THE STAR pairing of Isaac Riddle and Koby Moir proved too good as South Australia Metro claimed a 26-point win over Queensland North at the 2025 Boys Under-18 National Championship earlier today.

Fresh off coming extremely close to winning it all last year, it seems SA are gearing up for another crack at the ultimate prize, and their performance against Queensland on Thursday was enough to make the other teams nervous.

Queensland North did a solid job of keeping things close in the first half, trailing by just three points as they made the most of a shorter travel to the tournament in the state’s south. South Australia Metro were not truly on top by any means and would need to improve on both ends of the floor if they were to run away with the contest.

SA came out of the break and looked a much more productive side, with both Riddle and Moir chiming in for some baskets as the lead was stretched out to 10 points. The game started to slip away from Queensland and despite a heroic stretch of individual scoring by Marley Solomona, they trailed by 12 at the final change.

QLD needed to fire the first shot out of three quarter time if they were to stay in the contest, but it was not to be, with South Australia stretching their buffer out further. By the time Riddle converted an and-one reverse layup, the margin was out to 20 points, and the game was over.

It was SA’s defensive pressure that won them the game in the end, winning the points off turnover count 27-6 and making the opposition pay in transition. Queensland North also had no answer for South Australia’s bigs, with the latter recording 60 points in the paint.

Riddle led all comers on the scoring front, posting 22 points and nine rebounds on 8/13 shooting from the field. The young gun was able to do as he pleased in the paint, finding room underneath the basket and timing his off-ball cuts to perfection.

South Australia skipper Moir also impressed, and although it was not his most damaging night from a scoring perspective, he chipped in to contribute in plenty of other ways. He stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, six rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block in a typically inspired performance from the SA leader.

Luke Pfitzner was the other standout for South Australia, posting 18 points of his own and looking much more confident as a scoring option. Although he shot 6/16 from the field, it was how much he backed his own shot that caught the eye the most.

Solomona and Keenan Williams were the shining lights for Queensland North, both posting an equal team-high 14 points off the bench to try and provide some spark for their team, and were solid across all four quarters.