The NT News has ranked Territory basketball’s top five moments from the past decade. What do you think? Have your say in a poll
WHAT a past decade it’s been for Territory basketball. The NT News has ranked the top five best moments during this period. What do you think? HAVE YOUR SAY.
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THE popularity of the game and achievements of our elite young players have exploded within Territory basketball over the past decade.
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And now, we finally have a verdict on our No.1 during this period.
The NT News rates the top five moments from the past 10 years.
Have we got it right or wrong? Have your say in the poll below.
5. DARWIN CYCLONES MAKE HISTORY
DARWIN and Territory teams always punch above their weight at national competitions down south.
But this Darwin Cyclones boys team made opposing players and coaches take notice in 2017.
Steve Toohey’s brilliant side made history by winning three games at the Under-14 Australian Club Championships.
The Cyclones won bronze in the Shield finals, after beating Newcastle (65-36), Rockingham (59-50) and Geelong (53-52).
A close 75-71 loss to North Adelaide in pool play saw the Cyclones just miss out on contesting the championship finals among the top 12 teams.
“We’re such a small pool of juniors – we have about 1400 to work with compared to hosts Dandenong, with about 9000,” Toohey said at the time.
Joel De Barros was outstanding for Darwin, with 113 points for the tournament at an average of 14.12 per game.
He was the competition’s 10th highest scorer.
“Thomas Malseed, Anthony Rowse, Stephengen Magadia also played really well,” Toohey said.
4. TERRITORY’S PERFORMANCE OF THE DECADE
IF Joel De Barros’ brilliant performances for Darwin Cyclones in 2017 were not enough, he had another massive tournament for Northern Territory at the 2021 Australian Under-18 Basketball Championships in Werribee.
De Barros helped his team to history-making wins over Tasmania and Western Australia Country.
In the thrilling 76-74 overtime victory over Tasmania, Ansett’s Anthony Rowse tied the game with a clutch three-pointer and 30 seconds left on the clock.
His former Ansett teammate and team captain De Barros then won the game with just six seconds remaining.
De Barros finished with a stunning 36 points in the 86-78 win over Western Australia Country.
“You’d have to check back through the records, but this would be the boys’ best result at these championships in the past 10 years,” Basketball NT high performance manager, Rod Tremlett, said at the time.
“Joel has been unbelievable for us.”
3. GOLD FOR THE TERRITORY
TALK to any player involved and they will say winning gold for their region at the 2019 Arafura Games is up there with any career achievement.
And the men put on an epic display for a packed house in the final at Marrara.
Top End NT defeated the Philippines 111-100 in a thrilling 2019 Arafura Games men’s gold-medal match.
The win was another remarkable moment for basketball in the region, after the NT women’s team defeated Chinese Taipei 81-76 in their gold-medal encounter.
With the men’s game tied at 93-all, a last-second Territory three-pointer forced the match into extra-time.
In the additional five-minute period, three pointers rained down as the NT gained an ascendancy that would see them outclass their quickly fading Asian counterparts, 18-7.
A capacity crowd of over 1000 people witnessed the match, many from Darwin’s large Filipino community.
The final fixture was so popular that an estimated 100 people were unable to get into the venue.
2. TRACY VILLAGE – A TEAM OF JETS
IT is likely the most prolonged club success in Darwin Basketball Association history.
Tracy Village’s remarkable run of 13-straight titles is so good that it deserves a mention among any “best of” sporting dynasty lists on the planet.
Think St George in rugby league – the best dynasty in the 13-man game.
The mighty Dragons only won 11 premierships in a row (from 1956 to 1966) compared to the all-conquering Jets, with the Darwin powerhouse only ending its run in 2018.
In a special NT News feature last year which looked back at her club’s achievement, Jets captain Kylie Duggan unselfishly said her favourite title was the only one she actually did not play in the final, due to an ACL knee injury.
That was when Jets beat Uni Rebels by eight points in the December 2013 title decider.
Fellow Jets legend Sam Rioli (bruised sternum) also sat out the final that year.
But Abby Cubillo – who went on to win an under-17 world title with the Australian team and two straight WNBL titles with Canberra Capitals, and Erin Geer – were standouts that night.
They were both just 14 at the time.
“The girls played without me and Sam – our most experienced players – and won. I was sad to miss out at the time, but then I was so proud of them,” Duggan said.
“I was devastated when I got injured and I knew something was wrong straight away. “Emotionally it was really tough, but I helped out on the bench that night and the team kept me involved, which helped me.
“It is still hard to come to terms with the fact we won 13 straight. It was a really special and amazing achievement.”
1. OUR AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATIVES
IT doesn’t get any better than the Territory producing a gold medallist on the world stage.
Tracy Village junior Abby Cubillo did just that for Australia at the FIBA 2016 Under-17 World Championships in Spain.
It is a truly remarkable story.
The year before she was still playing for the Jets in Darwin.
Cubillo’s Sapphires team crushed Italy 62-38 in the final, the superstar guard scoring the first basket for her team, after a stunning upset over the United States in the semi-final stage.
Cubillo averaged 5.5 points on 55 per cent shooting, 2.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals at the FIBA Under-17 World Championships, as her Sapphires side went unbeaten in six games.
If that is not all, the 22-year-old is a two-time WNBL champion with Canberra Capitals.
She became the first Territorian to play at that level in 2018.
Fellow Territorian Tom O’Neill Thorne also deserves to be mentioned in the same bracket.
The now 24-year-old was part of the Rollers’ wheelchair basketball team that won gold at the 2014 Incheon World Wheelchair Basketball Championship.
He was the youngest ever Roller to play in a World Championship back then, and went on to represent Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
O’Neill-Thorne’s 2019 Asia Oceania Championship fellow gold-medal winner and Territory product CJ McCarthy-Grogan has also had an outstanding wheelchair basketball career.
SPECIAL MENTION
THIS happened back in 2006, but we thought it was still worth a special mention.
At the 2006 Brunei Cup, the Darwin Airport Resort All Star team finished second – its first year in the lucrative Brunei Cup competition.
It lost only two games in the tournament – both times to the eventual winners.
The eventual winning team was San Miguel, mainly made up of Philippines national team players.
That was because, in that year the Philippines was banned from playing as a national team overseas due to a domestic dispute between two basketball associations, which sought to be the national association recognised by FIBA.
As a result of its second-placed finish, the Darwin Airport Resort All Stars won $10,000 Brunei dollars, roughly equivalent to the same amount of Australian dollars.
First place was $20,000 Brunei dollars. There were 12 players in the Darwin team.
The Darwin-based players included Michael Maclean (captain), Travis Ellis, Danny Miller
Kevin Roe, Matthew Rugendyke and Jacob Fogolyan.
Former NT player, Blake Truslove, who went on to play in the NBL, was invited to be part of the team.
Interstate players included Dallas Jeffree, Toby Zaremba, Shane Davis and Marcus Ch’ng, who went on to star for Uni Rebels, and Sedale Threatt Jr (an American playing in Melbourne). The team was coached by Don Sheppard.
The side only had about two-and-a-half months to get a coach, have try-outs, confirm players, find sponsors and get uniforms made, yet it went on to finish second.
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BELOW are our top 10-6 moments in Territory basketball from the past decade.
10. U18 GIRLS WIN NBL 3X3 HUSTLE IN GEELONG
THIS young team of superstars made history, showing up the best youth 3x3 teams in the country to win this event in early 2019. The team featured DBA standouts April Rummery Lamb, Ieasha Friel, Tyla Cubillo and Leah Seden.
9. UNI REBELS TOO DEADLY IN CAIRNS
THE 2019 Australian Indigenous Basketball Tournament in Cairns drew the best Indigenous players from all over Australia.
And the Darwin Rebels produced a couple of fairytales, winning the senior women and under-17 girls’ titles.
Molly Althouse was the under-17 competition MVP and Ambah Kowcun – now playing at North Dakota State College of Science – was the senior women’s MVP.
The senior women’s side was full of stars, including Kowcun and her sister Annelise, Jamie-Lee Peris, Chantelle Lee, and West Adelaide pair Jasmin and Renai Fejo.
8. LIGHTNING THREE-PEAT IN 2020
AFTER Tracy Village’s recent DBA dominance, Jason Ivinson’s team created its own dynasty, winning its third-straight women’s final last year.
The brilliant performances of star guards Claire-Maree O’Bryan and Dom Carbone helped their team to a convincing 94-66 win in the final.
Lauren Barnes, Kira Pendlebury, Sarah Carbone and April Rummery Lamb were other standouts.
7. OUR ELITE YOUNGSTERS FIRING INTERSTATE
THE success which Freddy Webb (Mackay), Joel De Barros (Woodville), Will Burton (Mildura), James Toohey (Eltham), Ambah Kowcun (Forestville Eagles), Tiayana Sing and Tekisha Rotumah (Ipswich) and April Rummery Lamb (Central Districts Lions) have had – among other star young Territory products – at big clubs down south shows how fast our best young basketball players are developing.
There are a stack of older Territory products who have reached big heights interstate as well, including Jamie-Lee Peris (North Adelaide), Kylie Duggan (Coburg and Woodville), Joe Johnson (Toowoomba) and Darian Preece (Springwood Scorchers) among others.
This is proof that the Territory is ready to field senior men’s and women’s teams at NBL1 level, something which the DBA and Basketball NT continues to work hard on.
6. NT STARS SHINING IN THE STATES
THERE has been no shortage of Territory talent which has excelled in US college systems over the years. Recent NT standouts Freddy Webb, Lachlan Shipway, Cam Duncan and James Toohey have built a strong and important connection with Central Maine Community College Mustangs.
Ambah Kowcun (North Dakota State College of Science) had the extraordinary distinction of being named in the NJCAA All-American team, composed of the 50 best players in junior college basketball as selected by the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, in May.
And expect big things from April Rummery Lamb at Newberry College in South Carolina.
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BELOW are our top 15-10 Territory basketball moments from the past decade.
15. ROCKETS FIRE IN ALICE SPRINGS
IT was quite fitting that Rockets president Tui Ford celebrated wins across so many grades in grand finals of the Alice Springs Basketball Association earlier this year.
His club prevailed in Premier League men and women, Division 1 men and women, and under-16, under-14 and under-12 boys 2020-21 title deciders.
14. NBL IN DARWIN, HAWKS CONNECTION
DARWIN fans were treated to some brilliant basketball when Adelaide 36ers beat Illawarra 105-86 in an NBL pre-season game in August, 2016.
Adelaide’s “little master” Jerome Randall was the star of the night, finishing with 23 points. The DBA has also built a strong connection with the Hawks, the franchise running youth clinics in 2019.
13. RAZZLE AND ESSINGTON TITLE WINS
ESSINGTON’S history-making title win in the 2017 DBA Championship season had Top End fans in raptures at the side’s incredible skills. No other team has won a title in its first season. It featured stars Deba George, Deola D’Brown, Travis Ellis and Tobiasz Hose.
Razzle’s 2019 Championship victory also deserves respect. The side broke a 21-year title drought, with American imports Jerron Jamerson and Fred Williams leading the way.
12. EAGLES SOAR
EAGLES’ victory in the 2020 DBA Championship final was the team’s stunning 19th-straight win.
American Chris Elder starred in the tense 94-82 victory over Jets with 35 points.
It was two titles for Eagles in as many years after they took out the 2018-19 Challenge competition.
11. INDIGENOUS TITLES
VICTORIOUS Damabila (boys) and Gakkinga (girls) teams showed great sportsmanship and improved skills in the Indigenous Community Basketball League in Darwin.
This highly-popular tournament, endorsed by NBA superstar Patty Mills, is set to grow bigger and better.
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