Tassie youngsters beat the odds to bring home title

RESILIENCE and an ability to gel on court after coming together from different regions have been hailed as the backbone behind the Tasmania Devils’ under-14 boys winning their Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup division in Albury last week.

The 51-47 victory over Victoria Goldminers in the decider capped a stellar campaign where they lost just one match on their way to the crown.

The final encapsulated how well players from the North, North-West and southern associations came together as a team.

Seven players scored between four and nine points for the match – Sam Garwood (4), Kasper Plummer (4), Floyd Luttrell (6), Johnty Dynan (7), Darcy Hickey (9), Thomas Davie and Cooper Smith (9) – while Nash Benson, Felix Murray and Ethan Chapple also played major roles through the tournament.

Coach James Murray said the players were barely able to train before the tournament, which was held for the first time since 2020, but pinpointed one win where they found confidence they could go all the way.

“We only had one blowout win, the rest were close and that definitely put us in good stead to play the grand final,”

Murray said. “We had one overtime game, we came from 14 down to force overtime and won by six points against a

high quality team in NSW. “That set us up for the rest of the week, that we knew we had faith in each other and we could play tough games and we could play against good competition.

“Before this tournament we don’t have a lot of time together, we rely on Basketball Tasmania teaching all the regions the same content, so when we come together all the plays and language is familiar for everyone.

“The chance to play those games is so crucial for their development.”

Tasmania also won the under-14 girls title in 2020 and Murray said they take great satisfaction in rising to the challenge against the bigger states.

The under-14 girls again qualified for the decider last week, but went down 42-33 to South Australia Magpies in the final.

“It was the first opportunity for our boys to combine from different regions across the state, to blend the North, North-West and South,” he said.

“The boys showed amazing poise, composure, patience and resilience. They were rewarded with winning a number of tough, close games and that resulted in a chance to play the grand final.

“We definitely hang our hat on punching above our weight. We pride ourselves on that and make sure we work really hard.

“That was our week in a nutshell.”