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Written by the Ballarat Courier :

Ballarat’s best young under-18 bastketballers have earned state selection for two tournaments early in the new year.

They have been chosen for the Southern Cross Challenge at the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South in January 18-21 and Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup at Albury on January 14-19.

Basketball Victoria’s operations manager Grant Wallace said the country contingent – selected after try-outs in Ballarat – would set up their elite basketball journeys in tandem with state development program selections.

State development program country athletes work under the Basketball Victoria high performance curriculum in regional satellite hubs and combined training camps.

He said the Southern Cross Challenge and Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup were important steps for elite country athletes.

 “Selection for Country Victoria is an amazing achievement and coupled with the state development program, showcasing our best juniors and giving an opportunity to become better players and people on and off the court,” Wallace said.

Ballarat players selected:

SOUTHERN CROSS CHALLENGE

Under-14 boys: Jacob Britt, Ned Renfree

Under-14 girls: Emily Lewis

Under-15 boys: Jackson Djatschenko, Ollie McCarthy, Alex Molan

Under-15 girls: Jemma Amoore, Milly Sharp, Sadie Cheesman (emerg), Taya Chisholm (emerg)

AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY CUP

Under-14 girls: Georgia Bodey

Under-16 boys: Joe Fraser (emerg), Joshua Sparkman (emerg)

Under-16 girls: Milly Simpson, Jada Skennerton, Rosie Todd, Georgia Cox (emerg)

Under-18 boys: Ethan Fiegert, Ben Hobbs, Charlie Molan, Liam Howard (emerg)