Grand Finals set for 2025 U18's Nationals

The finals are set.

After a wide open draw and some shocking upsets, we now have our grand finalists locked in.

Over on the men’s competition, New South Wales Metro won in a thriller against South Australia Metro 79-64. After losing two of their key bigs, Jamaal Osikoya and Cedric Evic to injury in the quarter final round, the semi-final appeared to be an uphill battle on paper against the South Australians, who took the scalp of Victoria Metro the day prior.

With only 8 active players, New South Wales Metro withstood the prolific attack of Koby Moir (20 points) to rally and pull out a big win, thanks to a tremendous undersized effort on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 54-39 and a balanced scoring attack led by bottom-age talent Antonio Brown (19 points).

It’s been a fantastic year for Vic Country, and after their gold medal heroics in the U20 competition earlier this year, they again find themselves in contention for the top prize after knocking out a talent laden Western Australia Metro on Saturday. WA turned heads with one of their most promising teams in recent years, and while the likes of Luke Paul and John Aryang had a wonderful week of play, they didn’t quite find enough firepower to withstand a tough Victoria Country group led by bottom-ager Will Hamilton (24 points, 10 rebounds).

Over on the women’s side, two powerhouses, South Australia Metro and Victoria Metro, finally come head to head.

Victoria Metro went to work against their Victoria Country counterparts with a decisive 87-36 victory. Poppy Stevens (10 points) was an admirable bright spot off the bench for Country, but would finish as the only double digit scorer as the team were held to 24% from the field from a tenacious Victoria Metro defensive effort. Victoria Metro kept the legs fresh with a twelve deep rotation, with no player exceeding 20 minutes of action.

South Australia Metro’s path to the final was ever so slightly more competitive, but they would also handle business in convincing fashion with a 78-41 win over New South Wales Metro. Nadia Aukuso was a positive punch for New South Wales with 16 points in 21 minutes of action, but the offensive output of Keira Gardiner (15 points), Sarah Warner (17 points) and Olivia Treadrea (15 points) was too much to handle.

We’ve seen these two go head to head prior in the tournament, with Victoria Metro prevailing 92-45 in the pool games after a Sitaya Fagan masterclass. Will South Australia Metro be willing to elevate to the occasion in the decisive rematch?

We’ll find out our champions today.

GRAND FINAL MATCH-UPS

12pm: SA Metro vs Victoria Metro (Women)

2pm: Vic Country vs NSW Metro (Men)
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OUR U18 NATIONALS COVERAGE

• Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 Men's Daily Digests‍
• Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 Women's Daily Digests
• Michael Houben's key takeaways from day one and day two‍
• Every player at the U18 Men's National Championships‍
• A complete guide to the U18 Men's National Championships
• ‍Every player at the U18 Women's National Championships‍
• Your complete guide to the U18 Women's Nationals‍
• Heat Check: Jai Fa'ale and Sitaya Fagan stand out‍
• Meet the QLD teen prodigy with a big future
• How WA Metro became a team to watch

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