Northside Wizards’ quest to repeat headlines day one of Basketball Qld u16 Boys State Championships

The state’s best young hoops talents were on show on day 1 of the Basketball Queensland Under-16 Boys State Championships tip-off. WATCH THE REPLAYS

A champion’s campaign to go back-to-back will headline the first day of The Courier-Mail’s coverage of the Basketball Queensland Under-16 Boys State Championships.

Technical problems meant Game 1, Rocky v Southern Districts, was not streamed, but we hope to have a replay of it up and running later today.

The Northside Wizards, who are the heavy favourites to repeat as state champions after winning in 2020 and claiming the gold medal in the SQJBC grand final last month, will start their tournament with a match-up against central Queensland heavyweights, the Rockhampton Rockets.

Northside Wizards star guard Lebron Brooks.

Led by standouts Lebron Brooks and big man Rocco Zikarsky, the Wizards will also be boosted by playing on their home court with Northside hosting the championships at Brendale’s South Pine Sports Complex and also the club’s new home at the Northside Indoor Sports Complex in Zillmere.

All games on court one at Brendale will be streamed live by The Courier-Mail with the coverage featuring match-ups from all divisions, from division one to division four.

The stream schedule for the first two days is below.

SD TROJANS WHITE DEF ROCKHAMPTON JETS 86-81

A 20-point performance from Isaac Ramsay-Bassett has helped lead the Southern Districts Trojans to a hardfought victory over the Rockhampton Jets to open day one of the boys tournament at Brendale’s South Pine Sports Complex.

Southern Districts and Rockhampton both made their runs throughout the first three quarters but it was the Trojans who were able to make the big plays when needed to record a five-point win.

Jack McGrath was also impressive for Southern Districts with 16 points while Cooper Foster also had 14 and Jayden Gunn had 10.

Edward Kerr was the best for the Jets with 21 points.

REPLAY: IPSWICH ENERGY DEF MORETON BAY FLAMES 93-72

Four players scored in double figures for the Ipswich Energy as they dismantled the Moreton Bay Flames to the tune of 21 points to start their tournament in dominant fashion.

Ipswich had the momentum from the tip-off and never let it slip as Deng Garang found his form on the offensive to lead the Energy with 20 points.

But he wasn’t alone with Brodie Bettiens-Lingard also contributing with 17 points, Brendan Jack Connolly with 16 and Unique Egwu with 13 points.

Karen Gray led the scoring for Moreton Bay with 30 points.

REPLAY: BUNDABERG BULLS DEF NORTHSIDE WIZARDS (3) 82-72

Bundaberg Bulls duo Noah Davis and Jude Sheppard have combined for 46 points to lead their central Queensland team past the Northside Wizards in Pool A of the Division 3 competition.

Davis was sensational for the Bulls, topscoring for the game with 26 points, while Sheppard had 20 points for the Bulls to topple the Wizards on their home floor.

Harrison Grey also scored 16 for Bundaberg while Tyrone Guce led the scoring for the Wizards with 16 and was supported by Kobe Resco (13), Liam Ungerer (12) and Adam Rieson (10).

REPLAY: NORTHSIDE WIZARDS DEF ROCKHAMPTON ROCKETS 132-49

The Northside Wizards have sent a message in the Division 1 state championships after dominating both games on day one, including an 83-point demolition job of the Rockhampton Rockets at Brendale’s South Pine Sports Complex this afternoon.

Still sitting undefeated after an impressive SQJBC season, the Wizards had no shortage of confidence coming into their second game following a 65-point victory over North Gold Coast earlier in the day.

And the Rockets were simply no match for the gold medal favourites as seven Wizards scored in double figures in the result, led by Lebron Brooks with 21 points.

What was more impressive was that Northside did it without star big man Rocco Zikarsky.

Thomas Houston put in a solid performance for the Rockets with 22 points.

REPLAY: SOUTHERN DISTRICT TITANS DEF MACKAY COMETS 145-44

In one of the biggest margins of day one of the under-16 state championships, the Southern Districts Titans ended their first day with a 101-point victory over the Mackay Comets.

Three players scored above 20 points for the Titans with Rio Bruton, the son of Australian basketball legend Cj Bruton, leading the way with 31 points followed by Baxter Ellis with 28 and Nash Harding with 20.

Lachlan Milburn was the top scorer for Mackay with 10.

REPLAY: PHOENIX BLACK DEF LOGAN THUNDER GOLD 68-44

The Sunshine Coast Phoenix put the clamps on the Logan Thunder this afternoon at Brendale as their dominant defence led them to a comfortable 24-point victory in the Division 3 tournament.

Also boosted by Jaylan Thomson’s 19 points and Thomas Pekaj’s 14 points, the Phoenix didn’t allow the Thunder any easy opportunities on the offensive end throughout the game and while Sunshine Coast struggled to find the bottom of the net at times, it didn’t matter as their defence srood rock solid.

Preston Chi was the leading scorer for Logan with 13 points while Edard Lewis had 10.

REPLAY: IPSWICH FORCE DEF GLADSTONE POWER 97-51

Ipswich have tipped-off their campaign to take home a Division 2 gold medal the perfect way after going undefeated on day one and finishing with a 46-point victory over Gladstone to finish the day’s livestreaming schedule.

After an earlier win over Cairns, Ipswich were looking to build on their momentum with another impressive performance and it’s exactly what they did, dominating the Power from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

With the Force aiming to go one step further than they did in the SQJBC competition, where they won a silver medal, two wins from two games has them set up to finish top in their pool.

Tristan Afamasaga led the scoring for Ipswich with 19 points while Rahul Captain had 10 for Gladstone.

DAY ONE STREAM SCHEDULE (April 6)

8am: Div 4 – Rockhampton Jets v Southern Districts Trojans White

9.30am: Div 4 – Ipswich Energy v Moreton Bay Flames

11am: Div 3 – Bundaberg Bulls v Northside Wizards 3

12.30pm: Div 1 – Northside Wizards v Rockhampton Rockets

2pm: Div 3 – Southern Districts Titans v Mackay Comets

3.30pm: Div 3 – Logan Thunder Gold v Sunshine Coast Phoenix Black

5pm: Div 2 – Ipswich Force v Gladstone Power

DAY TWO STREAM SCHEDULE (April 7)

8am: Div 4 – Gold Coast Tide v Moreton Bay Flames

9.30am: Div 1 – Toowoomba Mountaineers v Northside Wizards 1

11am: Div 4 – SD Trojans White v Gold Coast Rollers

12.30pm: Div 1 – Sunshine Coast Rip Black v Cairns Marlins

2pm: Div 2 – Moreton Bay Fire v Logan Thunder

3.30pm: Div 2 – Gladstone Power v Northside Wizards 2

5pm: Div 3 – Sunshine Coast Phoenix Black v Hervey Bay Hurricanes