Six key takeaways from U20 Championships Day 3

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The crossovers are here and the competition is about to go to another level at the Basketball Australia Under-20 Championships in Ballarat.

But not before some star performances on day three of action as teams fought for pool rankings and to avoid frightening crossover match-ups on day three of the tournament at Selkirk Stadium - the home of the Ballarat Miners.

From world-class talents showing why they are touted as future superstar prospects to teams rebounding to impressive form and other sides continuing their dominant run - the final day of pool games had everything.

Let's take a look at six key takeaways from day three of the tournament.

Ajak Nyuon is a star, but we already knew that

The 6'10" Basketball Centre of Excellence scholarship holder is one of the country's brightest young prospects and he almost carried ACT to a win over Victoria Navy.

Unfortunately, they couldn't get the result but Nyuon was sensational. We all know he has the athleticism and the ability to attack the basket, howewer this time he did it from the three-point line.

Nyuon went 8-from-15 from distance on his way to 39 points as the standout performance for the day across the tournament. He also grabbed 10 rebounds in the 98-85 loss.

Blues find their three-point groove

We wrote about the defending champion New South Wales women bouncing back on day two after an opening day loss to Victoria - well, they look like a scary prospect once again after easily accounting for ACT in their final pool game.

Perhaps the scariest sign for NSW opponents was the Blues found their form from distance, going 11-from-28 for the game at 39% with Rebecca Donnelly leading the way with 6-from-12 from beyond the arc to lead the defending champions in scoring with 22 points.

NSW won 97-63 and head into the quarter-finals with a major boost in confidence.

Deng Manyang was perfect on day three

It's not often you say a player was perfect in a game but South Australia's Deng Manyang was exactly that.

The talented forward went 9-from-9 from the field and 3-from-3 from the three-point line in South Australia's important and hard-fought 94-91 win over New South Wales tos ecure top spot in their pool.

Manyang ended the contest with 25 points and seven rebounds off the bench. The only blip on the radar was missing one free throw, going 4-from-5 from the charity stripe.

WNBL talents show class

Victoria look a class above in the women's competition so far, remaining undefeated and doing it in dominant fashion.

And two of their leaders, who are both development players in the WNBL, in Tayli Dimarco and Isobelle Wightman are leading the way.

Dimarco, a point guard who is with the Geelong Venom, and Wightman, a young forward with the Southside Flyers, were impressive again as Victoria beat South Australia by 12 points to remain undefeated.

Dimarco had 11 points, nine assists and four rebounds while Wightman 18 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Notoa on triple-double watch, as always

Triple-double watch and Queensland skipper Prasayus Notoa go hand-in-hand.

She dominated last year's tournament on the way to leading Queensland to a silver medal and is doing the same this year as the Maroons took out top spot in their pool.

Notoa - who starred for the Australian Gems at last year's FIBA Under-19 World Cup - had 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in Queensland's 74-65 win over Western Australia.

Queensland seemed destined for a semi-finals match-up with rivals New South Wales.

Marley Sam haunts QLD once again

Western Australian men's point guard Marley Sam might be one of the most competitive players you'll see on a national championship stage.

He was a standout at last year's under-18s tournament and his stock is rising even more at the under-20s with WA one of the contenders for the gold medal.

Sam tore shreds of Queensland South at the 2025 under-18s tournament in Brisbane and did the same on day three, finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as WA recorded a 119-92 victory.