Basketball scouts circle Lake Ginninderra College teens after rare feat at Australian School Championnships

A total of 78 schools with 1700 players took part in the tournament on the Gold Coast last week, and it was the ACT kids that all stood atop the podium on Friday.

"I was told that the double victory in the boys and girls division was pretty much history, so it means even more to us," Lake Ginninderra's Cameron Pender told The Canberra Times.

"It's only the first or second time it's happened in 20-something years."

Lake Ginninderra's Isla Juffermans and Jessica Petrie impressed for the girls team making the national all-star five, and the latter also won the defensive MVP.

Sacramento State recruit and NBA Global Academy graduate Bowyn Beatty earned the same honour and Lake Ginninderra teammate Pender was named in the boys all-star five.

Pender, 18, stole the show in Queensland, absolutely dominating in nearly every stat, with a 49-point performance a standout.

He averaged a tournament high 34.6 points, 5.8 assists and 14.6 rebounds a game, and had the most steals (22), highlighting his prowess at both ends of the court.

"I felt like I was on a bit of a tear that's for sure - it was surreal," Pender, a self-confessed gym junkie, said. "I didn't feel like anyone could stop me and that was a pretty good feeling being top dog."

Juffermans and Petrie similarly had the highest girls averages at the tournament (25.8 and 23.8 respectively) with Petrie also topping the rebounds (16.8) and assists (6.4) averages through the week.

While Lake Ginninderra is renowned for its ability to churn out sporting superstars, particularly in basketball, not every student is part of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

Pender falls into that category, as does his school and Canberra Gunners teammate, Lachlan Smith.

"Basketball is pretty huge at the school, but not everyone's going through there," he said.

Pender believes that Lake Ginninderra punches well above its weight in the national school competitions against top private school programs, and that's a credit to the strong basketball culture in Canberra.

The two-metre tall forward is in line to make a splash for the Canberra Gunners this year, on the comeback trail after an ankle injury saw him spend most of last season's NBL1 East triumph on the bench.

Gunners coach Peter Herak plans to make Pender a "key piece" amid some player departures, but he also knows NBL teams are circling.

"He had an excellent tournament, so a couple of scouts reached out asking for more information on Cam about his work ethic and his desire to play at the next level," Herak said.

"I'd be recommending any NBL team to look at him, because he's a talent and he's a hard worker.

"In our program he'll get lots of opportunities to show how good he is."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: