Undefeated Mackay, dominant Logan do battle for State Under-16 Girls Championship
Logan claimed the title after an epic grand final win over Mackay in the Basketball Queensland Under-16 Girls State Championships. WATCH ALL THE DAY’S REPLAYS.
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The coach of the undefeated defending champion Mackay Meteorettes says his team “won’t back down” as they look to win back-to-back titles in the Basketball Queensland Under-16 Girls State Championships grand final.
Mackay, who beat the star-studded Gold Coast Waves to win the 2020 gold medal, will face the other dominant team in the age group in the Logan Thunder in the decider at Auchenflower Stadium.
The Meteorettes have four players returning from the last year’s successful campaign, including coach Ross Jensen, beat the South West Metro Pirates in Thursday’s semi-final to keep their hopes of an undefeated season alive.
Monique Bobongie has been in stellar form for Mackay, helping lead her team past the Pirates with 33 points, including 16 in the second quarter, but the athletic guard has also received support from teammates such as Claire Fraser along the way.
And just like last year, the Meteorettes have a huge challenge in front of them to win another gold as they take on Logan, who were undefeated this season before a surprise loss to Cairns in the last pool game on Thursday.
However, the Thunder responded with a dominant second half to comfortably beat rivals, the Gold Coast Waves, in the grand final qualifier.
With promising prospects such as guard duo Prasayus Notoa and Vahayliah Seumanutafa as well as their big front line led by Georgia Bethem and Sharni Reisinger, Logan’s depth is one of their biggest strengths.
But Jensen said his Meteorettes were ready for another big game.
“We are yet to string four quarters together, we were pushed by Gold Coast in the morning but we finished strong,” he said.
All games from court one at Auchenflower Stadium, including the Division 1 grand final and bronze medal playoff as well as the Division 2 grand final, will be streamed live in this story.
REPLAY: BRONZE MEDAL DIV2: LOGAN THUNDER BLUE DEF NORTHSIDE WIZARDS (2) 61-50
The Logan Thunder Blue have finished their tournament on a high, beating Northside Wizards 2 to claim fifth spot in the Division 3 competition.
These two teams met in the first game of the tournament, where it was the Wizards who got the result but this time it was a different story.
The Carlson sisters dominated for Logan, scoring 34 of their 61 points with Anabelle leading the way with 20 and Shanelle also contributing 14 points.
Northside tried to make several runs in the second half but all were met with resistance from the Thunder.
Katalina Stevens scored 18 points for the Wizards.
REPLAY: GRAND FINAL DIV2: MORETON BAY FIRE DEF SD TROJANS BLACK 68-23
The Moreton Bay Fire saved their best performance for last, playing almost the perfect game to earn a 45-point victory over the Southern Districts Trojans Black in the Division 3 grand final.
Moreton Bay went into the game as favourites, having dominated the pool stages and also having not lost to Southern Districts all year.
The Fire’s closest game against the Trojans was a 15-point victory during the SQJBC season and the team from Caboolture played with that confidence behind them, running out to an early double digit and never looking back.
Moreton Bay continued to extend their lead in the second half, dominating on both ends of the floor to finish their tournament in perfect fashion with a Division 3 gold medal.
Gabrielle Seaby and Menique Greyling led the scoring for the Fire with 18 points while Addison Buckley Adams had 10.
REPLAY: GRAND FINAL DIV2: SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX DEF SD TITANS 66-57
A red-hot second quarter has helped the Sunshine Coast Phoenix upset the Southern Districts Titans to take home the Division 2 gold medal at Auchenflower Stadium.
The Titans came into the final undefeated at the tournament, which included a nine-point victory over the Phoenix in the pool stages.
But today the Sunshine Coast were ready for the challenge, running out to an early lead in the first quarter.
However, the Spartans battled back to level scores in the second quarter and the game was in the balance at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to the Phoenix though as they put the clamps on the Spartans defensively and were able to find their way to the basket for easy layups which extended their lead to as much as 20.
Southern Districts fought hard in the fourth quarter as the put on some full court defensive pressure and managed to close the gap to just 10.
But the Phoenix steadied and made several crucial plays to turn the tables on the Spartans from the group stages and finish with a nine-point victory and a state championship.
Bonni Buttsworth was the top scorer for the Sunshine Coast with 15 points, Amelie Robinson also had 14 while Emily Crompton (12 points) and Laayla Mcauliffe (10 points) also had impressive games.
Annika Scott led the way for the Titans with 17 points and Mia Baker had 13.
REPLAY: BRONZE MEDAL DIV: GOLD COAST WAVES VS SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES PURPLE 89-59
The Gold Coast Waves bounced back from the disappointment of losing yesterday’s semi-final to record a 30-point demolition of the South West Metro Pirates to take him the bronze medal in the Division 1 competition.
The medal adds to Gold Coast’s tally for the season after winning the silver in the SQJBC last month.
South West were looking to cap off their surprisingly impressive tournament with another big name scalp but the Waves dominated for the full 40 minutes, never giving the Pirates a chance throughout the game.
Emma Petrie was outstanding for the Waves with 19 points to lead the scoring while Jaya Lowe had 16, Ava Usher 15 with Alice Jones and Rica Chanel Enriquez Paea both contributing 10 each.
REPLAY: LOGAN THUNDER DEF MACKAY METEORETTES VS LOGAN THUNDER 89-86 (DIV 1 GRAND FINAL)
Basketball fans were treated to an absolute epic grand final at Auchenflower Stadium on Friday as two of the most dominant teams in recent years of junior basketball went head-to-head for a state championship.
But it was the Logan Thunder who survived a brave performance from the defending champion Mackay Meteorettes to capture the club’s first state title since 2016.
Both teams had gone into the championship game following on from dominant performances in their semi-final victories and after Logan jumped out to a double digit lead within the first five minutes, all signs were pointing to another comfortable Thunder victory.
But the persistence, grit and determination that has helped this Mackay team be so successful in past seasons was still there as coach Ross Jensen’s side continued to battle away to remain in the game as star duo Monique Bobongie and Claire Fraser continued to perform despite being the focus of a physical Logan defensive unit.
The Thunder returned to the form they had in the first half early on in the third quarter to push the lead out once again but Mackay would just not go away.
The Meteorettes made several big plays to start the fourth quarter to make Logan nervous as the lead was reduced to just two points with just minutes left in the game.
But the Logan stars including Vahayliah Seumanutafa, Sharni Reisinger, Prasayus Notoa, Georgia Bethem and Keriana-Marie Hippolite stepped up when it matted as the Thunder closed the game out to win by three points and take home the gold medal.
Seumanutafa once again led Logan in scoring with 23 points while Reisinger was dominant on the inside with 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Fraser led the scoring for Mackay with 26 and Bobongie had 24.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP REPLAYS
GIRLS DAY THREE STREAM SCHEDULE
8am: Girls Div 3 – Northside Wizards 2 v Logan Thunder Blue
9.30am: Girls Div 3 – Southern Districts Trojans Black v Moreton Bay Fire
11am: Girls Div 2 Grand Final – Southern Districts Titans v Sunshine Coast Phoenix
12.30pm: Girls Div 1 Bronze Medal Match – Gold Coast Waves v South West Metro Pirates Purple
2.15pm: Girls Div 1 Grand Final – Mackay Meteorettes v Logan Thunder
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