GOLDEN RAIDERS
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Sonia Dirito and Rachel Lucas have helped Victoria Metro U16 women to their 13th consecutive gold medal, with the two Knox Commonwealth Bank Local Business Banking Junior Raiders girls instrumental in the victory.
The Vics faced Queensland South in the final, a replay of their encounter on Day 2 where the Queenslanders knocked off Vic Metro 56-48.
Queensland South went into the final quarter two points ahead in a low scoring affair, but Vic Metro outscored the Queenslanders 13-8 in the last term to win 53-50.
Lucas finished with three points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in just over 32 minutes, while Dirito had six points in her 17 minutes of play.
For the entire tournament Lucas was the Vic’s third highest scorer averaging 10.3 points per game, including her tournament-high of 18 in the semi-final against New South Wales Metro.
Dirito led Vic Metro in three-pointers made with twelve for the championships, averaging 8.5 points per game along with 2.4 assists.
The Raiders duo participated at the highest level when they represented Knox in the U14 Australian Club Championships in 2010, as well as representing Victoria in the School Sport Australia Championships the year prior in 2009, with this experience on the big stage pivotal to Vic Metro’s successful campaign.
Victoria Metro women’s Head Coach Jonathan Goodman praised the efforts of his team.
“It was a fantastic effort by the girls who came together throughout the week. They had some adversity early in the week but grouped together to achieve a great result. I'm proud of the way the girls grew as athletes throughout the week to achieve their goal to be national champions.”
Knox Basketball Operations Manager Simon Mitchell was proud of how the girls represented their state, as well as Knox Basketball.
“Congratulations to Rachel and Sonia on winning gold at the U16 National Championships. Both girls had great tournaments, and have a terrific future in the sport. They’re a credit to Knox Basketball, and hopefully they will be a major part of our senior Raiders teams in the future.”