BATHURST basketballer Will Cranston-Lown has come away from the Australian Junior Basketball Cup with some silverware after his NSW Country under 14s side took out its age group at the tournament staged in Albury earlier this month.
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Cranston-Lown was one of eight Bathurst players in action, five at the Albury carnival and another three at the Pacific Coast Slam held in Port Macquarie at the same time and, in general, the local contingent had a decent impact in their respective age groups.
“We got one win up through Will, his under 14s side were very strong and deserved their win,” said Bathurst junior basketball co-ordinator Paul Masters, who also coached one of the under 16s girls’ sides at the Albury tournament.
“I was pretty pleased with how our kids went, all of them played pretty crucial roles for their teams and were among the main and most important players for their sides.
“Laycee Covington-Gorst and her under 16s team made the final of their competition but missed out and the rest [Chelsea Noon, Olivia Dobell and Claire Woolmington] all finished third or fourth. I thought all our kids were pretty much on the ball with where they needed to be compared to the competition.”
Masters’ team were on course to meet Covington-Gorst’s team in the under 16s decider before they were defeated by three points by a Victorian outfit in their semi-final, the coach saying that the conditions had begun to catch up with his players by that stage.
“We lost by three and that side went on to beat Laycee’s by 11 in the final,” he said.
“We were just running out of puff and had two very tough games against Victorian sides on that last day. At one stage the temperature gauge at the stadium read 47 degrees celsius so it was very testing for a young team.”
At Port Macquarie, Vic Chua was part of the Country side which finished third in the under 15s boys’ competition, while Jack Love and Emily Matthews were also involved, Love’s team finishing mid-table after struggling initially and Matthews’ side finishing third.
The representative stars and the rest of the Bathurst Goldminers’ Western Junior League sides kick off their pre-season this week ahead of the first round of competition, which will be hosted by Riverina at the end of February.
“Some of the kids will be selected out of that round to go to state trials in the Hunter region in mid-March, I’m not sure how many will get an invite but I’d say we will have some good representation there,” Masters said.
