Tassie U20s bag bronze in nailbiter

TASMANIA’S under-20 basketballers produced another giant-killing effort to defy the odds and snatch bronze from NSW at the national championships in Canberra.

In a thrilling playoff for third spot Tasmania had to survive a buzzerbeating, go-ahead three-point attempt from NSW to clinch an 83-82 victory.

The win also erased several years of near-misses for the core group of players, who have finished fourth at under-18 level in the past.

Unlike under-16 and under-18 level the big states do not split their teams into metro and country sides at the under-20 titles, meaning Tasmania came up against the best basketballers each state could piece together.

“It was really exciting, our goal was to win it but a medal was really good,” said Jacob Richards, who finished with a neat triple-double of 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

“The competition is a lot tougher, all the best players from other states come together and when you beat them, it feels really good.”

Tasmania was led all tournament by Taran Armstrong, who finished as the leading scorer of the championships with 24.8 points per match, while teammate Reyne Smith was second with 20.5.

Basketball Tasmania development officer Nic Martin said the state’s achievement — coupled with the women finishing fifth despite playing mostly with eight players — was another example of punching above its weight.

“Something we pride ourselves on is punching above our weight and exceeding everyone else’s expectations.

“It shows the future of the game in Tasmania is in good hands and hopefully a few of these guys can go on to be good potential NBL1 or NBL players or go on to higher honours.”