Interservice title eludes basketballers
Teams vie for NSW supremacy

By Lt Michael Wicks

SMN Malia Belleville (left) and Air Force captain SGT Janeter Turnbull hold the Scott Cranfield NSW Ladies Interservice Basketball Trophy.

AIR Force was well represented by its NSW men’s and women’s basketball teams at the 2003 NSW Interservice Basketball Championships at Randwick Barracks from August 6-8.

The 2003 championships marked the 49th year an interservice competition has been held in NSW, with each Service fielding a men’s and women’s team.

Thanks to the work of organisers Tassie Horvat, Peter Wade and Donna Edge, the tournament turned out to be very competitive and successful.

Navy was unfortunate not to win a game, as it led Army at half-time in the first game before going down 56-41. In both games against Air Force, Navy was in reach during the last five minutes before falling behind in the dying stages, 50-41 and 51-43.

Army and Air Force fought out two very spirited encounters.

The first game saw Army hold a 13-point lead midway through the second half when its two most experienced players were fouled out of the game.

This left Air Force captain/coach Corporal Ken Robertson with a 10-inch height and 30kg weight advantage that he used to pull Air Force back into the game for a 64-57 overtime victory.

The return match saw the lead change throughout and at half-time, Army held a solitary one-point advantage.
Army slowly extended the lead and held an eight-point advantage with five minutes remaining.

CPL Robertson again led by example and drained two three-pointers from the corner and several foul shots to close the gap to two points with two minutes left.

However, Army’s experience and hard work on the offensive rebounds saw them home 65-58 to take the title away from Air Force for the first time in nine years.

The women’s competition was equally close between Air Force and Navy.

Army struggled to field a team even though it had one of the best female players in the ADF, Wendy Keogh, thus personnel from Randwick Barracks who had never played before were asked to play.

The first game between Air Force and Navy women was competitive, but Air Force held a slender lead throughout.

Navy sunk some big three-pointers in the second half, but Air Force, led by Aircraftwoman Heather Edwards, was able to hold on and win 47-43.

The second game was also fiercely contested and probably the most exciting game of the competition to watch.

Navy again made some big three-pointers and went to half-time with a 30-22 lead. Air Force turned the game around early in the second half with some good defence. Flying Officer Meg Hurley kept the scoreboard ticking and helped close the gap to two points.

Navy held on but players had their hearts in their stomachs when Air Force stole the ball with five seconds remaining and Aircraftwoman Heather Edwards launched a desperate three-pointer at the buzzer to try and steal the game.

The shot bounced off the ring and the Navy won 44-42.

Army was unable to field a team in its last game, thus an unfair result was created in the for and against tally to determine the overall winner. Therefore the women’s trophy for 2003 was shared between the Navy and Air Force, testament to their two hard fought encounters.

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