Sport
21 March, 2026
Basketballers return home with gold and silver medals
CAIRNS Basketball’s under-16s cohort have returned home with gold and silver medals for the third and final round of North Queensland Junior Basketball Championships (NQJBC) in Mackay.
Cairns Basketball rounded out their north Queensland circuit in Mackay looking to win a medal and find as much form as possible for the upcoming state championships.
Six teams with 60 young prodigies to compete this weekend, three boys’ sides and three girls’ sides.
With this being the final tournament and game play before state championships, all teams were looking to have as much of their game plan smoothed out by the end of this weekend.
With only the top two teams in each division walking away with a medal there was plenty on the line for the Cairns teams entering this weekend.
The weekend saw a variety of different results, with each team playing four games over the three-day long tournament.
Some teams continued their form having the perfect tournament, while other sides struggled, dealing with injuries and overall up and down form.
Out of a total of six teams, three walked away this weekend winning medals.
The Cairns Sharks (boys division three) walked away with a gold
medal after an impressive 10-3 record.
The Cairns Dolphins (girls division one) and Cairns Pearls (girls division three) both picked up a silver medal.
After this competition, the Cairns squads now have a four-week stopover until state championships in April.
In this time the teams will look to regroup and recover, so that they’re as fresh and healthy as possible.
Regardless of past results this season, all teams look to start fresh and bring home a medal from state championships, adding to Cairns Basketball’s rich history of success.
The boys make the journey down to Logan for their state championships from 9-12 April, while the girls play in Brisbane from the 14-17 April.
