SOUTH Australia has survived a late scare to defeat Western Australia by four points at the School Sports Australia Under-16 Girls championships on Monday.

South Australia was in control for much of the match, but the opposition came home like a wet sail in the final minutes of the game to give themselves a fighting chance. However, time ran out as the South Australians claimed a four-point win.

South Australia (78) def. Western Australia (74)

South Australia got off to the perfect start, jumping out to an early lead with the opposition looking a bit jittery and overexcited early, turning the ball over with errant passes. However, back to back buckets from Reece Anticevic steadied the ship for the team out West, and it was game on. Both teams traded turnovers in the opening minutes but settled as the period went on. Western Australia’s ascendancy came on the offensive glass, but the opposition matched this, and led by three at quarter time.

South Australia continued to find baskets inside and break away on the scoreboard, and a triple to Annaliese Elliott stretched the lead out to 12 as Western Australia needed a timeout. However, they kept themselves in the match with aggressive drives to the basket, which often resulted in trips to the free throw line. After Ngaire Parish was fouled on a three-point attempt, she nailed all of her free throws to make it a three-point game at the main change.

Western Australia allowed the margin to once again jump out to double-digits, after South Australia punished the opposition for some errant passes. Luckily, SA missed some easy shots at the rim to extend the lead to unreachable, although Western Australia still trailed by 13 points with just one quarter to play.

The match looked over when South Australia led by 16 points with eight minutes on the clock. However, the final five minutes of the match belonged to Western Australia, opting to mainly drive into the paint in transition, and drawing within striking distance as the match drew to a close. A Mia Richards lay-up gave South Australia some wiggle room, and although Western Australia drew within four with 30 seconds on the clock, time ended up defeating them.

South Australian guard Eliott was excellent at creating her own shot, particularly on the perimeter, where she found her stroke throughout the second and third quarters. For Western Australia, Anticevic was a presence on the glass and scoring the ball across all four quarters, and helped keep her side in the match.

Across the courts

Under-16 Boys

Day One

Queensland (110) def. Australian Capital Territory (73)
South Australia (71) def. by New South Wales (82)
Western Australia (93) def. by Victoria (99)

Day Two

Australian Capital Territory (69) def. by Victoria (107)
Queensland (81) def. New South Wales (78)
South Australia (78) def. by Western Australia (89)

Day Three

South Australia (92) def. Queensland (88)
Victoria (78) def. by New South Wales (91)
Australian Capital Territory (55) def. by Western Australia (88)

Day Four

Victoria (72) def. by Queensland (92)
New South Wales (57) def. by Western Australia (83)
South Australia (108) def. Australian Capital Territory (68)

Under-16 Girls

Day One

Queensland (79) def. Australian Capital Territory (29)
Western Australia (49) def. by Victoria (69)
South Australia (62) def. by New South Wales (99)

Day Two

Victoria (64) def. by New South Wales (79)
South Australia (62) def. by Queensland (76)
Australian Capital Territory (48) def. by Western Australia (84)

Day Three

Australian Capital Territory (36) def. by Victoria (77)
Queensland (55) def. by New South Wales (74)

Day Four

Victoria (53) def. by Queensland (77)
New South Wales (76) def. Western Australia (69)
South Australia (91) def. Australian Capital Territory (75)