Toowoomba Mountaineers ready for under-18 South Queensland Junior Basketball Competition

The future stars of the Toowoomba Mountaineers program are set to battle for glory over the next three months with the under-18 South Queensland Junior Basketball Competition tipping off this weekend. See who will be the key players for each team here.

The 2024 Toowoomba Mountaineers Division 4 boys team

The next generation of Toowoomba Mountaineers QSL stars are set to take to the court for the under-18 South Queensland Junior Basketball Competition.

The Mountaineers will be represented by three sides this campaign with Division 2 girls, Division 3 boys and Division 4 boys’ sides in action.

Matt Cox has taken the reigns as coach of the girls’ team and is excited for what lies ahead.

“We’re pretty happy with where we are at the moment,” Cox said.

“We trialled for Div 1 and learnt a lot about ourselves there.

“We fell short but walked away feeling confident about Div 2 and making playoffs is one of our goals.”

Cox highlighted what the main focus will be in his side’s quest for glory.

“The defensive end is going to be massive,” he said.

“We are not particularly big so we will have to be disciplined and limit our fouling.”

Cox said Kayley Markey, Lucy Topp, Millie Natalier and Hauani Epetahaui will be key to the success of the Mountaineers this season.

“Someone who has impressed me is Kayley Markey, she’s been fantastic, she defends at an elite level, can attack the rim and just needs a bunch of confidence,” he said.

“I am certain she is going to have a breakout season and provide a punch in the back-court with Millie.

Millie Natalier in action for the Toowoomba Mountaineers. Picture: Basketball Queensland.

“Our two bigs, Lucy Topp and Hauani Epetahaui, they both have really good size, good athleticism just need to be disciplined on the defensive end but will be really good contributors.”

Cox was excited to see what Natalier will bring after an exceptional season at under-16 level.

She led the division in scoring with well over 30 points per game for the under-16 girls and was a key reason why the Mountaineers turned their season around after just one win from their opening eight games.

“It’s the big test for her, the more seasons she plays at rep level, the bigger the target becomes on her back, so she has to keep evolving as a basketball player,” he said.

Toowoomba Mountaineers coach Matt Cox. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Mountaineers Division 3 boys’ coach Ash Peters is ready for a big season after a strong pre-season.

“They’ve been training pretty hard, grading was a good success, we’re looking forward to getting the season started and eyeing off a championship,” he said.

“We’re definitely built to be a solid defensive team, that’s our strength and some of the focus will be on improving offence and ticking the scoreboard over.”

Peters said Marcus Franklin will drive the offence for the Mountaineers while there were three players he is set to turn to defensively.

He labelled Markey Kisiel as a great aggressive defender and is also expecting big thinks from Rain Ango and Zac Harvey.

Jason Krienke has taken the helm of the Division 4 Mountaineers side and said Will Campbell, Connor Stanton, Tobias Mua, Will Heinemann and Jacob Wirihana will be key players for his side in their quest for glory.

He was particularly impressed by the efforts of Wirihana throughout the pre-season.

“I wasn’t 100 per cent sold on him but he’s just a fighter and a scrapper and he’s almost earned a spot in the starting five,” Krienke said.

The 2024 Toowoomba Mountaineers Division 4 boys team

With a longer pre-season than usual, Krienke – who is coaching alongside Toowoomba QSL guns Noah Silcox-Smith and Mitch Davis – believes his side is more ready than ever.

“We have been working hard,” Krienke said

“We’ve started our pre-season earlier than usual which is something we’ve been working really hard on being competitive with the bigger associations.

“We’ve definitely got great chemistry and those intangibles have come together and we have already seen significant improvement.”

Krienke believes with a strong regular season, his side will be able to contend for the Division 3 state championships in January.

“I am excited for the promise of what can be in store for this team as they continue to gel and make the adjustment from the domestic comp to rep basketball,” he said.

“We got a lot of good shooters and we’ve got some raw talent that haven’t been playing basketball for long.

“As we continue to develop that inside outside game we could be really dangerous.”