MACAULEY Haig single-handedly delivered his side the ultimate prize in the Big V Youth Championship Men’s Grand Final over the weekend, delivering a clutch triple to give his side the lead and eventual win against the Frankston Blues in the decider.

The two best teams advanced to the Grand Final in fitting fashion, with both sides recording impressive wins in their preliminary final matchups. The Blues bested the Casey Cavaliers while the Cobras defeated the Knox Raiders, setting up a blockbuster finish to the 2025 season.

Despite a late charge from the Blues, who fell behind earlier in the match but came home strong, the Cobras got the job done thanks to Haig’s clutch shot deep in the fourth quarter that handed his side the title.

Kilsyth Cobras (73) def. Frankston Blues (72)

It was an extremely tight start to the match, with both sides trading baskets in a seriously even start to the contest. Neither team could truly go on any sort of significant run throughout most of the quarter, before the Cobras managed to push a couple of baskets ahead. This was largely due to the efforts of Haig, who dropped 12 points in the first quarter and was looking dangerous with his shooting as Kilsyth led by three points at the first change.

The second frame saw Kilsyth really start to flex its muscles and make the most of home court advantage to jump out to a nine-point buffer in no time at all. The Cobras were sinking shots from just about everywhere, and the Blues simply could not get their shots to fall, despite finding some open looks at times. When the buzzer sounded to mark half time, the home side at Kilsyth Sports Centre was out to an 11-point lead and looked in complete control.

Defence lifted from the Blues in the third quarter, with Frankston putting an emphasis on rotating and closing out shot attempts from the opposition, which slowed down the Cobras’ production in a big way after half time. Although the Blues faced the same offensive woes that plagued them in the first half, Frankston did manage to cut the margin to single digits at the final break.

With their season on the line, the Blues stormed home in the final 10 minutes of play, with inside scoring proving a winning formula as the visitors came from the clouds to erase the deficit. Zade Nugent was becoming a real factor within the match, and helped his side take the lead with just over a minute on the clock.

Trailing by two points, the Cobras actually missed the game-tying shot initially, giving the Blues the chance to chew up some clock with 50 seconds remaining. However, Kilsyth pressed the opposition, eventually forcing a turnover at midcourt with a smart double-team, and after the Blues poked it out of bounds, the home side had the chance to set up for an inbounds play.

After the ball was dished to Wyatt Stewart, the Cobras used a screen from Lachie Vander Vorm to allow Haig to slip to the perimeter and his defender to get caught up in the confusion as the Blues switched. After seeing an opposition player fly past after a well-executed pump fake, Haig knocked down the deep triple to give his side the lead with 14 seconds on the clock in the biggest moment of the season.

Although they had their chances, the Blues could not respond, missing multiple shots in the dying seconds as the Cobras stormed the court having taken out the ultimate prize for season 2025 in dramatic fashion.

Haig was tremendous all game, and finished the contest with 26 points and seven rebounds, shooting 8/16 from the field and 5/10 from behind the arc, with his shot going down in competition history as one of the most clutch plays ever seen in a Big V game.

Captain Isaiah Harvey was his usual reliable self with 13 points, while Vander Vorm got it done on both ends with 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and four steals. Stewart rounded out the double-digit scorers for the champions with a crucial 10 points off the bench.

Lachlan Kanngiesser and Nicholas Beattie both fought hard for the Blues, each posting an equal team-high 17 points, while Blake Jackson had 15 points of his own and Nugent’s 11 points proved a crucial cameo off the bench.