AN impactful showing from superstar Bonnie Deas helped get the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence (BA CoE) their first win of the 2024 National Basketball League (NBL)1 East Women’s season.

After missing the first two weeks of the fixture due to the U18 National Championships, the CoE returned to the fold in Round 3, with a pair of matchups on the cards as the team plays catch-up to the other sides following the opening fortnight.

The CoE boasts some of the best young talent the country has to offer, developing the brightest rising basketball players in a professional environment. However, as the team is constructed of relatively inexperienced players, wins are not a given, and the team lost the opening game to the Albury-Wodonga Bandits.

However, the second game offered a chance at redemption when the CoE took on the Bankstown Bruins at the AIS Basketball and Netball Centre on Sunday, and the young team got the job done, bouncing back from a slow start to claim a 93-75 win.

Deas was the star of the show for the winning side, taking over with a lights out shooting performance to light the spark after quarter time.

BA CoE (93) def. Bankstown Bruins (75)

Bonnie Deas – 24 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal

Deas is one of the most highly touted youngsters in the Australian Basketball world, and her first NBL1 week of the season certainly delivered on that hype.

In a balanced team performance from the CoE, she was the standout, posting a game-high 24 points and doing most of her damage from behind the arc.

Although having her struggles at scoring inside the arc, Deas’ three-point shooting was on-song, and by far the biggest strength she had on the day.

The 17-year-old guard went a perfect 6/6 from downtown, and broke the game open with some big shots from behind the three-point line. She seemingly could not miss at times, even knocking down her heat checks and was unfazed by any defensive pressure she faced from the opposition.

Deas was also a massive factor on the glass, pulling down 10 rebounds (three offensive, seven defensive) with her ability to read the ball and hunt down the loose possession.

The young guard is one of the most exciting prospects on the team, and showed why the hype is real after a promising junior career that seems destined to translate to the next level.