Tasmania's under-18 boys have fallen agonisingly short of the bronze medal at the national championships in a three-point loss to New South Wales Metro.
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After trailing by 17 points with four minutes to go in their campaign, the boys showed their heart and clawed the margin back through Reyne Smith (43 points, nine rebounds) and Taran Armstrong (14 points, nine rebounds).
Australian representative Launceston's Sejr Deans performed strongly for the side also with 18 points to his name.
With a four-point-lead at the end of the first, New South Wales pulled away from the Tasmanians to lead by 13 points at the main break, 46-33.
The underdogs then outscored NSW Metro for both quarters in the second half but were just unable to claw back the sizable margin.
North West's Smith scored the second-most points for the tournament, trailing only Queensland's Mojave King.
The girl's campaign ended on Friday with a ninth position finish after a resounding 69-53 win over South Australia Country.
The points evenly distributed among the group, Launceston Tornadoes' Micah Simpson scored 13 points and collected six rebounds as NBL1 team-mate Jess Johnston and Zoe Crawford amassed 10 rebounds each.
This capped off a strong few months for Ulverstone's Crawford, averaging over six rebounds a game during nationals and representing Australia in the gold medal-winning under-15s Oceania championships side in December.
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
