Fresh from the 2012 Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup (ACJBC), James Mitchell, Curtis Ryan, Annie Blackburn (Warrnambool) and Nicola Handrek (Portland) are hoping to represent Vic Country at the Under 18 Australian Championships in Perth in April.

Basketball Victoria Country will hold the selection camps on February 4 and 5, with the boys to train at Bendigo while the girls will train in Ballarat.

The boys’ squad has been reduced to 18 players, while the girls’ squad, which will be coached by Warrnambool’s Tony Gall, has been reduced to 16.

The ACJBC in Albury-Wodonga welcomed more than 900 basketballers, with a pair of south-west players helping Victoria Country to a title.

Terang’s Jake Crawley and Portland’s Daniel Skaer were part of the triumphant Bushrangers team that defeated NSW Waratahs in the under 16 boys’ grand final last Saturday.

After a commanding 21-8 first quarter, the Bushrangers won 59-46, with Jake contributing five points and Daniel scoring two.

The under 16 boys’ side was the only Vic Country team to claim a gold medal at the annual tournament.

There were two runner-up finishes, which came from the under 18 boys’ Bushrangers and under 18 girls’ Goldminers.

The boys succumbed to NSW Kookaburras 63-57 in Saturday’s grand final. Curtis was prominent for the Bushrangers, top-scoring with 13 points.

The Goldminers went down 60-55 to the Kookaburras in the under 18 girls’ decider, with two south-west players leading the way for Vic Country.

Nicola and Annie scored 17 and 10 points respectively in the final.