Resilience and experience drive Kilsyth Cobras to VYC Championship glory
Head coach Zac Wuersching reflected on a challenging yet rewarding campaign, highlighting how grit and a deep pool of finals experience carried his side over the line.
Finishing fourth in the regular season with a 15-7 record, the Cobras were just two games off the top seed. However, their regular-season record hardly told the full story of the obstacles they faced.
“For us it was honestly probably a hard regular season because of all the injuries we had,” Mr Wuersching said.
“We had three of our starters miss at least 10 games each due to major knee injuries.”
After charging out to an impressive early start around 10-1 or 11-2, the Cobras hit a rough patch as the squad thinned out. With a 16-player squad, Kilsyth managed to field a full 12-man roster just once all year, in the first round of the finals.
“Every other week, we had at max 11,” Mr Wuersching said.
“I think one game we literally played with seven in a grand final rematch of last year. So, honestly, it was a really tough season from that perspective.”
Despite the revolving lineup, the team managed to secure a top-four finish.
“For the guys to find a way to do enough through the regular season… to put us in a position to finish top four was honestly a pretty remarkable effort from them.”
Despite the regular-season turbulence, Mr Wuersching’s group carried confidence into the postseason, anchored by a core group of veteran leaders. Five players on the roster had played in all four of the club’s consecutive grand final appearances.
Mr Wuersching noted that if the group could make it there, “no one would want to play us in finals”. That vision was correct.
In the first round against Knox, Mr Wuersching said the team was excited and ready “to send a bit of a message”, delivering a first-quarter 29-7 dominance, setting the tone for the rest of their championship push.
To highlight this advantage before their finals opener, Mr Wuersching wrote two numbers on the whiteboard: 26 to 3.
“No one could kind of guess,” Mr Wuersching said. “When I actually explained to them, it was within the group that we all had playing that day… we had 26 games of grand final experience compared to their team that only had three.”
That poise and experience of the leadership group showed all throughout the tournament
“Basketball is a game of imperfection, things are going to go wrong,” Mr Wuersching noted.
“We just had all of that experience along with so many guys that have come into the team this year and got so much more experience than maybe they were expecting because of the injuries.
“When things go wrong, don’t panic. Stick to what we’ve got: great talk, great energy, and rely on each other rather than trying to solve it yourself.”
The championship game delivered its own drama. After watching the Kilsyth VYC Women’s team compete the night before, who lost by a single point, the men took the court with high energy, taking a near 20-point cushion into halftime thanks to a fresh tactical tweak.
“We came out and did something completely different to what we’ve done all year, which is a little bit terrifying as a coach to put something brand new in the week of a grand final,” Wuersching admitted.
“The willingness of the guys to buy in… and then to go out and execute it on that stage was unbelievable.”
When the opposition mounted a second-half run to cut the lead to six points, the Cobras stayed composed.
They stretched the lead back out to nine in the final minute, allowing the group to soak in the moment before the final siren sparked celebrations.
The victory further solidifies Kilsyth’s reputation as an elite basketball talent factory. Across 12 VYC seasons since 2013, Kilsyth has reached eight grand finals and won five championships.
For Mr Wuersching, the VYC program serves a purpose far beyond the scoreboard.
“It’s Under-23s, and we have the conversation through the year: How many of you guys are actually going to go on and play professional basketball? Maybe one,” Mr Wuersching said.
“The rest of the stuff we’re working on here is how you become better humans and better people and carry these skills on.”
NBL1 coach Zach Moult said it was an “ultra-impressive season by the guys”, especially seeing several players get a call-up to the NBL1 side amidst the challenges of the regular season, cementing the pathway to the higher level of play.
“We had 12 athletes from our VYC pathway that played NBL1 minutes for us this season – most of any club nationally,” he said.
“We’ve worked particularly hard over the past two seasons to strengthen the pathway from VYC to NBL1, with combined practice time, aligning our style of play, and strengthening the player relationships that span over 18 years in difference between the two groups.
“It’s a terrific reflection of our pathway as a whole, beginning at the junior level; and something we are incredibly proud of.”
Mr Wuersching also credited the local fanbase for creating an environment unmatched in youth sports.
“A massive appreciation to the local community, whether they’ve got kids that play at Kilsyth or they’ve got kids that play domestic, or whatever it is. It is that community feeling and people turning up to watch us that makes it exciting for these players.
“A massive thank you to everyone that turns up and supports the team. It is just such an enjoyable thing to get to do at that age, to turn up and play under bright lights, commentators, music, with a big crowd.”
