Victoria makes it another clean sweep at U18 nationals

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Updated: April 21, 2017

VICTORIA has again come away from the Australian U18 Junior Championships victorious, only this time Vic Country joined in the spoils in Townsville.

While Vic Metro clinched its second successive men’s title and fourth in the past five years, Vic Country claimed its first women’s championship since 2000 while ending their city counterparts’ three year reign.

Both grand finals went down to the wire, with Vic Metro snatching a 79-77 win over Queensland North in the men’s division, and Vic Country held on to a 60-59 victory over South Australia Metro in the women’s.

In a game that had eight lead changes, Vic Metro had been down by as many as eight points midway through the final term.

“For us, it’s about making plays at the right time and we had several at the right time,” Vic Metro coach Darren Perry told Basketball Victoria.

“We had shots made, defensive plays, we had blocked shots, we had a board that we had to get and got possession, then the free throw that we needed to be there.

“When you trail in the fourth quarter, and you trail late in the game, you just have to keep with it and we did. You could say we did these things right, but all the things we did late were tough, we did them at the right times.

“The bunch that started the week are a much bigger bunch of men at the end of the week.”

Sean MacDonalsd led the scoring for the winners with 20 points, while Tyler Robertson (16) and Keli Leaupepe (15) also made valuable contributions.

Samson Froling downed a game-high 29 points, as well collecting 13 rebounds and five blocks for Queensland North, wbile Kody Stattman (24 points, nine rebounds and three steals) was also good.

Earlier, Victoria Country had to withstand a fast-finishing SA Metro. The Vics had led by nine points with less than four minutes remaining, before the South Australians went on a 8-0 run.

Jazmin Shelley (13 points, five rebounds) and Chelsea D’Angelo (12 points, six rebounds) led the way for Victoria, while Samantha Simons (15 points) and Juliet Gordon (10 points) were SA’s best.

“Just so excited for the players, the staff and a lot of the Country Vic people who have come through the program,” Vic Country coach Gerard Hillier told Basketball Victoria.

“Winning gold is a bit of a rarity in this program.

“It’s something we want to change in coming years, so it’s excitement and relief.

“We keep saying as a team that they’re country tough – there’s a lot of adversity going against them already, just to get to training and games, and participate in these events. It certainly toughens them up.

“They’ve shown that this week and it’s a credit to them.”