Our outstanding South Australia Country women’s basketball team competed in the Australian Under 18 Championships and Kevin Coombs Cup in Ballarat, Victoria between the 11th and 18th April coming away with our first Silver medal at U18 level.

The State Country team being made up of athletes from all over country South Australia including Millicent, Mount Gambier, Barossa Valley, Yorke Valley, Victor Harbor and Murray Bridge. The team ably supported by Kris Dalitz (Manager), Glenn “Matho” Mathieson & Jo Matthews (Assistant Coaches) and Paul Salter (Head Coach).

Selection for the State Team comes with great commitment from not only the athletes but also their parents with the program starting selections back in November 2014, training and development tournaments in Adelaide and Albury, NSW, throughout December and then January and then final selections and then weekly, weekend trainings right up until the National Championships in April.

The team headed to the tournament this year carrying the weight of expectation that something special could happen based on the teams over performance at the championships in 2014 where we came away with the bronze medal. The team this year had seven players returning as top age athletes and early form including a historic gold medal and third place finish at the Australian Country Junior basketball Cup in January indicated that we had a competitive and talented group of young women who could defiantly compete at the highest level.

The National championships fixture this year was an interesting one with New Zealand not nominating for the first time in many years and leaving an odd number of teams and an uneven draw. South Australia Country found themselves in what appeared to be the strongest of the pools and also the draw that would see them play one more game than the opposite pool including a double header on the second day of competition.

The first day of competition saw SA Country take on Western Australia Country. The game was a tight arm wrestle throughout the first half with scores being tied at quarter time (15) and SA Country taking out the narrowest of 1 point leads at the half (31 to 30). The third quarter saw SA Country lift their defensive pressure, trapping their opposition on numerous occasions and transitioning for numerous fast breaks. SA Country piled on a huge 31 points during the quarter whilst limiting the opposition to a miserly 4. SA Country ultimately running out comfortable winners 75 to 49. Top scorers Rachael Hines 15 points, Kedeisha Kartinyeri and Alexandra Walker 12 points, Chelsea Brook also finishing with 7 defensive rebounds.

The second day of play saw SA Country having to take on the challenge of a double header. The day kicked off with a 10 o’clock game against ACT. The game never appeared to reach a truly high standard with both teams making numerous turnovers and at times struggling to score consistently. SA Country did however never look like letting the game slip, holding the lead throughout the game with a lead of 14 at half time (40 – 26) and ultimately running out winners 72 to 61. Top scorers Sarah Elsworthy 17 points, Chelsea Brook 13 points and with Alex Walker adding a total of 13 rebounds.

The day was all about a quick recovery and refocusing on our next opposition Tasmania who we took on at 6 o’clock that night. The team clearly came ready to play, pulling out to a 14 point lead at quarter time and building on the lead in each quarter, eventually taking the win by a commanding 33 points (83 to 50). SA Country’s smothering defence pushed Tasmania into numerous turnovers (23) and our team play was outstanding eventually going on to have 20 team assists across the game. SA was also dominate on the boards out rebounding Tasmania 55 to 37 by the end of the game. Top scorers Sarah Elsworthy 14 points, Brenna McKay 13 points and 11 rebounds and Chelsea Brook again dominating the rebounds with a total of 13 for the game.

One of the biggest challenges at a National championship is how you perform on a double header day and then just as importantly how you perform the following day. After a sleep in, and a slow start to the day SA Country took on Queensland South at 2 o’clock. The slow start to the day also saw SA Country off to a slow start in the game. Queensland South came out firing, with good athleticism and team work they were able to pull out to a comfortable lead at quarter time (29 to 17). Queensland out rebounding SA 14 to 6 also shooting at a much better percentage. The coaching staff needed to respond as SA Country struggled to contain the strength and height of the opposition in the key. SA Country changed their defence to a zone and this had an immediate impact. It was always going to be a slow road back though and SA Country still trailed by 9 points at half time, but they were coming. The third quarter saw SA Country back to their best both defensively and also offensively. SA Country held Queensland to just 10 points for the quarter whilst adding 23 points of their own. The last quarter was a tight affair but SA Country stuck to their game plan and went on to take out their fourth victory in three days with a well played 75 to 69 win. Top scorers Chelsea Brook and Sarah Elsworthy with 16 points each, Hannah Stewart with 12 points which consisted of 3 from 7 from the three point arc and Brenna McKay again having a standout game with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

SA Country’s challenge for the fourth day of competition was Victoria Metro. VIC Metro are seen to be the might of the National Championships, winning more championships than any other state and also being the reigning champions from 2014. SA Country came with no misunderstanding that this was going to be a huge challenge but also believing that at our best we could take the game right up to the team that most would say was the measuring stick. SA Country got off to a good start, even though looking a little nervous at times they were able to go into quarter time leading by just 2 points, 20 to 18. The game continued to be an arm wrestle throughout the next two quarters with VIC Metro taking just the slightest of ascendancy and eventually heading SA Country 64 to 51 at three quarter time. The decision was made at three quarter time by the coaching staff that if we weren’t going to be in a position to win the game within the early part of the last quarter we would begin resting our players in preparation for our final pool game the following day, a must win game against NSW Metro. VIC Metro was able to hit the first couple of shots of the last quarter and as per our game plan we then began to rest our players. SA Country still played very competitively through to the end but eventually lost (88 to 66).Top scorers Hannah Stewart 16 points, Chelsea Brook 10 points and Sarah Elsworthy handing out 6 assists.

The last day of the pool games was against the might of NSW Metro. The interesting thing with this game was the knowledge prior to the game start that a win would lock us into second place in our pool, a loss by 14 points or less would place us in third and a loss by more than 15 points would drop us to fourth. SA Country bounced back from our first loss of the championships the day before with a strong start, again playing great team basketball and controlling the boards. NSW were unable to defend our pick and roll offense and our tall (Chelsea Brook) would eventually go on to score a game high 24 points. SA Country were never headed, holding on to a 5 point lead through to half time and then what had become a common occurrence, powering on throughout the third quarter outscoring NSW 20 to 10 points. SA Country eventually running our comfortable victors (79 to 64). Top Scorer Chelsea Brook 24 points and 11 rebounds, Sarah Elsworthy 9 points and 4 assists, and remarkably everyone adding to the score sheet.

For the last two years the National Championships have introduced quarter finals. This sees the top four teams from each pool playing off against each other for final placing. SA Country in second place in our pool was pitted against NSW Country (third in the opposite pool). For our girls there was some comfort as they had played against many of the NSW girls earlier in the year at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup. SA Country took early control of the game pulling out to an 11 point lead at the quarter and building on this lead through to the end of the third where we led 60 to 36. SA Country took the opportunity to then rotate the players throughout the last quarter so that we could be as rested as possible for the semi final clash the following day. SA Country finishing off again with good team defence and team play, winning 77 to 59. SA Country heading to the semi finals for the second consecutive year at the Nationals. Top scorers Chelsea Brook 30 points, Rachael Hines 13 points and Alexandra Walker adding 10 points and 8 assists.

The quarter finals bring both some challenges but also quite often some surprises to the National Championships. SA Country’s competition the next day would eventually become NSW Metro (coming from 4th in our pool) when they defeated Victoria Country (1st in the opposite pool) in their quarter final later that day.

SA Country came to the semi final with a quiet confidence after defeating N.S.W Metro comfortably in their earlier encounter. Once again great team play and SA Country’s ability to consistently execute their offense saw SA Country build an early lead (28 to 10 at quarter time). This lead would grow to a 25 point lead at half time and be narrowly trimmed back to 23 at three quarter time. SA Country’s depth and ability to perform with multiple combinations of players on the floor saw them pull away in the last quarter to run out eventual victors 81 to 52 at the final siren. Top scorers Chelsea Brook 15 points, Hannah Stewart 13 points, Keneisha Seidel and Rachael Hines both adding 9 points.

This victory a historic event for SA Country basketball as the win guaranteed a place in the gold/silver game. SA Country had never achieved in 40 years of competing at Under 18 National Championships a position greater than bronze. And remember seven of the girls had equalled that back in 2014.

The last day of the Championships and playing in a Gold medal game was something that none of us had ever encountered. The game is scheduled late in the day being the main event and the girls took the opportunity to get out of the accommodation and relax in preparation for the biggest game of their young life. The coaching staff took the time to continue to study the competition which was no surprise being Victoria Metro.
SA Country took to the game with the same desire and intensity that they had throughout the championships but under the intense pressure Victoria brought to the game SA Country struggled to consistently score. At half time SA Country trailed by 16 points and were still well within the game. The second half was not to be the fairy tale that any of us had hoped for. Victoria Metro to their credit played some incredible pressure defence pushing SA Country out of what had been their strength and also went on to pull away to a commanding victory (86 to 46).

As the Head Coach of SA Country, Paul Salter could not have been prouder of the effort and commitment that the team brought to the championships. We had a saying whilst we were away “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far go together” The girls certainly lived and played to this saying and the silver medal was a deserving reward for their efforts. The ten young women not only became part of South Australia Country folk law with a silver medal at the under 18 National Championships but seven of these talented young athletes within their representative careers have now won three National Championships medals. Winning a bronze medal at top age under 16 National Championships, a bronze medal at bottom age under 18s and this history making silver at this year’s championships. This accomplishment is something that possibly won’t be equalled for many years to come if it ever is.

South Australia Country Basketball has been privileged to have had such talented and dedicated athletes involved in our programs.

Ladies take a bow.

Sarah Elsworthy (Captain)
Abigayle Mader
Alexandra Walker
Ashlyn Menz
Brenna McKay
Chelsea Brook
Hannah Stewart
Kedeisha Kartinyeri
Kenisha Seidel
Rachael Hines

Paul Salter (Head Coach)
Glenn Mathieson (Assistant Coach)
Jo Matthews (Assistant Coach)
Kris Dalitz (Team Manager)

Written by Paul Salter (Head Coach, SA Country Under 18 State team)