2019 UNDER-18 CHAMPS RECAP- DAY 1

For all the information from Day 1 of the competition including draws, ladders and top performers, click here.

With competition getting underway at the 2019 Under-18 Championships, QLD South men are off to a positive start with two victories on the opening day.

They cracked the century mark in each of their wins over NT and NSW Country with NBA Global Academy star Mojave King and Centre of Excellence product Blake Jones pacing them with 24 points and 20.5 points per game respectively.

QLD South sit atop Pool B for the men, just ahead of SA Metro and Vic Country who each had a win on Day 1.

In Pool A, Vic Metro got the better of WA Country, NSW Metro defeated hosts QLD North and Tas beat SA Country but with none of the games blowouts, fans can look forward to another set of close contests on Day 2.

For the women, there were a couple of thrillers in Pool B including SA Metro who survived a fight-back from Tas after leading by 11 at three-quarter time.

Tas closed within a point on a couple of occasions down the stretch and finished on an 8-4 run as Sharn Hayward scored 18 points but big games from Chloe Hodges (29 points) and Amy Cotton (16 points, 20 rebounds) saw SA Metro prevail 77-72.

The night was capped off with a nail-biter between NSW Country and Vic Country as the lead did not exceed five points for either side in the second half.

Both teams struggled offensively at times but after Ella Dent (ten points) put NSW Country up by two with a three-ball inside the final four minutes, Jade Melbourne (12 points) and Piper Dunlop (six points) replied to score Vic Country’s last six points.

Paige Price’s high-score of 22 points also proved crucial as Vic Country hung on for a one-point win.

Pool A did not see as many close games with QLD North, NSW Metro and Vic Metro all flexing their muscle on Day 1 but a big clash looms on Day 2 with QLD North set to face NSW Metro at 7pm.

Don’t forget the Kevin Coombs Cup begins on Wednesday.

For all the draws, results and LiveStats, click here.

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Results and top performers from Day 1 of the 2019 Australian Under-18 Championships being held in Townsville, Queensland.

The post 2019 UNDER-18 CHAMPS RECAP- DAY 1 appeared first on Basketball Australia.