Griffith North Public School have picked up their first state title in recent memory after taking out the PSSA Boys Basketball Knockout in Penrith recently.
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After taking out the local competition with two convincing wins over Griffith East and Griffith Public, the side took on Parkview in a close encounter.
"It was a very close game against Parkview finished as a two-point game," coach Brett Angel said.
"We had two Riverina players on our side, and they had two Riverina players on their side."
After the 47-45 win over the Parkview side, the Griffith North side headed off to Tumut and were able to take out the Riverina title with a 47-34 win.
The talented side then made the trip up to Penrith on November 1 to play in the finals. The team made it to this stage last season and finished third and would have been looking to make that extra step.
Starting out against Timbumburi Public School from Tamworth, the Griffith North side were able to take a convincing 65-15 win before stepping up to take on Merewether Heights Public School from Newcastle with Angel feeling this was the team to beat.
"The Merewether Public School side was very good, and they had, in my opinion, the player of the tournament in their side," he said.
"We played a very team-oriented game style where I rotated my players on their gun. I said to the boys we just needed to rotate on him, and we worked out a few of his plays.
"Once we worked out their strategy, we rotated some of our stronger players on him. By the third and fourth quarter, you could see him getting tired.
"The score (52-38) look very convincing, but they were actually in front of us heading into halftime, so there was a bit of a comeback in that game."
The final saw the Griffith side take on Mount St Thomas Public School from Wollongong and after another tough test, the Griffith North side was able to claim the title with a 47-39 win.
"It was a close game, and we were able to pull away in the last couple of minutes to make it 47-39, but inside three minutes there were only three or four points in it," he said.
"It was a very tight and exciting game."
Angel said the result showed the boys in his side what happens when they stick to their gameplan.
"The best part about it was that it was a great team effort," he said.
"We had a gameplan of short shots and layups and not taking long shots. They were very disciplined"
The other impressive aspect from Angel's perspective was the ability for the boys to take in what the different sides were doing and adapting to changes.
"We were watching them, and I said to the boys watch what they are doing. They were setting screens so when we played them we would step off that screen and give ourselves space," he said.
"I was impressed for 12-year-olds to be able to watch and then I had a whiteboard to show them what was happening thinking maybe they will get this maybe they won't, but it was pretty cool to see them adapt."
According to Angel, this is the first state title for the school in recent memory.
"I was talking to a few teachers who have been here for 30 years, and they can't remember one," he said.
"I was trying to get it across to the boys about how historical it is."
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