By BEN CAMERON
BERWICK College Basketball Academy’s debut year has ended on a massive high with success in Canberra at the Australian School Nationals Championships, with its three Under-15 teams taking home two silver and a bronze.
“We were amazed at the performances of our students and couldn’t be prouder of all three teams,” coach Chris Pentland said, who was assisted by Gerard Leonard.
“Firstly being invited to the nationals tournament, but then to all come away with medals was mind blowing.”
En route to the tournament, the college beat Albert Park Academy on 28 November at home in their biannual friendly matches, taking out the competition 23 games to seven.
“The concept is building a strong relationship between the colleges and giving all the students in the programs a chance to play competitive matches at their specific levels,” he said.
“It was great to see all the new academy students at Berwick College get out there and compete, with many of them only having been involved in the program for two weeks.”
The college’s three teams were invited to the nationals after strong performances in state level competitions.
“It is the first time the school has competed at this level and on our way we were all filled with excitement, we were unsure what to expect,” he said.
After going down to eventual champions Cabra College in Adelaide in the semi-final, the college’s girls’ team defeated Lyneham High 53-32 to claim bronze and a national ranking of third after a 4-2 record across the tournament in Freshman Division 1.
“It was a truly great performance,” Mr Pentland said.
The boys team in Freshman Division 2 drew a mature outfit from Rockingham in Western Australia, after starting the tournament in strong style and a comprehensive semi-final victory, but went down in a one sided affair.
“Unfortunately they really struggled with fatigue and all the exhaustion that goes with a five-day tournament,” he said.
“The boys were amazing all tournament and should be very proud of their silver medal.”
In a very high standard Freshman Division 1, the college’s other boys team snuck into the grand final by three points for a shot at a number-one ranking.
However an impressive Barkers College team from Sydney, built around a talented point guard and a six-foot seven-inch centre, ran the Berwick boys hard.
