SHOOTING HOOPS: Boys’ coaches Pat Abraham and Grant Cole along with under 18s girls Sophie Brown, Meg Miller, Anneleise Basha, coach Joe Basha and (front) Roisin Finn, Bridie McClure. Absent: Abby Tilburg, Alisha Agland and Ashlee Bastiaansen. Photo: NICK McGRATH
BUCKLE up for the biggest weekend of basketball in Orange seen in years.
The finals of the 2012 Western League Junior Basketball season will take place over the next two days at Orange’s Sir Neville Howse Stadium, with teams from as far as Narrandera, Leeton, West Wyalong and Griffith set to converge on the multi-million dollar facility.
Orange Basketball Association president Grant Cole said he was looking forward to the weekend.
Giving the OBA even more reason to enjoy the basketball festivities, Orange has five of its seven teams in the finals.
And they’re a chance of winning, too.
“We’re looking forward to it for a while now. It’s been a while, maybe three or four years since Orange has won a Western League title,” Cole said.
“It’ll be the biggest weekend of basketball in Orange for a while.”
The most impressive of the sides is the under 18s men.
They’ve gone through their 2012 season undefeated.
But the fairy tale could be the 18s women.
A young group, the girls have snared fourth in the finals and take on the Griffith Demons in their first clash today.
Girls coach Joe Basha was optimistic about his side’s shot at glory.
“The 18s women, they’ve really excelled this season,” Basha said.
“They’re a bottom age side, meaning a few of them are only 14, but I think they can do well. They’ll certainly be strong in the years to come.
“It’s terrific the amount of players we have. It’s a really close knit group.”
Orange also has boys teams in the under 16s, 14s and 12s through to this weekend’s finals.
Cole said it was a great chance for anyone interested in the game to witness some high quality basketball.
“We just want to encourage all of our members to come down and have a look,” Cole said.
“There’s plenty of talent. Some of these kids might go on to be the next Australian players.
The first games today begin at 8.30am before the grand finals tomorrow, beginning at 8am.