A second female Southern Highlands representative side have gone unbeaten over the long weekend, this time the Moss Vale Magic Under 12 basketballers.
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The Magic dominated their pool matches at the John Martin Country Championships before overcoming Goulburn Bears 29-26 in the Division 3 final.
Not only were they trailing by nine points at three-quarter time, the Magic also had two team members who had never played basketball before this year.
Coach Kristen Gibbeson, herself a newcomer to the Highlands basketball scene, said the team had made huge strides this season.
"I wasn't sure what to expect really because I've come from the NSW Metro program for 18 years so this is my first season coaching in the country," she told the Southern Highland News.
"But we'd really improved and actually become a lot tougher so I was hopeful. A lot of the teams we hadn't met before so it was a bit of an unknown."
After almost two decades coaching in an elite environment in Sydney, Gibbeson found herself with a much smaller playing pool to choose from.
Despite the initial challenge, she was able to mould her side into a winning group over the course of the season.
"The picking pool is a lot smaller so you really have to develop," she explained.
"There's not as many kids to pick from so you end up putting kids in that you have to develop, whereas in the city you have 140 kids turn up at trials and you've got to pick 20.
"Some of the kids have never played basketball before but I picked them just through their athleticism. Two kids that were playing basketball for the first time ended up being incredibly talented defenders just because of their foot speed and their athleticism."
Three other Highlands sides made grand finals to cap a successful weekend for the Magic.
The Under 16 Girls went down to Orange by a mere point in their decider while the Bears got revenge in the Under 18 Girls final, beating the Magic by 12.
The Under 16 Boys fought hard in their final against Queanbeyan but a couple of injuries cruelled their chances in an admirable eight-point loss.
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