Western Heights secures biggest win in program history

A LOCAL school basketball program co-ordinator says his team’s recent tournament win is the crowning achievement of the program’s history, defeating all of the top basketball schools in the state to claim the win.

Rowville Secondary College, long known as the benchmark of school basketball in Victoria, took home five out of six Victorian Champions Cups on Sunday, September 17 – but a resilient Western Heights College denied them a clean sweep.

Western Heights Under 17 Boys coach and program co-ordinator Kaleb Sclater said the team’s 79-85 overtime win over Rowville secured the highest-level tournament basketball win in the school’s history.

“It’s fantastic not only for the team, but also the school as well,” Sclater said.

“The Champions Cup has been going for over 20 years now, while this is only the fourth year Western Heights College’s basketball program.

“The fact we’re already mixing it up with some of the elite basketball schools in the state, is really encouraging and it provide our players with a lot of confidence moving forward.”

The school’s basketball program was established by former Geelong Supercats women’s coach David Herbert in 2020.

The program is now run by Sclater and former Supercat Kris Blicavs and features premiere coaching from WNBL player Aimie Rocci and former Kentucky Wildcat captain Amanda Paschal.

The Under 17 boys team made it through the Champions Cup’s regional pool rounds back in early August, advancing to the Elite 8 held in Dandenong on Thursday, August 24.

Western Heights continued its stellar form through the pool rounds and into the Elite 8, where they remained undefeated.

It set up a blockbuster contest between the Hamlyn Heights-based school and Rowville a fortnight ago, where the Geelong school took out the top prize.