AN OUTSTANDING individual performance from Kale Matthews-Hampton saw South Australia Country defeat Tasmania at the 2025 Under-18 Boys National Championship on Tuesday.

Both sides entered the clash fresh off a loss on day two of the tournament, which is taking place in Queensland throughout the week. With some seriously strong performances from the likes of Queensland North and New South Wales Metro throughout the opening days, wins were going to be valuable as the week progressed, so this was a great opportunity for the two teams to get on the board and get their week rolling.

It was a tight start to the match, with both sides trading baskets in an extremely even opening few minutes of play. Matthews-Hampton got himself and SA Country on the board with a pair of free throws in the first minute of the match. He dished off to Lachlan Keynes on the drive for his first assist of the match, before heading back to the free throw line, where he went 2/2 again to put his side up by five.

Matthews-Hampton’s confidence grew after two successful trips to the charity stripe, and he nailed his first field goal of the match, pulling up for a three-pointer in transition, before backing it up a minute later with a driving layup, before being subbed out to end the first quarter.

He came back into the contest to start the second, but was not used as much as expected, recording his first basket of the quarter a few minutes into the piece with another layup. He had another couple of makes throughout the remainder of the term as SA Country extended their lead out to nine points at half time.

Matthews-Hampton picked up where he left off in the third quarter, taking just eight seconds to storm down the other end of the court and finish at the cup to ensure his side maintained momentum on either side of the main break. His ability to draw contact and convert at the charity stripe was as important as ever for his side, producing consistent offence for SA Country as their lead still sat at five with a quarter to play.

Tasmania made a strong charge in the final quarter, tying the game up in the opening minutes of the period with a quick run to erase the deficit. However, back to back layups from Matthews-Hampton steadied the ship, and he maintained his composure down the stretch with more free throws to seal the game for SA Country in a heroic showing.

He finished the piece with a whopping 38 points on 12/28 shooting from the field and 12/18 shooting from the charity stripe, alongside his eight rebounds (five offensive) and seven assists. It was certainly one of the best individual outings of the tournament to date, and showed how exciting his game is.