St Doms crowned champs Undefeated run: Local school triumphs in double overtime Grand Final thriller

the clock to extend the game again.

Students from St Dominic’s College have proven they are the kings of the court once again, triumphing at the NSWCCC State Basketball Championships in Port Macquarie last week.

The college’s Senior basketball team emerged victorious with an impeccable record – remaining undefeated throughout the entire two-day tournament.

Involving some of the best Catholic school basketball teams in the State, St Dominic’s bused 10 players to the competition where they have enjoyed plenty of success before.

“We played nine games across two days,” St Dominic’s coach Leon Hine told the Weekender

“We went through all six pool games, the quarter finals, semi finals and Grand Final undefeated.”

The Grand Final against local team MacKillop Port Macquarie was a game for the ages, pushed to double overtime following some clutch made baskets by the Kingswood-based college. Hine described how he was feeling during the intense overtime periods.

“I’ve been in those situations plenty of times. The focus is to keep those boys poised and keep them on track,” he said.

“Basketball is a game of runs. We make a run and the other team calls time out. Then they respond and we call time out. In the fourth, it was predominantly a two-to-three-point game the entire way through. Fortunately, we managed to get a score in the last 20 seconds

Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:00pm to tie the game up and send it to overtime.”

Hine said the first overtime period was just as tight, with St Dominic’s scoring another clutch bucket with less than three seconds on

“We were down by three points, and I drew up a play where we managed to get a high percentage shot off with two seconds left. The shot went in just as the buzzer sounded,” he said.

The second overtime largely came down to strong free throw shooting as well as another incredible basket by one of the team’s best players.

“I remember calling a timeout and drawing up a play for Jett Hickson to get a basket and he executed it very well,” Hine said.

“MacKillop then had the ball and had a chance to tie it up again but they missed, so then they had to foul us and we went on to win the game 41-38.”

The victory means St Dominic’s advance to the NSW All Schools Championships in September, which will feature Catholic, Independent and Public Schools teams from around the state. The winner out of that tournament will go on to represent NSW at Nationals later this year.

Hine said St Dominic’s has a proud basketball history due to the players they attract.

“The boys play a lot of basketball outside of school. In fact, the majority of the team are representative players who play for Penrith,” he said.

“There’s also a couple of boys that have played at State level, while four of the boys were chosen in the NSWCCC Senior team.”

Around The Grounds

RUGBY UNION: The Penrith Emus continue to remain winless, losing to the Uni-North Owls 41-0 in Round 8 of the John I Dent Cup. While they failed to score a point during the match at Nepean Rugby Park last Saturday, Penrith’s defence was much better compared to previous weeks. The Emus will have another bye this weekend before returning on June 17 against Queanbeyan.

BASKETBALL: Penrith’s women’s team have lost five straight games, belted by the Canberra Nationals 93-48 in Round 12 of the NBL1 East competition. For the eighth consecutive week, local junior Meg Jefferson led the way with 15 points and four rebounds. Meanwhile, Penrith’s men’s team have lost four games in row, defeated by the Canberra Gunners 101-85. Jaedyn Fetui-Fa’amoe led his team in scoring with 19 points and eight rebounds – a huge effort coming off the bench. The NBL1 East competition will take a break this weekend due to the King’s Birthday public holiday.

NETBALL: Panthers Netball have seen their struggles continue, beaten by the ERNA Hawks 60-53 in Round 10 of Netball NSW Premier League Opens competition. Meanwhile, the Panthers U23’s team found themselves in the winner’s circle for the first time in weeks, too good for the Hawks 55-44. Both teams will play North Shore United in Round 11.

NETBALL: Giants Netball have lost back-to-back games, falling short against the NSW Swifts 68-63 in Round 12 of the Super Netball competition. The scores were level going into the fourth quarter and despite a valiant effort from the Giants, the Swifts were able to creep away with a five-goal win. With two games remaining and the Finals now seemingly out of reach, the Giants will be looking to end their season on a high. They’ll battle the West Coast Fever on Sunday afternoon at RAC Arena.

AFL: The Penrith Rams are struggling to find their feet in 2023, smashed by the Camden Cats 84-42 in Round 9 of the AFL Sydney Platinum Division competition. The ladder leading Cats lead from start to finish in the encounter, played at Greygums Oval. Due to the King’s Birthday public holiday, the Rams will enjoy this weekend off. Meanwhile, the Penrith Ramettes are celebrating again, too good for the North Shore Bombers 61-1 in Round 9 of the AFL Sydney Women’s Division Two competition. The Ramettes will return to the field on June 17 against the South West Sydney Blues.

AFL: The GWS Giants have gone down in a heartbreaker to the Richmond Tigers 110-104 in Round 12 of the AFL competition. Played in front of decent crowd at Giants Stadium, the match was tight throughout with the Tigers holding a slight buffer for the majority of the game. The Giants hit the lead late in the fourth through youngster Josh Fahey – his first goal in the AFL – before Richmond responded with a goal of their own shortly after. With the scores level at 104-104, the match was headed towards a draw, however the Tigers found something late to go in front and break the Giants’ hearts. GWS will pick up the pieces and return to the field this Sunday afternoon against the North Melbourne Kangaroos in Tasmania.

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