The North-West Tasmania Thunder are an Australian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in

Ulverstone, Tasmania Ulverstone is a town on the northern coast of Tasmania, Australia on the mouth of the River Leven (Tasmania), River Leven, on Bass Strait. It is on the Bass Highway (Tasmania), Bass Highway, west of Devonport, Tasmania, Devonport and east of ...

. The Thunder compete in the Men's

NBL1 South NBL1 South is a NBL1 conference based in South East Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2019, Basketball Victoria partnered with the National Basketball League (NBL) to create NBL1 to replace the South East Australi ...

and play their home games at Ulverstone Sports & Leisure Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the St.LukesHealth North-West Thunder.

Team history

Established in 1986, the team missed the playoffs in their first eight seasons before seeing post-season action for the first time in 1994 under coach Phil Thomas. Back-to-back quarter-final appearances in 1994 and 1995 culminated in a CBA South Conference Championship for the North West Boag's Originals in 1996. The Originals defeated the all-powerful

Ballarat Miners The Ballarat Miners are an Australian basketball team based in Ballarat, Victoria. The Miners compete in the Women’s and Men's NBL1 South and play their home games at the Selkirk Stadium. The team is affiliated with Ballarat Basketball Associ ...

outfit in a thrilling overtime victory to claim the South Conference final. The Originals then went on to win the CBA quarter-final against Dandenong, the semi-final against Brisbane and then the championship final against Knox. All four finals were held at the Originals' home court at the Devonport Sports Stadium. The team lost three games early in the season and then went on an unprecedented winning streak, to end the season with a 19–3 record. The make-up of the Originals' 1996 squad included top quality imports in Dave Biwer and Jason Pepper, and centre Marcus Bellchambers. The team also included naturalised former American Keith Bragg, as well as Ben Harvey and Ben Armstrong. In 2003, the team was renamed the Thunder after being known as the Brewers for a number of years. The following year, the Thunder collected their second SEABL South Conference Championship before winning through to the ABA National Final, where they were defeated 104–100 by the Cairns Marlins. In 2019, following the demise of the SEABL, the Thunder joined the

References

External links

Official team website
{{NBL1 South East Australian Basketball League teams Basketball teams in Tasmania Basketball teams established in 1986 1986 establishments in Australia North West Tasmania