Three Blasters cap off Albury Cup with titles

Both teams went through their respective under-18 girls pools undefeated, where Ananiev averaged nine points for the tournament, including a high of 17 in the Goldies’ 49-point win over South Australia.

Watkins didn't hit the numbers she is used to in the CBL, but averaged a strong 9.88, which was an increase from both her 2017 and 2018 appearances.

In the under-18 men's competition, Harrison Stones brought home a gold medal, with his Goldies squad beating a Zac Wight Bushrangers squad by 12 points in the final.

Stones’ Blasters coach Craig Hockley said Harry had a strong tournament playing point guard, which was a "new role to him".

“He was really contributing, and defensively he was really doing a job there and being aggressive,” Hockley said.

Wight, in his first appearance at the Cup, suffered an achilles injury earlier in the week, but still managed to get some court time, though in a limited capacity.

In the under-16s, Olivia Pearce made a grand final appearance with the Goldminers but lost in a tight nine-point match-up to the Bushrangers.

Pearce's efforts at the tournament were capped off by being selected for the Australian Country U16 team which will travel to a New Zealand tournament at Easter time.

Pearce, along with Ananiev and Watkins were also all in their starting fives at the Cup.

In the under-14s, Jesse Brock's Goldminers went through the competition undefeated, before beating the Bushrangers by 16 in the final.

Brock shot 12 points in the final, with his average standing at 9.2 by the end of the week.

Hockley said Brock had been quiet early in the week, but grew with confidence as each game passed.

“He really improved. I watched him on the third day and he was much better,” Hockley said.

“I think he realised he was one of the big boys.”

Rounding out Seymour's representatives was Sienna Sapiano, whose Goldminers were beaten in the playoff for third.

Sapiano averaged 6.62 points for the week, with her best showing a 10-point return in one of her eight games.

With most finals played between the two Victorian squads in each grade, Bill Pearce, who was assistant coach for the U18 Girls Bushrangers squad, said the efforts showed the quality of the Victorian program.

“The Vic program has been consistently the best program,” he said.

“Its background is a lot of these players play in the VJBL, and just the professionalism in the program, and its lead up and feeder programs means the country system is very strong.

“It's coming up in leaps and bounds.”