Kane leads SA to historic win

FORMER Mount Gambier junior basketballer Kane Downie has added to his impressive resume, playing a key role in South Australia’s Wheelchair Basketball Team’s national championship winning campaign (pictured above) in Queensland last week, taking out the Kevin Coombe’s Cup fir the first time in the competition’s history.

Downie (pictured right representing Australia) was damaging across the court, recording a triple double in the title decider, scoring 26 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and handing out 10 assists to have a big say in this historic win.

In the final, South Australia turned around their only loss for the week to Queensland 61-62 in the pool games to dominate the championship game, winning 86-51.

Downie, who is a leading player at State and national level, Downie, became a T11 incomplete paraplegic after a car crash in April 2021 in which he also broke his L2 and L3 vertebrae.

It was during his rehabilitation that he became enamoured of wheelchair basketball and his role model, Mark Sicolo, was a major influence in his early career, encouraging him to attend his first Kevin Coombe’s Cup after only three months of playing, and to commit to every training session in Adelaide.

Downie, who has been a basketballer since he was eight years old, has since relocated to Adelaide to pursue his wheelchair basketball career.