Plenty looking for cold comfort

Ice in high demand at Masters – both for beer and bumps

ICE will be a highly soughtafter commodity during the Great Barrier Reef Masters Games.

At Cairns Basketball yesterday, as it will be until the grand finals tomorrow afternoon, everyone was trying to get their hands on as much of the product as possible.

Firstly, to keep the beers cold, and secondly, to freshen up all those aching joints after running down the hardwood of the Fish Tank.

While there are countless former professionals competing in the basketball section of this year’s event, the vibe was certainly more social on court yesterday.

The favourites to take out the men’s section, the HasBeens, who claimed a World Championship win in Auckland recently, were still refreshing themselves from a Wednesday evening stint at Gilligan’s when they played their first game yesterday.

Australian basketball legend Chris Anstey, who spent time with the Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls during his playing days, employed close mate and current Cairns Dolphins coach Mark Worthington to keep the drinks cold as they claimed their first win.

“Wortho is our first ever development player,” Anstey revealed.

“He still has a couple of years as a development play- er until he hits the minium age of 35.

“He did a good job of getting the beers.

“One day, hopefully, I will be only playing a few minutes a game and Wortho will be out there playing the minutes.”

Upwards of 15 teams, eight men’s and seven women’s teams, will compete over the next few days across over-35s, over-40s, over-50s, over-55s and over-60s age groups.

Games start at 8.30am this morning and will run all day until 5pm.

The 42-year-old Anstey, who resigned as coach of Melbourne United in late 2014, encouraged more people to get involved in the Masters Games.

“We hope that every game we play is played in good spirits,” Anstey said.

“There is different levels at every tournament you play but I think there will be two or three teams up here that will really challenge us. Our team is a team full of good guys, we are here to have a bit of fun.

“Our hope is that a lot of other retired professional players will put teams together and give us reasons to catch up with those guys.”

The Women’s Basketball Finals will be played at 3pm on Saturday followed by the men from 4pm, with medals awarded after the games.

Pictures: JUSTIN BRIERTY BEST SHOT: Old School’s Jason Ardern shoots for the hoop during the Masters Games Old School versus Oxygen Thieves basketball match at the Aumueller St courts.

GOOD TIMES: Oxygen Thieves’ Russell Robinson and Old School’s Simon Laverty enjoy a lighter moment during the game and (right) Russell Tweeddale runs with the ball.