The New Garden Friends girls and boys hosted the Queensland, Australia touring basketball team at the Bears Den on Pleasant Ridge road on Christmas Eve.
The boys game was exciting all the way with New Garden Friends finally breaking it open in the fourth quarter, pulling away to win 95-85. The Bears were led by another outstanding performance from Kanayo Obi-Rapu who poured in 46 points from all over the court. He complimented his performance with 9 assists and 6 rebounds.
Also coming up big for the Bears was Isaiah Manderson who scored 21 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. Mason Wyrick hit back to back threes in the fourth quarter that helped open the lead and Juan Urena turned in another strong defensive performance including a momentum breaking steal in transition in the fourth quarter. Kingsley Nzekwe added 6, Josh Wilkerson 4, and Noah Poulos, Juan Urena and Nick Snyder all scored two for the Bears.
For the Boomerangs, Luke Pittle scored 26, getting to the basket consistently in the second half. Marcus Holmquist-Polloch with 17 and Andre Ugrinic with 14 were top scorers for the Australians.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Queensland Boomerangs 24 20 19 21 84
New Garden Friends 23 28 15 29 95
Submitted by David Secor