THE 2024 Under-18 National Championships rolled on for a third day on Tuesday, with some emphatic team performances taking place.

The contenders have already announced themselves in the early stages of the tournament, and the discrepancy between the championship hopefuls and struggling sides was evident, where there were some hefty margins recorded.

That trend started in the first game of the day, in which Victoria Metro proved too good for Queensland North in the Women’s competition, claiming a 22-point win to kick off the action.

Metro looked the stronger side from the get-go, getting up far better looks in the first quarter and forcing the opposition into some risky passes inside after the jumpshots would not fall.

Down the other end, it seemed as if the Victorians could do no wrong at times, with Josie Agnew finding her stroke from behind the arc, and Izzy Wightman proving a force to be reckoned with inside the paint.

If Metro could not get the shot to fall on the the first try, the team had plenty of success on the offensive glass, generating plenty of second chance opportunities in the process. Some of the shotmaking from Vic Metro was the product of a team with plenty of belief, making fading jumpshots, long-range three-pointers and everything in between.

Although Queensland North stuck around for the first half, the game was blown open in the third quarter, as Victoria put the foot down to jump out to a 20-point lead, and cruised home to an 82-60 victory to remain in the hunt for a gold medal.

For the winning side, Sierra Woolhouse top-scored with 16 points on 5/10 shooting from the field and 3/5 shooting from behind the arc in an excellent scoring performance across all three levels.

Not far behind her was Agnew, who cashed in on a trio of three-pointers en route to 15 points for the match, while Wightman rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points to go with six rebounds and six assists.

2024 National Championships Day Four Results

Men’s

New South Wales Country (67) def. by South Australia Metro (90)
New South Wales Metro (74) def. by South Australia Country (76)
Western Australia Country (48) def. by Victoria Metro (81)
Australian Capital Territory (107) def. Northern Territory (65)

Women’s

New South Wales Country (49) def. by South Australia Metro (65)
Tasmania (86) def. Western Australia Metro (65)
Australian Capital Territory (49) def. by Victoria Country (60)
New South Wales Metro (82) def. Western Australia Country (35)
Victoria Metro (82) def. Queensland North (60)