Basketball Australia U16 National Championships: Olivia Olechnowicz has great court vision, elite scorer

While Australia’s next generation of elite female basketballers have been pounding the boards in Bendigo all week at the U16 national championships, one player has shone above the rest.

Remember the name Olivia Olechnowicz.

The 2024 under-16 national championships girls final in Bendigo between Queensland South and Victoria Metro will be remembered for a remarkable Olechnowicz quarter-long blitz.

The Queensland South player was unstoppable, scoring 21 out of the team’s 26 points to turn an early four-point deficit to a nine-point halftime lead.

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Her precision shooting and physical presence effectively breaking the hearts of the home crowd and handing Queensland South the title.

Victoria Metro never got into the contest after it, as Queensland South dominated the second half to win.

Olechnowicz’s speed and power was on show in the second quarter, as she attacked the rim multiple times and Vic Metro were unable to stop her.

Olivia Olechnowicz was the star of the show on Sunday.

When Vic Metro did, all it could do was foul and send her to the free throw line.

And when she wasn’t attacking the basket, the Queensland South shooter created space to land threes.

Her stat line for the second quarter was 21 points, which included two three’s, six two pointers and three free throws.

She ended the game on 44 points and was by far the best player on the court.

Her motivation to the dynamic performance in the second quarter was simple, help the team to come back after Vic Metro came out firing.

“They (Vic Metro) just hit a few important shots, a few big shots, I was thinking to myself it doesn’t matter as coach Pat said we were just riding the wave,” Olechnowicz said.

“I knew my best skill is transition buckets, so I just went I want to attack (on that).”

Olechnowicz knew she and the team wasn’t going to give up the title without a fight and she led from the front as captain.

“This whole tournament leading up to here our team has worked immensely hard, training off the court, on the court, even not at training but working personally by ourselves,” she said.

“So I just wanted to really step it up for our team, because I knew that we deserved the win,” she said.

The Queensland South captain said it was amazing to win and there were plenty of tears of joy.

It made up for last year after the team were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

“We’ve had a lot of revenge needed to be take care of (from last year),” she said.

“It’s so good.”

It was all smiles in the Queensland South camp

Queensland South coach Patrick McInerney said this year’s win was built off the devastation of the year before.

“A lot of this team was here last year,” he said.

“And in the quarterfinal last year we had issues being able to handle that sort of defence.

“Credit to the team for being able to find ways to attack.”

McInerney paid tribute to his star shooter, Olechnowicz, who ended the tournament as the leading point scorer.

“She’s been unbelievable all week,” he said. “I’ve talked about her getting great shots every possession and I think she done that all week.

“She’s a star in the making.”

The win was Queensland’s fifth title in under-16 girls and third under the Queensland South umbrella.

It was the team’s second triumph in Bendigo after also winning the under-16 title the last time the nationals were there in 1976.

Originally published as Basketball Australia U16 National Championships: Olivia Olechnowicz has great court vision, elite scorer