WATCH THE REPLAYS: Day 1 of the Basketball Qld U16 Girls State Championships (Under 16 Girls State Titles )

The state’s best young basketball players fought it out on Day 1 of the Basketball Qld Under-16 Girls State Championships. WATCH THE REPLAYS!

An action packed schedule will tip-off the Basketball Queensland Under-16 Girls State Championships in Toowoomba as several gold medal contenders go head-to-head.

The tournament, hosted by Toowoomba Basketball at Toowoomba Grammar School and The Glennie School, runs from Tuesday starting with the pool stages with the grand final to be played on Friday afternoon.

It follows on from the under-16 boys championship played on the Gold Coast last week.

All games on Toowoomba Grammar School’s court one will be livestreamed by NewsCorp, starting with day one’s games featured in this story.

Gold Coast guard Ava Usher. Picture: Renae Droop

The Logan Thunder will go into the tournament as the favourites to take out the Division 1 title after going through the southeast Queensland regular season undefeated.

While their grand final opponents, the Gold Coast Waves, and semi-finalists Southern Districts Spartans are nipping at their heels.

The north Queensland competition champion Cairns Dolphins and central Queensland winners, Bundaberg, will also be looking to make an impact at the tournament.

REPLAY: Div 1 – Southern Districts Spartans def Gold Coast Waves 104-41

The Southern Districts Spartans have started their campaign for a state championship with a dominant 63-point win over the Gold Coast Waves.

With the Spartans being one of the favourites to contend for a gold medal, the challenge was always going to be a tough one for Gold Coast’s second team and it proved exactly that, as Southern Districts quickly jumped out to an early 20-point lead.

The full court pressure of the Spartans was too much for the Waves as the team, who made the regular season semi-finals hit form in their first pool match of the tournament.

While Southern Districts continued to extend their lead, the Waves never stopped competing, staging a few small runs to minimise the margin but the Spartans took home a comfortable lead to start their week the right way.

Spartans guard Isabella Mirkovic couldn’t be stopped, scoring 39 points to open her tournament, while Mia Baker (12 points), Peata Manumaleuga (11 points), Leiana-Nila Leiataatimu (11 points) and Lucy Antonelli (10 points) all reached double figures.

REPLAY: DiV 2 RedCity Roar def by North Gold Coast Seahawks Teal 80-4

The North Gold Coast Seahawks have turned it on in the second quarter to propel themselves to a convincing 45-point victory over the RedCity Roar in Pool A of the Division 2 tournament.

Neither team could gain a significant advantage in the first quarter as both the Roar and Seahawks struggled to find their form, which is expected in the tournament opener.

But the second quarter was all North Gold Coast as the Robert Sleaford coached side grabbed the game with both hands, dominating on both ends to run out to an 11-point lead at halftime and from there, the Seahawks never looked back.

RedCity couldn’t find a way to stop the moment of the Seahawks, who continued to extend the margin until the final siren.

Sunny Lappin was the top scorer for the Seahawks with 18 points and she was supprted by Poppy Hopewell with 16, Holly Mcnamee with 12 and Amelia Leach with 11.

Tasmin Howell scored 17 points for RedCity.

REPLAY: Div 1 – Logan Thunder def Northside Wizards (1) 122-38

An 84-point victory over the Northside Wizards has helped the Logan Thunder tip-off their quest for back-to-back state championships in style.

The Thunder headed into the tournament as the gold medal favourites, having won the southeast Queensland regular season competition and also on the back of winning the 2021 under-16s title.

It didn’t take long for the Thunder to show why they are the favourites with Logan using their trademark full court pressure to get a jump on the Wizards from the opening tip.

From there they continued to build their advantage until the final siren while the Wizards never gave up, showing some positive signs for the rest of their tournament.

Logan had an impressive eight players score in double figures with Vahayliah Seumanutafa leading the way with 25.

Div 1 – Mackay Meteorettes def SC Phoenix Teal 56-41

A fourth-quarter run has led the Mackay Meteorettes to a 15-point victory the Sunshine Coast Phoenix in what was a back and forth contest between the two teams to start their round games in Pool B of the Division 1 tournament.

Mackay have been a powerhouse in the junior girls tournaments for the past four years but the Phoenix looked up for the challenge as the two teams went into quarter time level at 10-10.

However, the Meteorettes pushed away from the Phoenix in the second quarter to lead by 12 points at halftime.

Sunshine Coast coach Keith Bragg had his team ready to respond in the third quarter as the Phoenix reduced the margin to just one basket before a late momentum swing to Mackay had the Meteorettes holding a 38-30 lead going into the final quarter.

The Meteorettes dominated from that point on, winning the fourth quarter 18-11 to start their tournament with a victory.

Montanah Kynaston led the scoring for Mackay with 20 points while Hannah Jensen had 10 for the Meteorettes.

Maya Winiata was impressive for the Phoenix with 10 points.

Both teams are back in action at 5pm.

REPLAY: Div 1 – Brisbane Capitals Gold def Gold Coast Waves 66-55

Brisbane have bounced back from a loss in their tournament opener to record an 11-point victory over the Gold Coast Waves and split their first day of pool games.

The Capitals fell to a 16-point loss to the Cairns Dolphins earlier in the day but looked determined to bounce back against the Waves.

However, Gold Coast also looked rejuvenated after a 63-point defeat at the hands of Southern Districts as they pushed Brisbane for majority of the contest.

But the Capitals had too much firepower in the end with three players scoring in double figures to earn a much-needed bounce back performance against the Waves.

Scarlett Mercado led the way for Brisbane with 14 points while Amiri Rapana had 12 points and Ruby Mazzotta had 10 points.

Kiara Wright was Gold Coast’s leading scorer with 15 points.

Replay: Div 2 – Brisbane Capitals Silver def by RedCity Roar 59-57

RedCity and Brisbane played out the game of the day at the state championships with their contest coming right down until the final buzzer.

The first half was evenly matched as both teams matched each other basket for basket throughout most of the first 20 minutes but it was the Roar, who went into the halftime break with the momentum after making a late run to lead 25-20.

But the Capitals fought back immediately to start the second half, even taking a five-point lead and looking like running away with the game.
This game had more in store though as RedCity came roaring back to regain the momentum in the fourth.
The last few minutes went back and forth before the Roar made the crucial plays when it matted to hold a two point lead with just seconds left as the Capitals had a shot to tie the game up but it was off the mark.

Tasmin Howell was impressive again for RedCity with 19 points while Jessica Weeks had 15 and Victoria Knijff had 11.
Charlotte Marley had 21 points for Brisbane.

Replay: Div 1 – SC Phoenix Teal def by Northside Wizards (1) 64-61

The Northside Wizards have rebounded from a big loss to the Logan Thunder in their first game to earn a hardfought win over the Sunshine Coast Phoenix to end day one.
Northside and Sunshine Coast went into the clash on the back of losses following the Phoenix’s defeat at the hands of Mackay and both teams showed their desparating, not giving either side an inch throughout the contest.
The Wizards and Phoenix both had three scorers reach double figures but Northside had more contributors across the board to record a three-point victory.
Jacey Sturgeon led the scoring for the Wizards with 16 and he was supported by Menique Greyling with 12 and Kelylah Harris-Wihongi with 10.
Bonni Buttsworth dominated for the Phoenix with 16 points, Maya Winiata scored 12 and Laayla Mcauliffe had 10.