Mountaineers women preparing for first test, add crucial new piece to team

The Mountaineers women get their first taste of action this weekend, with both the men and women adding new strikepower.

Tracey Twidale. Photo: Nev Madsen

BASKETBALL: The Toowoomba Mountaineers have continued their active recruitment, adding another former state representative to the mix.

Raquel Spies joins the team for the upcoming QSL season after four years of QBL experience with the Brisbane Capitals and representation in the Queensland U20s.

“Raquel comes in as an experienced forward. She’s played QBL with the Capitals and was in the same Queensland U20s team that Shanelle Tolley played in,” coach Matt Cox said.

“She’s smart, athletic and likes to get out and run. She rebounds well and makes good decisions with the ball in her hands.

“She was looking to come somewhere she could have a bit better of a role and start enjoying her basketball, so we’re fortunate to have her on board.”

The Mountaineers women will officially get their pre-season underway in the coming days with a pair of trials over the long weekend.

It starts on Saturday against the Logan Thunder, before a test against the Northside Wizards on Monday.

With both games on the road, Cox hopes his squad is able to gel against rosters with NBL1 North programs.

“This gives us a good chance to come out and show what we’ve been working on in the pre-season so far,” he said.

“It’s not necessarily about the results, we just want to put in a good performance on the court and continue to build our style of play.

“It’s been a long time since a lot of our squad has played in meaningful games, and the speed at training isn’t always as quick as you’d get in a game, so that will be a challenge.

“I’ll be looking for us to lock in on defence.”

The Toowoomba Mountaineers men have bulked up their roster with a host of local players to lead the charge into their QSL campaign.

The club has recently announced that Seth Ham, Noah Silcox-Smith, Bailey Nwanevu, Joshua Allen, Chris Longford, David Werth, Peter Deng, Ashley Pailthorpe, Patrick Roche, Ben Toohey and Sam Wall will all be involved.