Tasmania’s first ever Country Cup winners have returned from Albury following one of the state’s best showings in recent memory.
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Launceston pair Lachlan Brewer and Max Hollister collected gold medals as part of the triumphant under-14 Tassie Kangaroos side, while fellow Northerner Hayden Zasadny won silver with the under-18s team.
“Our goal was to try and win about four games and we ended up going undefeated,” 12-year-old Brewer said.
“I was pretty proud of the boys and how we all played together.”
Having won their five pool games including a one-point thriller against SA Wombats, the Kangaroos won through to the final with a pair of three-point wins before clinching the title with a comprehensive 70-38 defeat of the SA Sharks.
Brewer netted 32 points in the final to finish with 170 for the tournament – the second-highest tally of any player in the division.
“I went away to nationals last year and that helped me a lot to prepare myself for this.
“(The close ones) were very tough but you’ve got to keep your cool and be calm and try and get through it.”
All nine Tasmanian teams won at least two games over the course of the tournament as the state finished with a 33-39 record across 72 games.
Basketball Tasmania chief executive Chris McCoy said the performance illustrated a remarkable improvement from previous years, where state teams have typically won a third of their games.
“(It was) a fantastic performance, a lot of it was really a reflection on our future development program and state development program.
“We made a choice to start the athletes younger four years ago and I think that’s one reason that our teams are performing better on the national stage.”