MARGARCHOT Maluach and Nathan Clark have played themselves into the state side after leading the North West boys’ basketball team to within one basket of taking the state title yesterday in Orange.
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After winning five out of their six games before yesterday, the side was confident playing Mackillop yesterday morning in the semi.
Clark and Maluach dominated the rebounds all game, according to coach Jonathan Willis, to hold the majority of possession and win 47-27.
The side then met CIS in the final, the only team that had beaten them in the carnival.
After North West led early, the scores were equal at halftime, although Maluach was the dominant player on the court.
The North West boys slipped to be eight points behind with three minutes left.
They clawed it back to only two, before the buzzer beat them 36-34.
It is the end of an era for the North West boys after having at least one of the three Maluach brothers in the team every year for the past five years.
Maluach and Clark were the stand-out players for the side and were rewarded with spots in the NSW PSSA side.
Meanwhile, in Newcastle the PSSA tennis side was also having a good day as the girls celebrated having their first win of the week with another win.
The boys also notched up their third win for the tournament at the Broadmeadow Courts.
The team played its first match yesterday against South Coast, with the girls picking up five out of the six sets for their first win of the carnival.
The boys were not so lucky, only winning one of the six games, although turned it around in the afternoon match against Western.
The boys, led by the Gunnedah duo of Logan Dries and Aaron Osmond, only dropped nine games to win all six sets.
The girls only lost one set to chalk up two from two for the day.
Both teams will now play off for ninth and tenth position today.
The girls play Riverina and the boys are up against North Coast.
The CHS football girls had some good shots on goal but went down 4-1 to Western in their final match of a tough week of football in Armidale.
Coach Tristan Jones said that the highlight of the day was the goal from Tamworth High’s Georgia Taggart.
“She hit it on the 18 yard line and it curved perfectly into the top right corner,” Jones said.
“It was a cracker.”
Taggart and Erin Skewes were North West’s strongest as was Rhiannon Moran.
Moran was North West’s player of the carnival and earned herself a spot as a shadow reserve in the state side.