VICTORIA has swept the gold medal games in both men’s and women’s divisions of the Australian Ivor Burge and Under-20 Basketball Championships played at Launceston’s Elphin Sports Centre.
In the men’s final New South Wales was on fire early and by half-time, it had established a 13-point break after leading by up to 16 points deep into the first half.
Victoria continued to chip away at the margin and late in the third quarter, had reduced the gap to a single point before NSW recovered a little to lead by five points at the end of the period.
Victoria looked to be on a mission as the final term got under way and it hit the front for the first time in the game, less than two minutes into the quarter.
From that point on, the Victorians held their composure to take the gold medal with a 67-63 victory.
The women’s final was a battle of attrition with South Australia opening strongly and leading throughout the first half, at one stage late in the first quarter holding a nine-point advantage.
Victoria was not to be denied, cutting the deficit to four points at half-time and then going on to hit the front for the first time, midway through the third quarter.
Heading into the last quarter, it was still anyone’s game with Victoria clinging to a two point advantage.
South Australia looked to be in trouble early in the final term as Victoria surged to a seven-poin lead but South Australia still had something left, fighting back to regain a narrow lead with six minutes to play.
But that was to be the end of the South Australian fightback with Victoria taking out the gold medal, posting a 57-48 victory.
In the Ivor Burge men’s division, Victoria defeated Queensland 78-43 while in
the women’s division, Victoria defeated Queensland 78-45.