IT has been decades since a Wagga junior basketball team has qualified to play in the state championships but the under 12 girls team have broken the drought.
The girls finished third in the regional competition, behind two metropolitan teams, and will travel on Friday to compete in the state event.
Four country-based teams and four metro-based teams in each age category will compete in a round robin tournament at the state championships.
Tallulah Brassil, 11, started playing basketball four years ago in the Tuesday night competition with a friend and then was selected to represent Wagga.
“It wasn’t a big selection because there wasn’t many girls who played, but we’ve really improved a lot,” she said.
This year the team has gone from strength to strength.
“Last year we didn’t go so well, it feels really good to make it to the state championships,” she said.
Coach Jason Maskell has taught passing skills, dribbling skills, and strategies such as stepping through the defender.
“I’ve developed some more skills, that’s really helped in the game-play, I have more moves so I can score more baskets.”
Baskill’s fondest memory of the season took place in a game against Albury.
“We kept getting goal after goal, we’ve never really done that before, we were working really well as a team,” she said.
“We were using strategies to score, and we scored about 10 points in a row.”
The positive culture keeps her coming back for more.
“I know mistakes aren’t meant to be made but when we do make them it’s not a big deal, it’s just like, ‘well let’s try this next time,’” she said.
