The future of Australian basketball was on show in the US when teenagers Ben Simmons and Thon Maker led a world team to victory over America's best high school players at the Nike Hoops Classic.
The game in Portland, Oregon is an annual showcase where NBA general managers and scouts look for talent.
Team USA had a dominant 12-5 record heading into Saturday's match-up, but the World Team showed things were shifting, winning 103-101.
The athletic 208cm, 18-year-old Simmons lived up to his billing as the best high school player in the world with 13 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, round-the-back passes and power dunks.
Simmons was a steady head running the point in the final minutes and pulled off a block with two seconds to go to seal the win.
Canadian guard Jamal Murray's stock as a future NBA player soared after sinking 30 points.
The World Team also boasted an intimidating frontline of seven-footers, with 216cm Maker, China's 218cm Zhou Qi and Haiti's 213cm Skal Labisserie dwarfing the Americans.
New Zealand's 208cm forward-centre Ty Wynyard also added muscle to the World squad.
The game, open to US high school high school players and world players aged under 19, has featured NBA greats Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving in past years.
Almost 170 players have gone on to be drafted in the NBA.
Simmons, son of US-born NBL star Dave Simmons, and Maker, born in Sudan and raised in Australia, are expected to be top NBA Draft picks next year.
Share
