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Teen relishes tough task

Emmett Hoycard had been named vice-captain of the WA Country under-16 team. Picture: Paul Braven

Emmett Hoycard will look to stamp her authority on the big stage when she represents WA Country at the under-16 national basketball championships starting in Tasmania next weekend.

While older sister Mackenzie has been tapped for national teams due to her excellent shooting touch, Emmett has developed her own reputation for being tough as nails on the court.

The Year 10 John Paul College student made her national championships debut last year, averaging 2.6 points and four rebounds a contest as an underage player.

A CBC product, she was officially named in this year's State team at the start of last month after impressing coaching staff during the trials.

Her performance at State training, which required constant trips to Perth over the past six months, along with last year's experience, resulted in Emmett being named vice-captain of the Julieann Bissaker-coached side.

The 15-year-old said being appointed to the team's leadership group was an unexpected honour.

"They said I've been training well, taken control of the drills and been a leader, which they want me to continue over in Tasmania," she said.

"I don't find the step up in competition too bad, there's a lot more running (compared to local basketball), and there's a lot more plays to remember.

"I learnt a lot last year, I'm just hoping I don't foul out as much."

WA Country face a monumental task at the titles, meeting some the traditional powerhouse States in Pool A.

The girls open their campaign against New South Wales Country on July 4, before lining up against South Australia Country, Queensland South and host State Tasmania on consecutive days.

The team finishes pool play on July 8 with games against New Zealand and Vic Metro, before entering the final classification stage.

Normally the team is one of the cellar dwellers of the championships, however Emmett said encouraging results in warm-up games gave her team confidence ahead of the trip.

"We've played against the metro girls a few times in scrimmages after training, just half an hour games," she said.

"Then last week we played them in a fully timed match, and only lost by three points, so hopefully we can improve on that over in Tasmania.

"We've got some tough games over there, but hopefully we'll get a couple of wins and not come last."