The June long weekend is always an annual highlight on the calendar of junior basketball teams, with the NSW Country Championships taking place over the 3 days. This year saw Coffs Harbour send two of its CPL Men’s teams with the 16’s & 14’s travelling away to compete with the best teams NSW has to offer and hopefully bring home the first championship from this tournament in a decade.  

The 16 Men headed to Gosford to compete in the Division 1 section of the tournament with seven other quality teams chasing the title. Coffs came second after the round games only dropping one game to powerhouse Gosford City Rebels by 8 points. The boys then destroyed the semi-final by 30+ and handled the semi-final comfortably. Earning them a re-match with Gosford in the Grand Final to try and avenge their only blemish of the tournament thus far. The team pulled together to produce one of their best performances of the weekend leading at 2 out of the 3 quarter breaks but unfortunately just fell short by 6 points. This was an incredible effort from the team and Coach Connie Woods is “hoping this will spark a fire of confidence in the team for the remainder of the CPL season.”

The Under 14 Men travelled to Bathurst in the cold to try and provide some heat to the Premier Division and, the Hoey Moey Suns did just this. They cruised  through the pool games recording 5 wins and 0 losses to be clear first place heading into the play-offs. The semi-final saw the boys take on Illawarra, a team whose pressure had troubled the boys in the opening game of the weekend. The team locked into the game plan and led the game 12-3 at quarter time, never looking back to eventually win by a comfortable 19 points. Coffs big man Connor Watt asserted his dominance as the biggest player in the tournament of any team, bullying his way to a triple double in the semi-final (10 pts, 12 reb, 10 blocks). This set up a grand final blockbuster with Metropolitan team Penrith. Like the earlier semi, the Suns locked in on defence and limited Penrith’s opportunities and keeping them to 5 pts in the first quarter. Penrith continued to rally but the Suns sat in the driver seat the entire game eventually running out 61-46 winners. Lachlan Mihai received the tournament MVP averaging 19 points & 6 assists. Coach Blake Kelly “couldn’t be prouder of what the boys were able to achieve this weekend. It’s a testament to their discipline and ability to play together as a team no matter what position we are in.” The Suns boys are now aiming to secure their place for the 2016 Club National Championships in September.