ROLLERS’ SKYE BALL
IT’S an age-old trope not even Skye Mason could escape.
In primary school, when she was towering above her peers, her teacher invited her to a miniball session.
In Year 1, people would ask her what she was doing in the designated year level area because she looked like she should be in Year 7.
But when the 16-year-old first started playing basketball, despite all the heightrelated stereotypes, she fell in love with the game.
Now the 190cm player is aiming to help lead the Gold Coast Rollers to their second grand final in two years.
Last year when the Rollers went down to the Southern District Spartans in the Queensland Basketball League grand final, Mason wasn’t old enough to play and was still playing representative basketball for the Gold Coast association.
Last week against RedCity Roar, the teenager was a key architect in the Rollers’ quarter-final win, shooting a season-best 21 points in the 97-62 victory.
Now the Rollers face a 2019 QBL grand final rematch against the Spartans in Brisbane on Friday night for a place in the 2020 Queensland State League grand final.
The sides have met once this year, with the Spartans winning 85-78 in August but Mason believes her side is now a different beast.
“We’ve improved a lot as a team since,” she said.
“We had a rough start to the season when one of our players (Susannah Walmsley) tore her ACL but we’ve slowly begun to work as a team and work around her absence.
“She’s been great since and has been on the sidelines encouraging us and giving us younger girls lots of tips to improve.
“Last week (against Roar) was one of our most complete team performances and we moved the ball well and locked in on our defence.”
It’s taken Mason nearly an entire season to adjust to the pace of the QSL but she’s hoping the experience will benefit her quest for Queensland junior team selection.
“I’ve been slowly adjusting and not playing as many minutes as some of the experienced girls but I go out there and play hard with the minutes I do get,” she said.
“My goal at the minute is to keep working and keep improving.”
The Rollers face the Spartans for a spot in the QSL grand final at 6pm on Friday at Rowland Cowan Stadium.
The Bulletin will live stream the final.