Waves take bronze
AN inspired second quarter has paved the way for the Gold Coast Waves girls to win bronze at the Queensland Under-18 State Basketball Championships.
A day after losing to the Logan Thunder in their semifinal on Saturday, the Waves’ medal hopes came down to a cross-town grudge match against the North Gold Coast Seahawks which quickly slipped out of their control.
A slow start saw the Seahawks pile on 24 first quarter points to the Waves’ 14 to take a 10-point lead into quarter time.
But from there it was all Waves as the Gold Coast side restricted the Seahawks to 25 points over the next two quarters while upping their own scoring productivity to run away 79-75 winners.
“We had a slow start but we were still getting good looks. We just weren’t hitting them,” Waves coach Cassie Dover said.
“Myself and Ambrose (assistant coach Sarah Ambrose) made sure they settled and we said to them that we couldn’t afford to keep giving up 24 points and emphasised the little things in defence. After the semi-final, we always wanted to win.
“We were really happy with the way they played (against Logan) and they didn’t do much wrong but sometimes you just can’t find a way to win.”
While they are still in the process of celebrating their 2020 triumph, Dover said she was already excited for what the side could achieve next year with five bottom-aged players expected to return.
“To finish top four in the state is a great effort because they didn’t make the top four two years ago in under-16s so we’ve already seen a big improvement,” she said.
Lilly Rotunno continued her barnstorming finish to the tournament with 13 points and 11 assists, controlling the game as point guard, while Shorna Preston sunk a game-high 25 points.
In other results, the Gold Coast Waves division one boys will settle for fourth after going down by two points to the Logan Thunder.
In division two, the Seahawks boys finished 12th overall while the Gold Coast Breakers finished seventh.
The Seahawks boys finished fourth in division three/ four while the Gold Coast Rollers boys finished sixth.
In the female division two, the Gold Coast Breakers finished fifth.