the country arrived with upwards of 60 teams and 700 players across the week-long annual event.
While the tournament features some of the best basketballers in each of the four age groups in both boys and girls, its primary purpose is to develop this next generation into confident and hopefully formidable senior players.
A Traralgon contingent of Kelsey Reed (Under 14 Girls) Fletcher Adams (U16 Boys) and Will Hamilton (U18 Boys) all represented Victoria Country in its Bushrangers outfit.
Morwell was also represented strongly, with under 16 girls Marley Alimpic, Olvia Ouchirenko (both Bushrangers) and Virginia Daley (Goldminers) holding their own.
Long-time Latrobe Valley basketball constituent Gail Macfarlane was also coach for the U14 Girls Goldminers, which featured Moe’s Payton Buhagiar while Seth Fozard (also Moe) was on the Goldminers Under 16 boys squad.
Traralgon had victors in three grades across the boys and girls divisions with Reed, Adams and Hamilton featuring on each of the winning Bushrangers squads.
The U14 Girls Bushrangers defeated rival Victoria Country Goldminers in the semi-final by a narrow six points after going undefeated in all prior rounds before taking the big one comfortably over New South Wales Waratahs by 17 points.
Adams was prominent for the U16 Boys Bushrangers, compiling 37 points across competition as they went on to win the Grand Final over the Goldminers by 22 points.
Local phenomenon Hamilton began impressively in the under 18s with multiple double digit performances, before sustaining an injury that kept him out of the Bushrangers next two games through the finals series.
However, Hamilton returned for the Grand Final where his team trampled the Goldminers by 15 points and was again a factor with 10 points in the decider.
OVERLAPPING the ACJBC was the Southern Cross Challenge held at the State Basketball Centre, which additionally gives elite juniors the opportunity in development squads.
Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia each enter country and metro teams, while ACT competes with a singular side.
Traralgon had three representatives in Goy Deng (U14 Boys Bushrangers), Will Jones (U15 Boys Goldminers) and Jack Scurrah (U15 Boys Bushrangers), while Morwell’s Aaliyah Judilla featured for the U15 Girls Bushrangers.
The Southern Cross Challenge ran from Friday, January 17 to Monday, January 20 – with final results playing out after the Express’ deadline.
