Inside the Australian schools competing at the NBA Rising Stars Invitational
Adam Gibson's Rowville Secondary College and Brent Hobba's Berwick Secondary will represent Australia at the Singapore event, which brings together elite youth talent from across Asia-Pacific.
Image credit: Supplied/NBA Rising Stars Invitational
After their wins in the NBA Rising Stars Invitational Australian Qualifiers in Melbourne this May, Berwick College (boys) and Rowville Secondary College (girls) will represent Australia in the event at Singapore’s OCBA Arena from June 23 to 28.
12 teams will compete in each division, including winners from qualifying events in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand. Opals legend Lauren Jackson will host a clinic at the event, while NBA champions Jeremy Lin and Mitch Richmond and Los Angeles Laker Rui Hachimura are all special guests.
Brent Hobba, a former NBL player and SEABL champion, is coaching the Berwick boys’ team. He says the Australian qualifiers were a huge success. “I think the qualifiers were probably one of the most elite tournaments that have been run for the top basketball academies and high schools in this country. All the schools and players are seeing it as the pinnacle of school basketball.”
While Berwick is making their second trip to the event, it’s new territory for Rowville Secondary College, led by former Olympian and NBL champion Adam Gibson. While they haven’t played at this event before, he says they’ve got plenty of experience on the road. “Every year, we take our teams to the Gold Coast for Nationals, and a lot of our girls have been overseas with other teams. We’ll tick all those boxes, and we’ll be ready to roll.”
At the Melbourne event, two of the team’s best contributors were twin sisters Tesloch and Tiedore Puoch. “They’re great, full of personality, and they play that way as well,” Gibson says. “Sometimes they give me a bit of grief, but they’re great to be around, like all the girls.”
Gibson says Makayla Craven, who starred in the qualifier final with 30 points, has a bright future in the game. “She was incredible. Her game’s grown so much in the last year and a half. I’m relying on her to play big minutes, and along with Vanessa Tavete, she’ll be one of our leaders.”
In the boys’ tournament, Berwick’s Boris Rosner was the star of the final with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Hobba says Rosner was a “sleeper” coming into the event.
“He’s never made state teams or anything like that, but we’ve always known he’s a very talented kid,” says Hobba. “We’re really happy that the spotlight’s been put on him in regards to opportunities for his future. If he keeps tracking the way he’s going, he can definitely get more out of basketball after his junior rep days, and hopefully he takes up that opportunity.”
Berwick’s depth was also a major strength, with bench players contributing a combined 55 points in the final. “We found it really difficult when we initially picked the team because there were 14 kids that put in a strong bid and stuck their hands up to make that team,” Hobba says.
“It was really tough to pick the initial 10, knowing that there were even who had made it last year that missed out and that were fully capable of contributing to this team. We’ve got four Year 12s, two kids at Year 10 age and the rest are Year 11s. Everybody contributed during the tournament, and we expect the same going into Singapore. Being deep is a really important thing for us.”
Hobba says team captain Lachie Pickering and point guard Parker Rivet have been great on-court leaders for the team. “It’s a really unselfish group, and I think they’ve all shown good leadership traits that will help us reach our end goal.”
Since the Australian qualifiers, neither team has had much time to train together, as the young player-athletes balance other commitments.
“It’s been disjointed because our seniors have had exams,” Gibson says of Rowville. “We just had a tournament today; they won a little tournament. We haven’t had too much time on court, but our girls play that much basketball and know each other’s game really well, so we’re not too concerned.”
Similarly, Berwick hasn’t had a proper training session since they qualified for the event. “The kids have just had numerous things going on at the school with assessments, work experience, exams, other tournaments, they’ve got their VSSC (Victorian Secondary Schools Challenge) finals this week,” Hobba says. “It’s been a hectic month, but in saying that, the boys do play a lot of basketball outside [the school team] and they’re raring to go.”
Scouting is another challenge heading into the tournament. Speaking a couple of days before flying to Singapore, Gibson had seen “absolutely zero” footage of the other competing schools but was still hopeful of tracking down some footage. “I know a lot of these schools, they’re good shooters, they’re fast and move the ball well, so we want to make sure we defend the three-point line. We’re probably more worried about ourselves.”
Berwick has also been more focused internally, having only seen some social media snippets of their opponents. “It’s been difficult to even tell which high schools are from which countries,” Hobba says. “Everything is going to be new to us, but like I say to the kids, those who can adapt quickest to what’s going on in the game are usually the ones who get the win. Our boys are pretty good with that, and hopefully we can adapt to all different styles.”
Hobba grew up in Kalgoorlie and says there was no high school basketball to speak of, let alone an international event like this. “I pretty much just had a domestic comp, and I was lucky to go through and play for WA Country at State; that was what I looked forward to. In a small country town, there weren’t the opportunities that kids can get these days.”
Gibson says the event is a unique chance for his student athletes to shine, “With the NBA name attached to this, eyes will be on it. These kids will be looking to go to college and play WNBL and WNBA. To represent your country on any international stage is very special.”
Hobba agrees. “It’s an amazing opportunity,” he says. “I think the kids have realised that with this platform, a lot more people are watching and looking at the socials. It’s endless what kind of opportunities can come from this type of tournament.”
Rowville Secondary College Team: Tiana Bajic, Makayla Craven, Aorangi Harding, Bridgette Kata, Dynahia Masters, Jordyn Phillips, Tesloch Puoch, Tiedore Puoch, Vanessa Tavete
Berwick College Team: Jack Dawson, Zach Morrell, Lachie Pickering, Parker Rivet, Boris Rosner, Jake Shaw, Stevan Tasic, Aiden Turkkan, Oliver Van Den Brink, Zane Windsor