Waves the best

THE Gold Coast Waves under-14 girls’ team faced off against the Sandringham Sabres in the final of the National Club Championships of Australia on Saturday, with the country’s best young players and teams converging to showcase the future of Australian basketball.

Having beaten Sandringham earlier in the tournament in Victoria, Gold Coast were put to the test early as they fell to a 20-10 deficit at the quarter-time break.

After the break the girls settled into the rhythm of the game and let their defence start to throttle the Sabres.

Sandringham started to lose their legs in the third quarter, having played high intensity for the whole first half, and Gold Coast led 38-36 at threequarter time. All Gold Coast girls played in the grand final, with notable performances from Paige LeGassick, Jessica Smith, Lailani Brown, Eliza Rogers and Kiama Tahere throughout the tournament.

Jess Petrie, whose parents Sarah and Anthony coached the team, was close to the player of the tournament. Layla-J Cameron, daughter of New Zealand legend Pero Cameron, was also immense.

With the game on a knife’s edge in the last quarter, Hayley McDowell-White simply lifted herself and her team to victory, hitting three jumpers and making several steals and rebounds in a four-minute burst.

The lead went out to 10 and Sandringham submitted to the defensive pressure, only scoring two points for the entire last quarter.

The win meant the Gold Coast girls finished an outstanding 31-0 for the season. To return to win 53-38 after being down early speaks volumes of their character.

They will be celebrated on Thursday at 6pm at Gold Coast Sport & Leisure Centre. All welcome.