Basketball club sparks new beginnings and Douglas Dragons soar into finals

SPORTS WRAP

Jake Black

Reporter

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Douglas Heat has experienced significant growth in junior players over the past year, nearly doubling registrations since 2023. Picture: Douglas Heat Basketball Club

The Douglas Heat Basketball Club have adopted a new format to their competition schedule, and for the first time ever, they will be involved in two separate competitions on the same day.

On Sunday, August 25, Douglas Heat made history by having their U12s and U14s boys teams make the road trip down to Smithfield to take on the Mulgrave Magic, while the U10s, U12s, and U14s girls teams stayed put in Port Douglas to take on Cairns Basketball.

Douglas Heat has seen substantial growth in junior players in the past year, nearly doubling in registrations since 2023, with the vast majority of these being junior girls. The club tried a junior girl’s competition in July last year, which started off very slowly but began to grow in popularity and interest. 

This time last year, the club had one U12s team and one U14s team in the girls; fast forward a year, they now have one U10s, one U12s, two U14s, and one U16s girls team. The growth has been seen in the boys’ teams also, as for the first time, the Heat have been able to field a U10s, U12s, U14s, U16s, and U18s team consistently.

The boys held their own in Smithfield, being able to field two U12s teams while the U14s boys also entered an almost full team. The U14s, who have had an extremely successful year, went into this tournament full of momentum and extremely excited to keep the winning streak alive. 

The U14s split the day, winning their first game against FNQ but unfortunately fell short in the second game to Mulgrave. The U12s boys were devastated as they had to forfeit their games due to the road closure on the Captain Cook Highway.

The girls were extremely happy to be able to play against a purely girls’ team and not a mixed team, and it showed as the U10s and U12s teams played full of confidence and showcased some great talent. 

Both U14s girls' teams have had a hard time finding girls their age to compete with, so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to compete against an evenly matched opponent. The experience of Cairns proved too much for our girls' teams as they dominated the day, winning six of a possible eight games throughout the day.

Douglas Dragons secure spots in finals series

The Douglas Dragons have confirmed their places in the finals series following a strong round of games. Both the Division 1 and Division 2 teams performed well, leaving fans eager for the upcoming playoffs.

The Dragons began their week with a catch-up game against Leichhardt on Monday night, August 19, in Port Douglas. Division 2 started with a 4-2 victory, setting a positive tone for the evening. Division 1 followed suit with a solid 3-1 win, boosting the Dragons’ standings.

On Friday, August 23, the Dragons faced Atherton for their final game of the season. Both teams put in dominant performances, with Division 2 winning 7-2 and Division 1 defeating Atherton 8-1.

Both teams now sit in second place on the ladder and have secured a double chance as finals approach. Fans can look forward to an exciting start to the finals series on Friday, August 30, as the Dragons aim for success in the playoffs.

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