Gold medals on the line on the final day of the Basketball Qld u18 State Championships (Under-18 State Championships)
Gold medals are on the line as teams face-off on grand final day of the Basketball Queensland Under-18 State Championships on the Gold Coast. WATCH THE REPLAYS
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Gold medals are on the line as we head into grand final day of the Basketball Queensland Under-18 State Championships on the Gold Coast.
After four days of competition between some of the country’s best young hoops talents, it all comes down to today’s championship games with several epic match-ups to decide the winners.
WATCH THE LIVE GAME IN THE MEDIA PLAYER ABOVE AND SCROLL DOWN TO SEE REPLAYS, MATCH REPORTS OF EARLIER GAMES
All of the favourites have made it through to the grand finals with the Gold Coast Rollers to take on the Mackay Meteorettes in the Girls Division 1 competition while the Rollers and Northside Wizards will clash in the Boys Division 1 championship game.
All games from the final day on the showcourt at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre will be livestreamed in this story.
Rollers boys coach, Steve Kerr, said his team still had a lot of improvements to make despite a dominant semi-final win over Spartans.
“Our offence and defence was good at times but not consistent,” he said.
“Consistency in both offence and defence was something we identified we needed to achieve throughout the whole of state championships.
“With our match up against Wizards, they like to utilise their bigs with Rocco (Zikarsky) and Josh (Hughes) but they also have some quick guards backing them up.
“As a team we just need to stick to our game plan, we need to play defence for all four quarters of the game, knowing the scout and having composure.
“We want to go out on a high with eight of our 10 players being top age and this being their last year of junior representative basketball.”
Wizards coach Don McCarron said the matchup with the Rollers would be a huge challenge after losing to Gold Coast convincingly each time they’ve met this season.
“I think they are very controlled and have a great balance of talent at their disposal,” he said. “The Coast are well coached and play with a swagger, so we will need to get a lot of things right to take home the gold.
“Josh Hughes returning to our group is an absolute bonus and sure to help our chances.”
On the girls side, Mackay coach Ross Jensen said the Rollers were a tough, championship team with talented players at each position.
“Add to that a coach of the calibre of Pero (Cameron) and I’m sure there will be some tactical challenges thrown my way,” he said.
“I hope to try do the same to them and will have a few different things to throw at them.
“We took our chance two years ago in a tough final when they had injuries, but tomorrow we will give it our best and see how it goes.
“I think both teams play a real team game , results show this and any one player can knock down a shot.
“It’ll be a great challenge and this it what this group has looked forward to when we started this season.”
See the livestream schedule for the final day of the tournament below.
DAY 5 REPLAYS
U18 Girls Div 2 - Northside Wizards 2 def Gladstone Power 74-39
The Northside Wizards 2 have ended their tournament on a high, smashing the Gladstone Power by 35 points in the Girls Division 2 competition.
A total of 11 out of 12 players hit the scoresheet for the Wizards led by Emma Castle with 14 points and Ava Berghan with 13.
Morgan Pender top scored for the Power with 13 points.
U18 Boys Div 2 GF - Gold Coast Waves def Sunshine Coast Rip Black 83-80
Five players have scored in double figures to lead the Gold Coast Waves to the Boys Division 2 State Championship after a hardfought three-point victory over the Sunshine Coast Rip.
In a contest which came down to the final buzzer, the Waves stepped up most when it mattered to hold off a tough Rip team, who wouldn’t give up.
Cooper Hatton led the scoring for the Waves with 16 points while Sascha Alexeef, Jonathan Wikham and Samuel Mattress all had 13 points.
Morgan Brown was impressive for the Rip with 20 points and he was supported by Duante Murphy with 18.
U18 Girls Div 1 Bronze Medal Game - SD Spartans def Logan Thunder 80-76
The Southern Districts Spartans overcame a fourth-quarter comeback from the Logan Thunder to finish the Girls Division 1 tournament with a bronze medal.
Southern Districts had the better of most of the first three quarters, leading by as much as 25 points as their big three of Summah Hanson, Lulu Twidale and Alice Dart dominated the game.
But the Thunder came all the way back to reach within two points in the last quarter with the charge being led by point guard Mackenzie Auton, Ina Reupena and some late three-pointers from Allanah Anthony.
However, the Spartans were able to hold steady and finish their tournament with a four-point win.
Twidale led all scorers with 22 followed by Dart with 21 and Hanson with 16 for Spartans.
Auton had 19 for Logan followed by Reupena with 14, Hannah Dalton with 11 and Anthony with 10.
U18 Boys Div 1 Bronze Medal Game - SD Spartans v NGC Seahawks
U18 Girls Div 1 Gold Medal - Mackay Meteorettes vs Gold Coast Rollers
U18 Boys Div 1 GF - GC Rollers v Northside Wizards
Replay is at the top of the story
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