Our U14 representatives at the National Club Championships were only slightly behind some of the junior powerhouses of national basketball interstate over in Sydney - but showed plenty of spirit on and off court. Pictures by Basketball South Australia
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Girls
Eastern Mavericks
Tournament Result: 6th (Girls Championship Division)
Highlights: The Mavs started with a win on day one over the Penrith Panthers 51-33 before a tough double header on day two. That involved a loss to the always strong Nunawading Spectres then a win over the Townsville Fire to take them to 2-1 and the top 12 of the championship division. The Mavs then took on the Warrnambool Mermaids downing them to setup an all SA showdown on day four. The loss to the Flames landing them against the Southern District Spartans – their hot shooting putting the Mavs into the positional playoffs for 5th to 8th. A 10 point win over the Sandringham Sabres 49-39 saw them into a playoff for 5th place against the Cavaliers. The Cavs got the Mavs 41-34 but gave our SA girls the highest finish of the division for their state in 6th place.
This team also took out the Jenny Cheesman Fair Play award for the championships representing the state off-court as well as on it.
Norwood Flames
Tournament Result: 7th (Girls Championship Division)
Highlights: The Norwood Flames went deep into the club championships with some solid wins in their 6 and 2 record for the week. The Flames knocked off some well known junior club names along the way to their 5th to 8th positional games including the Melbourne Tigers 47-26 on day one. Day two was a clean sweep with two wins – over the Willeton Tigers 61-43 and Newcastle Falcons 74-23 before day three saw them overcome the Mermaids 59-41. Day four was the clash of the Grand Finalists from SA with the Flames overcoming the Mavs 61-46 but then suffering their first loss in a tough quarter final to the Mackay Meteorettes 30-55 and landing themselves in the positional games for 5th to 8th.
The Casey Cavaliers are always a tough task and it proved the case in a thrilling contest going down by a few buckets 55-59 but then secured the 7th spot in the overall standings with a strong 67-41 win over the Sandringham Sabres.
Sturt Sabres
Tournament Result: 9th (Girls Championship Division)
Highlights: The Sabres started their campaign securing second spot in their pool taking them through to the final 12. The 2-4 record landed them in the 9th to 12th place playoffs which they won through to finish with a 4-7 record overall. They took out the Illawarra Hawks 49-45 with then a tight two-point win over the Mermaids 37-35 to secure 9th place – the third SA team in the top ten for the division.
Boys
Woodville Warriors
Tournament Result: 8th (Boys Championship Division)
Highlights: The Warriors went 1-1 on the first day before grabbing a second win to be top of their pool. They hit a snag with a tough 20-point loss to the Spectres 60-80 then winning an SA showdown to the South Adelaide Panthers by five points 56-51. That placed them into the finals drawing a quarter final against the Rockhampton Rockets going down 67-81 to land them in the 5th to 8th playoffs. The Whittlesea Pacers won the tough contest 71-81 to setup a 7th place finish for the Warriors but couldn’t strike the final bit of gold against the Ballarat Miners. Nevertheless the Warriors finish was the highest of all SA teams in the boys division in a tough set of teams in 2022.
An individual highlight was the naming of Lucas Li in the top 5 players for the division averaging 20 points across all 8 of their games.
Norwood Flames
Tournament Result: Runner Up (Shield Division)
Highlights: It was huge week for the Flames boys representative side – they did start with a day one hiccup to the Bankstown Bruins 53-62 but then got on the board with an 83-38 win over the Kilsyth Cobras. Day two saw them take on Northwest Tasmania Thunder and the Flames struck them down 53-26 then on day three blew away the Darwin Cyclones 67-29. Another win on day four over the Penrith Panthers 69-39 setup a quarter final stoush with the Canberra Gunners. The Flames continued to burn bright with a 57-35 win over the Gunners to progress them to the semi-final. Their third NSW team in days saw them bring down the Sydney Comets 51-30 and into the Shield Final.
A dramatic finish to the tournament saw an overtime thriller 49-56 win to the Bendigo Braves but an effort all of SA can be proud of from these boys in the Shield division.
South Adelaide Panthers
Tournament Result: 11th (Boys Championship Division)
Highlights: The Panthers started their championship hunt with a tough loss to the Spartans 47-61 but then bounced back on day two with a win over the Gunners 59-48. A two game block followed with a win over the Hawks 64-47 to finish second in their pool before meeting the Warriors in the playoff for for 9th to 12th – going down by 5 points.
It was a thrilling finish in the playoff for 11th with the Panthers…
For all these young athletes it is a privilege and a pleasure to represent your state no matter how they individually went, congratulations to all U14 Boys and Girls for representing our state against some quality national athletes…
Lets hope we get to see this talent at the NBL1 Central level in the distant future…
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