Illawarra Hawks under 14s coach Simon Dent says there is no ceiling for his state championship-winning side heading into the Australian U14 Basketball Championships at Kilysth, VIctoria.
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The Hawks are coming off a stunning triumph at the NSW U14 Championships and are among just 24 sides from all states and territories to qualify for the biggest annual hoops tournament for 12 and 13-year-olds.
‘’Our Illawarra boys have trained and played well this year, enjoying success against teams from all over NSW,’’ Dent said.
‘’They are now really looking forward to competing against the best basketballers their age from across Australia.’’
The U14 National Championships run from October 1-6 with the Hawks team to include four bottom-age players from the Illawarra team that placed ninth in the 2017 Championships at Dandenong.
Most recently the Hawks U14s clinched the state championship at Maitland and were the only NSW Country boys or girls side in U12-U18s to be crowned state champions. The Hawks defeated four Sydney Metro sides at the state finals including beating Comets 57-51 in the grand final.
Seven players were also teammates in winning the NSW U12s State Championship in 2016.
The talented Hawks have also won the Southern Junior League, Country Tournament and Country Championship League in 2018 and head to the nationals on a 32-game rep unbeaten run.
The Hawks have been drawn with Willetton (WA), Warrnambool (VIC) and Cairns (QLD) in their pool at the nationals, with the top two teams from the six pools qualifying for the Championship Division and bottom two the Shield Division.
The young Hawks are aiming for the top 12 Championship Division.
- Illawarra Hawks U14:
Kitiloni Bailey, Noah Beveridge, Mason Broadhead, Joshua Costain, Tobias Delaney, Joshua Dent, Max Driscoll, Ben Lu, Seth Pearman, Judah Kami. Coach: Simon Dent. Assistant Coach: Luke McGuire. Manager: Glen Broadhead.
