National championships beckon for locals
Warragul basketballers Connor Graham, Makaela Zeldenryk and Shanara Notman have been selected in the Victoria Country sqauds to contest the Australian junior championships to be played in Geelong in April.
The championships will be the second national event for 2018, following the national under 20 and Ivor Burge tournaments in Gosford, New South Wales.
Connor will line up for the Victoria Country under 18 boys’ team, while Makaela and Shanara form part of the Victoria Country under 18 girls squad.
Looking to expand on the hard work of prior campaigns, newly appointed Victoria Country head coach Lucas Allen believes the Country boys have an elite edge through its Australian representatives and a strong 10-man core showcasing versatility and power throughout the championships.
Victoria will look to expand on a successful 2017 from its under 18 teams, with the Victoria Country under-18 girls claiming a droughtbreaking championship triumph, its first since 2000, and the Victoria metropolitan under-18 boys won the boys’ title with a comeback thriller.
The under 18 Victoria girls squad will be looking to go back-to-back.
Head coach Gerard Hillier believes the side’s skillfulness and resourcefulness, coupled with an elite crew of international representatives, will pay off.“We have selected a really long and athletic team, albeit not overly tall, we are very comfortable that what we lack in height will be made up with speed, high basketball IQ and amazing skill sets from each player to make us very versatile,” he said.
With Australian representatives Agnes Emma-Nnopu, Georgia Amoore, Jade Melbourne, and Olivia Pollerd all bringing international experience, the team will be hard to beat.