Basketball live stream: NSW Country teams looming as big threats at Australian Junior Country Cup (Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup)

They played second fiddle to Victoria in the last Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup, but NSW Country are keen to make their mark this time. Catch 48 games LIVE from Tuesday.

After a three-year wait, Country NSW basketballers finally get their shot at redemption as the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup returns for the first time since 2020 from next Tuesday.

Victorian teams dominated five of the six age categories, U14, U16 and U18 boys and girls back at the last event in 2020, while NSW walked away with no medals.

KommunityTV will be exclusively LIVE STREAMING 48 matches across two courts over the five days of the tournament, which will see young NSW athletes take on teams from Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.

Newcastle's Saffron Shiels to headline the Country Junior Cup.

WHY HOSTS WILL PLAY WITH ‘CHIP ON THEIR SHOULDER’

NSW have players arriving from a variety of clubs across the state, including Illawarra Hawks, Griffith Demons and Maitland Mustangs, and Basketball NSW Coaching and Development General Manager Brett Coxsedge is confident they can jell quickly.

“We’ve got a really successful history of being able to compete and do really well at the tournament in Albury.” Coxsedge said.

The girls Under-18 side has been earmarked for potential success after their bronze medal success at last year’s national championships.

Newcastle Falcons player Saffron Shiels headlines an impressive NSW Kookaburras team, and was part of the state team’s successful nationals campaign.

Jade Crook represented Australia U15s. Pic: Narelle Spangher

Shiels is a scholarship holder at the Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport, and also represented Australia at the Under 16 women’s Asian Championships last year. Coxsedge believes she’ll be one of the star players of the tournament.

“(She has) good ball handling skills, good passer, very high point scorer, has the ability to run the team but also be a good offensive threat, he said.

Teammate Jade Crook, from Albury, has also seen success at a state and national level, having competed for Australia at the Oceania Championships in Guam recently, and is often compared to fellow Albury basketballer Lauren Jackson.

“Which is a big call” Coxsedge conceded. “She did some training with Lauren last year when they did the NBL1 competition.”

Brad Ballinger set to lead U18 boys at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup.

In the boy’s under 18 competition, Illawarra small forward Bradley Ballinger is expected to lead the team with his experience.

“Ability to score outside, but also the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket.”

Though Victorian teams head into the tournament as favourites, NSW will be looking to fight them in every age category.

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