National's Basketball Update

On the 26th of November 27 students headed up to the Gold Coast to compete in the Australian School Basketball Championships. Despite the change in heat the students showed great sportsmanship and respect towards staff and other schools. 

Our brilliant young ladies in our Under 15 team won fans against whoever they played. Despite only having 7 players the girls gave it their all and never gave up. Coach Cory Smith was really excited with the progress of the girls, and we are looking forward to seeing what they can do in the years to come. They finished seventh for the tournament which is a great achievement.   

Our Under 15 boys punched out of their weight division all week finishing sixth. They defeated the bronze medal winning side during the rounds and were only narrowly beaten by both the teams in the final. One of the highlight games was a win against tournament fancies Brisbane State High, coming from 17 points down to win by 3 points in a cliffhanger.  Congratulations to Eli Sutherland and Cooper Belsham for finishing top 5 in scoring for the tournament. 

Our Under 17 boys finished fifth and ended the tournament with a great victory over Brisbane State High. The week consisted of a few tough games, but overall, the boys showed great determination and bounced back stronger than ever for their last game. Congratulations to Riley Morehu for finishing top 5 in scoring. 

Our students had a wonderful opportunity to tour the Gold Coast Suns Headquarters with ex-student Sam Flanders, where they had a quick speech from triple premiership winning Senior Coach, Damien Hardwick. 

On the 1st of December the students had a relaxing day. Despite the flight getting cancelled, students showed great friendship and even some creative activities to keep them occupied. 

Overall, a wonderfully successful tournament for everyone involved. A huge thank you to our coaches and volunteers for their support during the week - Mike Santo, Kirsty Mitchell, Abby Cornish, Cory Smith, Sanda Laidlaw, Emily Morehu and Mal Swinley.