Sport
10 April, 2026
U16s eye off hoop titles
THE countdown for the under-16s Basketball Queensland junior state championships are nearing their final days with the boys travelling to Logan basketball from 9-12 April and the girls playing in Brisbane from 14-17 April.
The six Cairns sides filled with 64 young basketball hopefuls have been hard at work since October, playing three carnivals across all of north Queensland.
The sides now are holding their final training sessions and doing whatever possible to sharpen up before their biggest carnival of the year.
The players and coaches recently were lucky enough to see the division they’ll be competing in and who they’ll be playing, giving the coaches some intel and homework before the carnival starts.
The Cairns sides have been pooled across the board with the Marlins (boys) and Dolphins (girls) both being pooled in division 1, while the Stingers (boys) and Corals (girls) have both elected to compete in division 3. Finally, the Sharks (boys) will play division 4 and the Pearls (girls) will compete in division 5.
Cairns Basketball general manager Luca Vegari has described the vibes around the courts as “great”.
“The excitement from players and coaches is huge, it’s great to see,” he said.
Young Marlins player Billy Meager drove that statement home.
“I’m really keen, I’m super excited to see some of the south Queensland teams and how we match up,” he said.
The teams will all play a round Robin-style tournament in the pool stages, with the top teams out of each pool then playing off in the play-offs where they compete for a medal.
