St Mary's College thrives at interschool basketball event

Teams from Gunnedah, Manilla, Narrabri and Wee Waa secondary schools converged at the Gunnedah Basketball Stadium on Friday August 15 for the inaugural Northern Inland Basketball League (NIBL) Interschool High School 3 x 3 event.

St Mary’s College Gunnedah reigned supreme with first placings in all three age groups – 7-8 boys, 9-11 boys and 7-11 girls – although Manilla came as close as possible to winning the eldest boys age group.

With three players per team (plus an interchange player), each match lasted 10 minutes and featured only half a court and one ring.

Games of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ were played to decide which team started with possession.

St Mary’s had three teams in the 7-8 boys division – the Hornets, Mavericks and Celtics – while the other teams were Carinya The Alpha, Manilla Hawks and Wee Waa Warriors.

The 7-8 boys decider was an all-St Mary’s scenario, with the Hornets defeating the Mavericks.

The St Mary’s 9-11 boys teams were known as the Nuggets, Nets, and Cavaliers while the other teams were the Narrabri Boys, Manilla Bulls, Carinya Centrelink Lovers, and Wee Waa 2.3 Soldiers.

Manilla was poised to win the decider by one point, only for Nuggets player Jonah Cameron to sink a stunning match-winning three-pointer as the final buzzer sounded.

The 7-11 girls division had two teams from Carinya Christian School along with St Mary’s Sky and the Narrabri Girls.

St Mary’s Sky was too good for Carinya Temu Supporters in an all-Gunnedah final.

Basketball NSW regional development officer (Northern Region) Cristi Juffermans said it was an enjoyable day with a mix of talent, while the games were played in the right spirit.