Cairns High taking on state’s best in Brisbane
A GENUINE rising star will lead Cairns State High School at the Champion Basketball School of Basketball tournament at Brisbane.
The secondary schools tournament features the best teenage basketballers from the state, and Cairns SHS will feature in the first game live streamed by the Cairns Post at 8am today.
Cairns SHS will take on Hillcrest Christian College in the opening game.
Ky Stattmann, who is part of the national under-16s setup, will lead a young but experienced Cairns SHS team.
Coach Brad Burdon said the squad, all of whom have played representative basketball for Cairns, would benefit greatly from the experience.
“This is a young and exciting team – out of the starting five, there’s only one Year 12 student,” Burdon said. “The rest are in years 10 and 11 and will be back for another shot.
“Ky’s recently been part of those Aussie squads so he’s a player we’ll expect a bit from. “We’re going there to win, but we’re trying to lay the foundation for the next few years.”
St James College and St Margaret Mary’s College Hillcrest Christian College have won the last two championship division grand finals in boys and girls respectively.
SQUAD: Rivar Evans, Tysei Hutchinson, Isaiah Grabau, Ky Stattmann, Barton Elphick, Josh Jennings, Jordan Dudgeon, Xavier Shearer, Jaffa Mitton, Sam Ellis.
SCHEDULE: Thursday @ 8am v Hillcrest Christian College (streamed live by the Cairns Post); Thursday @ 3.30pm v Brisbane State High School; Friday @ 8am v Gregory Terrace.
The tournament runs until Sunday.