Australia did not take their first lead until 54.1 seconds were left in overtime but it was better late than never for the Boomers, who captured an 80-74 win over Spain in the second semi-final of the FIBA U17 World Championship at Hamdan Sports Complex late last night.
Australia started slow and trailed by 22 points at one stage during the second quarter as Spain’s offence gave them fits.
A late surge to end the quarter put Australia back in the game before crucial half-time adjustments resulted in the Boomers outscoring Spain 48-29 during the rest of the game.
“I think what we learnt from the game was that in the first half against Spain, we were on the backfoot and allowed them to dictate the terms,” said Australia coach Mark Watkins.
“We made the change of getting into them and played our style of game and we outscored them after that.”
Australia were down six with less than a minute left in regulation, but their pressure turned into steals and easy layups to tie the game at 67 apiece heading into overtime.
In extra time, centre Isaac Humphries lifted the Boomers with a fast break dunk to give them their first lead and a second slam after an inbound steal to keep them up for good.
The victory sets up a rematch of the 2012 final, which saw the US claim gold with a 95-62 trouncing. Australia, however, are welcoming the opportunity.
“It’s two years in the making for us. It’s a chance for us as a country for redemption,” Australia coach Mark Watkins said.
“For me, we haven’t played the US in the tournament so we want to have a crack at them. Everyone else has had a crack and failed. Well, big-time final is going to do certain things. We’ll have a gameplan that suits us, but we know we have our work cut out for sure.”
The US will be heavy favourites, but if the contest goes like Watkins revealed it did in his dream, then the underdogs will be the ones celebrating.
Watkins said confidently: “We’re going to win by one at the buzzer.”