Orange phenom Matt Gray has his chance to help NSW avenge last year’s Basketball Australia Under-20 National Championship decider loss after being named in the sky blues’ side once again, but it’s NSW Country’s side for the Ivor Burge women’s title that’s really eye-catching.
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More than half of the outfit is from Orange.
NSW Country mainstays Eliza and Bernadette Mills will once again lead the side while the experienced Sienna Boland made the cut again as well, and they’ll be joined by fellow Orange Eagles Eveleen Wallace and Zora Hines.
The Mills sisters and Boland helped NSW Country to last year’s bronze medal and will be looking to go a step, or two, further with their Eagles compadres in tow, while Keelan Crawford has also earned selection for the men’s Ivor Burge side.
Gray, who despite being 17 at the time averaged 12 points and five rebounds per game last year, will be joined in the NSW side by fellow Bathurst Goldminer Will Cranston-Lown, and Bathurst’s Emily Matthews returns to the women’s side as well – a continued nod to the central west region’s undeniable talent.
Matthews acknowledged that too, saying it’s great to see Gray and Cranstown-Lown land a gig as well.
“It’s really good. This year, with nationals being in NSW, we’ll have a bit more extra support,” she said.
Gray helped the Goldminers to the Waratah League Division Two Youth Men’s grand final, he was the side’s highest point-scorer with 569 and averaged almost 36 a game but selection also caps a stellar year for Matthews, who made the move down to Sydney earlier this year to chase a career in the sport.
A development player for the Sydney University Flames, Matthews said she’s over the moon to once again don state colours.
She’s also pleased to step into a starting role, after playing from the pine last year, and is pretty confident considering a lot of the side has played together before.
“I’ve played with most of the team before. Some from last year’s team and other nationals I’ve been to,” she said.
“I’ve played with three girls since my first nationals at under 16s and now I play with some of the girls in Sydney now.”
Next year’s Basketball Australia Under-20 and Ivor Burge Championships run from February 7 to 11 in Gosford.
NSW will play teams from the ACT, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
South Australia and Victoria are the reigning men’s and women’s champions, respectively, while the Vics won both Ivor Burge trophies.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
