Considering more than half of its members are ‘part-time’ basketballers, Mount View High School’s open boys basketball team has performed pretty well this year.
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Just four out of the 10 players identify basketball their first sport – the rest are soccer or rugby league players.
The team made it to the round of 16 in the NSW Combined High Schools knockout competition, after a successful run through the Hunter pool, which culminated with a 31-30 win over Lambton High in April.
From there, the Hunter champions took on Far North Coast winners Byron Bay High School on May 18.
A thrilling, come-from-behind 40-36 victory secured the Mount View team a spot in the top 16.
They faced off against Sydney Boys High School at Cessnock Toyota Stadium on Wednesday for a spot in the state finals.
Mount View suffered a blow when star player Nick Hurn rolled his ankle the day before.
The highly-fancied Sydney team went home 101-34 winners and qualified for the top eight, who will contest the state finals in June.
Mount View coach Steve Quigley said he was proud of his team’s performance.
“Sydney Boys is traditionally a strong school, and when you make it through to the top 16 you’re bound to face some stiff competition,” he said.
“We knew it probably wouldn’t be pretty, but they did extremely well.
“They (Sydney Boys) have a one or two of state players and they played their strong five for most of the game.
“I’m proud of them, they trained hard and put in the effort.”
The Mount View team was mostly made up of Year 10 students, and Mr Quigley hopes the side will stick together for next year’s competition.
