2016 U20 Australian Junior Championships: Day one recap
The 2016 U20 Australian Junior Championships and Ivor Burge Championships for athletes with an intellectual disability kicked off on Sunday, pitting Australia’s most talented youngsters against one another.
With Ipswich hosting the competition this year, the Victoria Navy team on both the men and women’s brackets dominated on day one.
For the full rosters and preview of the tourney, click here.
Here is a recap of all the games from day one of both the U20 and Ivor Burge Champs.
U20 Champs Men
Queensland, 77 def. Victoria White, 72
In the opening game of the tournament, Deng Mayot doubled-up with 15 points and 13 rebounds, leading Queensland to a win. Verle Williams Jr. chipped in with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.
For Vic White, Jack Macdonald and Gabe Hadley were both impressive in defeat. Macdonald had 15 points and five rebounds, while Hadley scored 14 points and pulled down four rebounds.
Victoria Navy, 99 def. Western Australia, 77
The favourites to win the gold, Vic Navy sent a message on the opening day, dismantling Western Australia by 22 points. University of Miami commit Dejan Vasiljevic led all scorers with 25 points and seven rebounds, while future SMU Mustang Tom Wilson had a strong all-around effort with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Lachlan Evans led WA in scoring with 22, while Corey Shervill hit 4-of-7 three-pointers, accounting for his 16 points and four rebounds.
Credit: Kangaroo Photos/Basketball Australia
South Australia, 101 def. New South Wales, 90
Isaac White was absolutely on fire from beyond the arc, draining 7-of-10 three-pointers to account for 34 points in SA’s win. Jacob Rigoni contributed 20 points and four rebounds to help South Australia get off to a good start in the tourney.
For New South Wales, Matthew Kenyon doubled-up with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Kieran Hayward put up 16 points in the loss.
Victoria White, 93 def. Australian Capital Territory, 82
Vic White was able to avenge their loss earlier in the day, taking down the ACT by 11 points. Hadley was impressive once again, stuffing the stat sheet to the tune of 18 points, six assists and four rebounds. Tristan Lloyd also raised some eyebrows with his 14 point, seven rebound effort.
Bul Kuol, one of the marquee players at this year’s event, was awesome in the ACT loss, going off for 28 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate James Toohey had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists in defeat.
U20 Champs Women
Queensland, 89 def. New South Wales, 83
The Queenslanders got off to a positive start, as both men’s and women’s teams opened the championships with a victory. Tournament headliner Zitina Aokusa was unstoppable, scoring 22 points and pulling down 14 big rebounds. Briana Bailey contributed 14 points and four assists.
For NSW, Madeleine Norris and Ella-Rosary Tofaeono were very good in a losing effort. Norris had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Tofaeono put up a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Victoria Navy, 95 def. South Australia, 71
After the men’s destroyed Western Australia, the Vic Navy women did the same to South Australia, achieving a 24-point victory. Georgia Pineau and Moniqiue Andriuolo both had double figures in both points and rebounds. Pineau scored 18 and grabbed 10 boards, while Andriuolo put up 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Positives for SA were the performances of Morgan Yaeger, who had 21 points and five rebounds and Jade Johnson, who scored 16 points.
Victoria White, 83 def. Western Australia, 52
A total team effort was used by Vic White to pull away from the Western Australians. Four players scored in double-digits for the Vics, as Gemma Ogier (13), Maddison Rocci (13), Olivia West (10) and Georgia Dale (10) all were effective in the victory.
Amy Atwell was the lone bright spot in what was a disappointing effort from the WA squad, as she scored 23 points and grabbed four rebounds.
Ivor Burge Men
Victoria Country, 85 def. Western Australia, 48
The Ivor Burge Championships tipped off with Vic Country taking care of business against Western Australia. Philip Mahoney led the Vics with 20 points and four rebounds, while James Myers contributed 16 points and nine rebounds.
Kenneth Opoku was a beast despite the loss, pulling down a huge 22 rebounds to go along with 12 points. Aiden Kaschull led WA in scoring with 13.
New South Wales, 103 def. Australian Capital Territory, 49
Dean Pallier had a sensational all-around effort, scoring 28 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out five assists to help NSW to grab a big victory on day one of the champs. Thomas Preston doubled-up with 16 points and 16 rebounds.
A duo of ACT players had double-doubles in defeat. Justin Koenig had 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Jack Littleton had 11 and 11.
Victoria Metro, 98 def. Tasmania, 70
Victoria Metro was able to kick off their championship with a huge win over Tasmania, which was fuelled by an excellent performance from Jake De La Motte, who had 34 points and made 13-of-19 field goal attempts. Luke Nicholls contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
Dylan Pace and Joshua Cleary cannot be blamed for Tasmania’s big loss, as both were sensational in defeat. Pace scored a team-high 33 points and had 12 rebounds, while Cleary had 20 points and 16 rebounds.
South Australia, 97 def. Victoria Country, 58
Vic Country were on both ends of a big result on day one, as they couldn’t recapture the magic that allowed them to have a big win over WA earlier in the day. Keenan Georg-Dent had 30 points and 10 rebounds for South Australia, as his effort combined with Wayne (25 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Bradley (16 points, 18 rebounds) Kinross helped SA grab the victory.
For Vic Country, Lachlan Brannelly doubled-up with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Ivor Burge Women
Victoria Metro, 61 def. Vic Country, 22
The two Victorian clubs squared off to tip-off the women’s portion of the Ivor Burge Championships, with the Metro side putting up an excellent defensive effort, holding Country to just 22 points. Danielle Phillips led Metro with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Sam Hough had 12 rebounds and eight points.
Chole Turner was Country’s best player, with 10 points and 17 rebounds.
New South Wales, 88 def. South Australia, 20
Similar to the Vic Metro/Vic Country clash, this one was a blowout. New South Wales were able to hold South Australia to just 20 points, as Nicole Harris possibly had the best performance of anyone on the first day, with 33 points and 24 rebounds. Brittany Anderson also impressed with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
For SA, Amy Howard had 10 points and five rebounds, while Roslyn Thomas pulled down 12 rebounds.
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