The future of Keilor Basketball Association is in some very capable hands.
During the Australia Day weekend’s Eltham-Dandenong junior basketball tournament, the Keilor boys under-12 (No.4) side was dominant, taking out the C-West championship and going through the event undefeated.
Organisers of the Eltham-Dandenong competition say it is one of the largest junior basketball tournaments in the world. Teams compete in more than 90 boys, girls and all-ability divisions, from under-12 through to under-20.
Keilor coach Di Donoghue was full of praise for the club’s rising stars.
“I think they’ve done a fantastic job considering it’s their first year playing representative basketball,” she said.
“When we looked at the draw, I thought it was realistic that we would be about where we have ended up. I thought we would play competitive basketball.”
After getting the better of Broadmeadows, Craigieburn, Werribee and Diamond Valley in its pool matches, the Thunder went into the finals as strong favourites.
The added pressure did nothing to slow the Keilor juggernaut, with the Thunder playing some of its best basketball when it mattered most.
Keilor won its semi-final against Werribee by 31 points and its final against Diamond Valley by 35 points.
“The finals really blew out and I think the boys’ confidence grew because they were winning,” Donoghue said. “It all came together and the scores certainly reflect that.”
There will be no slowing down for the victorious Keilor, already focused on the coming Victorian Junior Basketball Association season.
“Our next step is to come to training, train hard, have fun and, above all, enjoy it,” Donoghue said.
