IN PICTURES: Albany Basketball Association celebrates top performers at annual awards night

The Albany Basketball Association took over the Railways clubrooms on Saturday night to celebrate outstanding talent and sportsmanship shown throughout the season at its annual awards night.

ABA president Tim Turnbull addressed the packed clubrooms before awards were handed out, congratulating players, supporters and officials on another great season.

“We did it, we made it through another successful season of basketball in Albany,” he said.

“It wasn’t without its challenges.

“This is the first year where every player has had to belong to a club, so big thanks to our clubs, you’ve done a wonderful job adjusting to the new setup, and the numbers tell the story.

“We had 168 junior teams and 65 senior teams, so that’s a lot of basketball happening, a lot of whistles and a lot of passion.”

Mr Turnbull said the association sent 12 teams to the South West Slammers regional competition, 10 teams to the State championships, and 20 teams to country week across junior and senior divisions.

He also acknowledged a group of talented Albany players who had gone on to make their mark in basketball at a higher level this year, including playing overseas, representing Albany on national squads, and playing in the NBL1 league.

Another highlight Mr Turnbull mentioned was the NBL1 feature, held at ALAC earlier in the year, which brought four NBL1 teams down from Perth to play in Albany.

He said the event was a “massive success”, and the association was looking forward to hosting a similar event this year.