‘It’s a great opportunity’: 240 of NSW’s best U15s and U16s come together for D-League

The final D-League competition weekend of the year takes place this weekend, with 240 boys and girls from across the state to play. SEE THE NAMES OF EVERYONE COMPETING

SOME of New South Wales’ most promising junior basketball players will have the chance to impress coaches with the latest round of D-League competition this weekend.

The U15s and U16s country/metro boys and girls will be on display in Penrith on Sunday in front of state selectors and high performance coaching staff.

It follows on from last weekend’s outing at Hills, and Basketball NSW high performance manager Brett Coxsedge said it was a huge chance for prospective reps to impress/

“The U15s age group are this year’s 14s. We always look one year in advance,” he said.

“We haven’t seen a great deal of them over the past two years because of Covid, so we’ll be getting our eyes on them to see what they’re like.

“We’ve seen a bit of the U16s and they’ll be the nucleus of our 2023 state teams.”

The challenge this weekend comes with many players competing together for the first time and that chemistry not being there.

Coxsedge said coaches and scouts will be looking for the players that can overcome those hurdles to really show their hand.

“It can be a tough weekend. There’s teams with kids who haven’t played with each other,” he said.

“We’re looking for good people who demonstrate teamwork. We’ll look to introduce them to the NSW style of play.

“We look for who is coachable and putting in the effort, anyone who shows promise in that regard along with athletic ability and skill.”

With over 200 boys and girls in attendance this weekend, Coxsedge said the D-League has helped to provide opportunities for higher honours in the past, and he hopes that continues well into the future.
“It’s something we’ve brought in to provide another competition opportunity for country and metro kids to play against each other,” he said.

“They’re playing comps during the year but they often don’t get on the court together. It’s purely a development competition and helps us with more talent ID.

“Across all the ages (U14s to U18s) we see about 99 per cent of state team players come out of it. We see Australian junior reps come through the system and others go to college in America and the AIS.”

The D-League takes place at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre on Sunday.

D-LEAGUE TEAMS

U15 COUNTRY GIRLS

Leah Blakemore (Albury Cougars)

Sian Campbell (Bathurst Goldminers)

Malia Carpenter (Central Coast Rebels)

Molly Coble (Illawarra Hawks)

Charlotte Cooper (Port Macquarie Dolphins)

Annalise Crawley (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Charlotte Cummins (Queanbeyan Roadrunners)

Zoe Edgecock (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Laura Fitzwilliam (Illawarra Hawks)

Charlie Gibson (Albury Cougars)

Bree Gillespie (Leeton Eagles)

Elley Hawken (Central Coast Rebels)

Sosha Hellman (Newcastle Falcons)

Erica Holzigal (Tamworth Thunderbolts)

Maya Hopkins (Illawarra Hawks)

Cleo Hopper (West Wyalong Wildcats)

Sophie Keays (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Zoe Keeble (Newcastle Falcons)

Ava Lowe (Albury Cougars)

Charlotte McFarlane (Albury Cougars)

Isabel Morgan (Newcastle Falcons)

Stella Parsonage (Byron Beez)

Alina Pasakarnis (Illawarra Hawks)

Tully Pickering (Dubbo Rams)

Candice Pinto (Byron Beez)

Madelyn Potter (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Keely Rao (Newcastle Falcons)

Phoebe Rowston (Albury Cougars)

Clancy Toshack (Dubbo Rams)

Ellie Wright (Albury Cougars)

U15 METRO GIRLS

Olive Alley (Hills Hornets)

Juhi Balu (Hills Hornets)

Sophie Chen (Hornsby Kuringgai Spiders)

Lyra Clark (Hills Hornets)

Lily Collimore (Sydney Comets)

Mariella Donnelly (Hornsby Kuringgai Spiders)

Alicia Fevre (Hills Hornets)

Sienna Fishpool (Hornsby Kuringgai Spiders)

Sophie Franks-Bugeja (Hills Hornets)

Cathleen Graza (Penrith Panthers)

Lani Gremmo (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Caitlyn Grima (Hills Hornets)

Tara Hayes (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Leona Ibarburu (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Samaya Jones (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Eva Karajcic (Bankstown Bruins)

Desiree Lin (Sydney Comets)

Ashley Loyman (Bankstown Bruins)

Mia Minshall (Sydney Comets)

Amina Mustafic (Sydney Comets)

Elena Piljevic (Sutherland Sharks)

Claire Pittman (Sydney Comets)

Ava Rendulic (Hills Hornets)

Ryanna Roman (Norths Bears)

Marley Sialeipata (Sydney Comets)

Peyton Skinner (Hills Hornets)

Maple Strong (Hills Hornets)

Angela Tako (Penrith Panthers)

Elise Thomson (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Kaiah Wong (Penrith Panthers)

U15 COUNTRY BOYS

Ezra Baldwin (Illawarra Hawks)

Zac Barton (Central Coast Rebels)

Luca Bennett (Central Coast Rebels)

Sam Bynon-Hargreaves (Dubbo Rams)

Noah Carr (Central Coast Rebels)

Thomas Crozier (Newcastle Falcons)

Ike Diffin (Central Coast Rebels)

Rafael Dyason (Batemans Bay Breakers)

Jett Edwards (Moss Vale Magic)

Rohan Greentree (Newcastle Falcons)

Thomas Hofman (Illawarra Hawks)

Sasha Jaunalksnis (Maitland Mustangs)

Fabian Knapp (Newcastle Falcons)

Ari Kubank (Newcastle Falcons)

Jez Lashbrook (Leeton Eagles)

Solomon Liu (Leeton Eagles)

Slater Luckey (Newcastle Falcons)

Connor Marr (Moss Vale Magic)

Cooper O’Neill (Newcastle Falcons)

Edward Ockenden (Albury Cougars)

Oluwakorede Olutayo (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Max Proctor (Maitland Mustangs)

Jack Rumble (Port Macquarie Dolphins)

Fraser Sharpe (Albury Cougars)

Chayce Te Nana (Illawarra Hawks)

Stuart Thorn (Maitland Mustangs)

Cohen Weir (Dubbo Rams)

Thomas Wells (Albury Cougars)

Billy Whitfield (Albury Cougars)

Lucas Williams (Albury Cougars)

U15 METRO BOYS

Chadd Ablaza (Hills Hornets)

Obi Adler (Norths Bears)

Mataius Alcasid (City of Blacktown Storm)

Lachlan Booth (Hornsby Kuringgai Spiders)

Antonio Browne (Bankstown Bruins)

Ethan Custodio (Hills Hornets)

Hugo Deman (Norths Bears)

Henry Hecimovic (Norths Bears)

Eoin Isaako (Bankstown Bruins)

Emin Joldic (Sydney Comets)

Ezekiel Kho (Sydney Comets)

Jacob Kimball (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Aaron Ko (Norths Bears)

Archie Lucas (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Kobi Maeva (West Sydney Wolves)

Aston Masella (Sydney Comets)

Lachlan McCullagh (Norths Bears)

Riley McNulty (Penrith Panthers)

Louis Pichler (Norths Bears)

William Rintoul (Sydney Comets)

Jasper Rock (Sydney Comets)

Elijah Rone (City of Blacktown Storm)

Kavil Singh (Hills Hornets)

August Straker (Penrith Panthers)

Luca Tamas (Hills Hornets)

Kingston Tutani (Bankstown Bruins)

Max Venardos (Bankstown Bruins)

Josiah Viaje (Norths Bears)

Gosho Vishanin (Sydney Comets)

Micah Watson (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

U16 COUNTRY GIRLS

Skye Adams (Queanbeyan Roadrunners)

Sienna Bird (Central Coast Rebels)

Miller Bonham (Illawarra Hawks)

Isabelle Burns (Maitland Mustangs)

May Crook (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Isabella Cullen (Griffith Demons)

Sienna Curtis (Illawarra Hawks)

Payton Eaves (Newcastle Falcons)

Priya Shanti Fawcett (Central Coast Rebels)

Chelsea Groves (Illawarra Hawks)

Willa Hack (Byron Beez)

Alyssa Haremaker (Central Coast Rebels)

Mackenzie Hassan (Griffith Demons)

Tully Jarvis (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Kira Juffermans (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Jorja Langi (Queanbeyan Roadrunners)

Ellie Lyons (Albury Cougars)

Emily McArthur (Newcastle Falcons)

Kijana McCowan (Albury Cougars)

Pheobe McGregor (Maitland Mustangs)

Kiara McKeown (Dubbo Rams)

Sophie McMullen (Tamworth Thunderbolts)

Tayla Mongan (Dubbo Rams)

Clodagh Murtagh (Newcastle Falcons)

Lillian Ragan (Illawarra Hawks)

Mia Roseworne (Newcastle Falcons)

Claudia Simpson (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Isabelle Spruce (Newcastle Falcons)

Millie Sutcliffe (Dubbo Rams)

Lucy Wilsmore (Newcastle Falcons)

U16 METRO GIRLS

Nadia Aukuso (Sydney Comets)

Eva Bailey (Hills Hornets)

Angelina Bezzina (Sydney Comets)

Elodie Boreham (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Sienna Clark (Hills Hornets)

Francesca Cusack (Hornsby Kuringgai Spiders)

Makayla D’Morias (Hills Hornets)

Sophie Dix (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Ebony Dixon (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Rebecca Donnelly (City of Sydney)

Abbey Garland (Sutherland Sharks)

Evie Gauci (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Evie Gooding (Sutherland Sharks)

Lola Gralton (Norths Bears)

Malki Halwala (Sydney Comets)

Olivia Hastings (Norths Bears)

Abbey Hush (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Llianna Jacob (Bankstown Bruins)

Lily Johnson (Sydney Comets)

Chloe Kho (Sydney Comets)

Josie Klarenaar (Norths Bears)

Isabella Maher (Sutherland Sharks)

Milana Marsh (Norths Bears)

Lauren Martin (Penrith Panthers)

Juliet Poole (Norths Bears)

Kaila Proctor (Bankstown Bruins)

Jacinta Sebastian (Hornsby Kuringgai Spiders)

Gemma Stanbury (Hills Hornets)

Khloe Veloso (Penrith Panthers)

Octavia Williams (Norths Bears)

U16 COUNTRY BOYS

Zain Abbas (Newcastle Falcons)

Tyrone Ah Wong (Maitland Mustangs)

Billy Blair (Byron Beez)

Joshua Boyle (Sydney Comets)

Miles Carl (Maitland Mustangs)

Jett Chaniotis (Lithgow Lazers)

Kuchtel Chathouk (Coffs Harbour Suns)

Cooper Crowe (Mudgee Lakers)

Cooper Delaney (Illawarra Hawks)

Miles Fall (Bellinger Valley Braves)

Peni Finefeuiaki (Newcastle Falcons)

Benjamin Flegeltaub (Albury Cougars)

Tai Flores (Maitland Mustangs)

Rylan Frazer (Albury Cougars)

Cooper Holzigal (Tamworth Thunderbolts)

Max James (Central Coast Rebels)

Kashius Johnson (Byron Beez)

Oliver Keene (Maitland Mustangs)

Brodi Kirby (Newcastle Falcons)

Aki Langford (Illawarra Hawks)

Andrey Mackenzie (Illawarra Hawks)

Lucas Matthews (West Wyalong Wildcats)

Tahj McCabe (Byron Beez)

Charles Mogg (Central Coast Rebels)

Riley O’Sullivan (Albury Cougars)

Oliver Power (Central Coast Rebels)

Kyden Riddle (Maitland Mustangs)

Jayden Tawake (Maitland Mustangs)

Jonty Taylor (Maitland Mustangs)

Isaac Turton (Illawarra Hawks)

U16 METRO BOYS

Virgilio Agito (Penrith Panthers)

Kingsley Barnett (Hills Hornets)

Maxwell Benson (Penrith Panthers)

Jack Cummings (Hornsby Kuringgai Spiders)

Xavier Di Zio (Norths Bears)

Bol Diing (Norths Bears)

Marko Dopudj (Bankstown Bruins)

Curtis Evic (Bankstown Bruins)

Xander Ezzy (Sutherland Sharks)

Coby Glazier (Hawkesbury Jets)

Bailey Hanson (Norths Bears)

Riley Hayhow (Hills Hornets)

Noah Keogh (Bankstown Bruins)

Dominik Lisica (Sydney Comets)

Cruz Mactavish (Sydney Comets)

Joshua Mcewan (Sydney Comets)

Benjamin Murray (Norths Bears)

Jamaal Osikoya (City of Blacktown)

Hudson Perna (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Austin Prosser (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Jico Caylan Reyes (City of Blacktown)

Trasel Rone (City of Blacktown)

Francesco Scarpa (Sydney Comets)

Keith Solis (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Lado Sule (City of Blacktown)

Corey Thomas (Sutherland Sharks)

Nikola Valkovic (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

Marik Van Kilian (Manly Warringah Sea Eagles)

George Vincent (Hills Hornets)

Kyan Wilton (Bankstown Bruins)

Finn Whymper-Williams (Norths Bears)