It has long been said that Keilor Basketball Association is home to some of the best young talent in Australia.
Now the Thunder has the silver to prove it.
After qualifying for the Australian under-14 club championships in Perth, Keilor took everything opposition sides could throw at them to finish second.
In a fitting end to a brilliant tournament earlier this month, the Thunder went down to South Australian side Sturt by just two points in a nail-biting finish to the final.
With no more than six points separating the two sides at any stage, the Keilor kids found themselves in front late in the match until a couple of three-point shots dropped for Sturt.
As it had done all tournament, Keilor fought to the last second, launching a ‘Hail Mary’ shot on the buzzer in the hope of securing the win.
It fell short, but Thunder gained plenty of admirers with its second-place finish.
Keilor coach Steve Toy was full of praise for the way his side attacked the tournament.
“It was a great final and very worthy of what was a pretty tight tournament all round to be honest,” he said.
“From the quarter-finals onwards they were all tough games.
“We were really impressed with the boys. They played well all week and we couldn’t have asked for any more from them in the final.”
After safely getting through the group stages, Keilor was faced with two knockout encounters to reach the final.
Thunder beat Casey by 19 points in the quarter-final before a hard-fought six-point semi-final win against Cairns.
Taran Armstrong was a clear standout for Keilor throughout the event, averaging 23.5 points a game.
His best effort was 34 points against Tamworth in the group stages.
Reyne Smith made the second-most three-pointers for the tournament, dropping 23 across his eight games.
But it was at the other end of the court where Keilor’s performance drew the most praise.
“I was really impressed with our defence,” Toy said.
“Quite a few coaches commented on how much they enjoyed watching us play and the fact that we were really hard at it defensively.”
It’s the second year in a row that Keilor has qualified for the national club championships.
