By JARROD POTTER
PAKENHAM basketball phenomenon Jaz Shelley has written her name into the record books on the back of an incredible international campaign.
Shelley, 16, played her role superbly for the Australian under-17 women’s basketball team – nicknamed the Sapphires – at the FIBA under-17 world championships this week in Zaragoza, Spain.
The Sapphires made light work of Italy in the grand final 62-38 to hoist the trophy and show the world the land down under isn’t full just of NBA-calibre male players, but also its remarkable rising stars in women’s basketball.
For Shelley, in a burgeoning career already full of amazing accolades, this achievement was the pinnacle – to share the stage with the Sapphires’ team and earn the right to call themselves world champions.
“It’s amazing I reckon I’ve never really experienced anything like it with international basketball,” Shelley said.
“It’s great – it’s such a unique feeling – no other Australian girls team has ever done it before (won a world title at under-17 level) so it’s amazing.
“We went in with the momentum from the semi-final and thought because we could beat the USA we could beat anyone.”
There was no easy path to the gold though; Australia had to do it the hard way with a monster 73-60 upset in the semi-finals over the USA to secure its place in the finale.
Entering the semi-final match up against the Aussies, the United States had been an almighty juggernaut in the tournament’s short history – winning 28 matches in a row and three championships along the way.
Shelley averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game – with limited game-time in the preliminary rounds and earlier finals – but she was unleashed for the semi-final and pushed the States to the brink.
Shelley and the Sapphires created the upset on the back of the wily guard’s three-point shooting in particular.
She paved the way for the Australians as she nailed four-on-six in a 23-point, eight-rebound and five-assist performance to push her side through its toughest match on the international stage.
The hard work off the court was most telling, as the Sapphires pushed themselves in training to flip the earlier result against America in a pre-tournament clash.
“Probably that performance against the USA – it was our biggest game of the tournament and we had them in a practice match a week and a half before the tournament,” Shelley said. “We went down by three points to them – but we worked on the areas we were weak in and improved our statistics we were lacking.”
Sapphires coach Shannon Seebohm believes Shelley’s impact in the semi-final was critical to the Australians’ victory and she’s on the path to greatness on and off the court.
“She was phenomenal – she’s a really talented player and one with a really bright future ahead,” Seebohm said.
“She just had one of those nights (against USA) where she was pretty locked in from the beginning of the game, hit some shots early then just had a blinder.
“It was really great that she could have a game like that at an important time for us.”
Seebohm thinks there’s no limit to Shelley’s potential – with Opals duties one of a plethora of options on her playing horizon.
“I could see her representing Australia in the senior ranks in the future some time and she will have a very long basketball career if that’s what she wants to pursue,” Seebohm said.
“I think she’s a superstar of the future.”
