Buccs under-18s boys side claims Basketball WA Country Championship glory, three others finish runners-up

Geraldton’s basketball talent pool appears highly promising after strong performances in the junior leg of the Basketball WA Country Championships in Perth, including a title in the under-18s boys’ division. Fifteen sides took to the courts at Bendat Basketball Centre, with four of them qualifying for the grand final. But it was the under-18s boys’ side that took the title. On the first weekend, the side went undefeated in the group stage, before edging Karratha 43-40 in the championship, or top division’s grand final on Sunday, February 1. Riley Fong has been on a stellar run recently, and was named MVP in the decider, while finishing top scorer with 67 points, including nine three-pointers across six matches. He was well supported by fellow WA Country State representatives Kelvin Yokwe and Max De San Miguel who were also among the tournament’s top shooters, finishing on 51 and 46 points respectively. That same weekend, the under-18 division two girls delivered a sensational performance across the two days, also going undefeated, but fell at the final hurdle. They came runners-up to Busselton who Geraldton simply lacked an answer for after a devastating first half, trailing 4-22. It was a better effort in the second half, taking the final score to 13-37, but ultimately the damage had already been done. State representative Sophie Kirkpatrick was Geraldton’s top performer on the scoreboard, with 81 points — the fourth highest of the combined top two division. The under-15s boys and girls also did a terrific job in their divisions, both making their respective grand finals on Sunday, February 8. The girls’ side fell eight points shy of championship honours against Australind, despite Ariel Hurst top-scoring with 14 points in the match. In the boys’ grand final, Bunbury toppled the Buccs 45-37, with Hudson McMahon best on court for Geraldton. Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association administrator Nerolie Gerreyn said all sides showed “tremendous improvement from last year”, and called it a “really successful campaign”.