Tracy Village junior Laleeta Das pursuing basketball future in Victoria with Melbourne Tigers

TRACY Village Jets junior Laleeta Das has made the move to Victoria to further her basketball education with the Melbourne Tigers.

Laleeta Das in Darwin Basketball Women's Round 18: Lightning v Jets. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

TRACY Village Jets junior Laleeta Das has made the move to Victoria to further her basketball education with the Melbourne Tigers at NBL1 level.

The 16-year-old won a scholarship to Methodist Ladies College in Kew last year and was offered a place for the Tigers’ under-18 squad, making her debut in the Eltham Dandenong Australia Day tournament.

Das had a breakthrough season in 2020, making her way onto the league side and impressing off the bench with 123 total points to her name across the season in a side full of experience and which finished runner-up to Lightning in the DBA Championship.

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Jets league captain Kylie Duggan was thrilled to see the club junior get the chance to pursue the sport in Victoria.

“It’s awesome for her. She works hard, has that want and drive and is at that level where she the opportunity to make an impression,” Duggan told the NT News.

“Her game has improved immensely being one of those juniors who has stepped up in our league team and gives us what we need in scoring and defence.

“Her transition game is definitely her biggest asset as she can finish off baskets from the transition.

“She’s a runner who’s both fit and agile and can run the whole game out which has been big for us.

“She can go far if she sticks to it and keeps improving her skills. Melbourne is the best place for her to develop those skills and she has the game to go far.”

Duggan also has her eyes ahead on the 2021 season, with a title in mind following successive grand-final defeats to rivals Lightning in the past two Championship seasons.

A similar squad will take to the court for Tracy Village this season with several new and upcoming juniors.

Also likely to break into the side will be Kaylani Duggan-Cole and Jayla Thorne.

“Division One just started with a few of our league girls playing there as well as training to keep their match fitness heading into the league season,” Duggan said.

“We’re definitely eager to get revenge. No one wants to lose a Championship grand final and we’ve lost two in a row so we’re working on our game.

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“We did all right through the season but when it comes to finals we dropped off. But we have a similar team again with some juniors coming through which should see us in a good place.”