Burnie’s Marist Regional College went away with a winning double following last weekend’s Basketball Tasmania High School Championships which were decided in the college’s home city.

 

Marist’s wins were in the junior girls (grades 7/8) and senior boys (grades 9/10) divisions while Scotch Oakburn took out the junior boys’ title and Launceston Church Grammar was successful in senior girls.

 

Marist came up against title-holder Riverside in the senior boys’ final and after finishing in third place in 2005 and 2006 and runner-up in both 2007 and 2008, it was due for a win in its home-town.

 

That was the way it turned out with Riverside trailing narrowly throughout.  Marist would have been worried with three minutes to play and Riverside having fought back to narrow the gap to four points but Marist showed composure in the run home to pull away to a nine point victory.

 

Devonport and Friends shared third placing while St Patrick’s defeated St Virgil’s in the playoff for fifth place.

 

The Marist senior girls’ team went within a single point of handing their school a third title.

 

In a tight encounter, last year’s runner-up Grammar led Marist by two points at half time only to see Marist edge to a one point lead at three-quarter time. Marist held on narrowly for most of the final term but Grammar which was ranked second of the two northern qualifiers, finally hit back to regain the lead inside the last minute, and held on for a one point win.

 

Devonport and Scotch Oakburn shared third sport and MacKillop defeated Mt Carmel in the fifth place playoff.

 

An extra-time period and a determined Scotch Oakburn College stood between Devonport’s St Brendan-Shaw and back to back junior boys’ titles.

 

Scotch nailed two free throws after the siren to send the game into overtime but a strong effort in the extra time period saw the Launceston side forge away to an eight point victory.

 

New Town and Marist finished equal third and Riverside defeated St Virgil’s in the playoff for fifth placing.

 

Marist won the junior girls’ title with an all the way win over MacKillop.

 

MacKillop, looking for back to back titles, was always in trouble although a spirited third-quarter fight back saw the southern side narrow the gap to six points before Marist re-established control to cruise to a 17 point win.

 

Scotch and Riverside shared third placing while Reece easily accounted for Ogilvie in the fifth place playoff.

 

The last event on the Basketball Tasmania state championship calendar, the Tasmanian Primary School Championship, will be held in Hobart at the Moonah Sports Centre next weekend.

 

Finals Results:

Senior Girls – Grammar 50 (Danni Creswell 18, Emma Davy 13, Danni Picket 13) d Marist 49 (Hanna Gale 25, Ella Fox 9)

 

Senior Boys – Marist 73 (Robbie Fox 18, Brody Mihocek 16, Zac Hislop 15) d Riverside 64 (Matthew Rigby 19, Alex Peart 18, Isaac Dale 11)

 

Junior Girls – Marist 64 (Tallissa Wilson 16, Shannae Martin 13, Kelsey Johnstone 10) d MacKillop 47 (Grace Mitchell 13, Molly Dennis 13, Grace Lennox 9)

 

Junior Boys – Scotch Oakburn 79 (Joe Chilcott 29, Nic Laycock 25, Casey Young 15) d St Brendan-Shaw 71 (Cameron Brown 24, Ryan Cook 21) in overtime.

 

Final Rankings:

Senior Boys: 1. Marist, 2. Riverside, 3. Devonport and Friends (equal), 5. St Patrick’s, 6. St Virgil’s.

 

Senior Girls: 1. Grammar, 2. Marist, 3. Devonport and Scotch Oakburn (equal), 5. MacKillop, 6. Mt Carmel.

 

Junior Boys: 1. Scotch Oakburn, 2. St Brendan-Shaw, 3. New Town and Marist (equal), 5. Riverside, 6. St Virgil’s.

 

Junior Girls: 1. Marist, 2. MacKillop, 3. Scotch Oakburn and Riverside (equal), 5. Reece, 6. Ogilvie.

 

 

ENDS

 

Further information:

David Scott: 6228 1822 (B); 0409 128 818 (M)