Cairns, point guard life suiting Basham to a tee

Featured image: @connectednowau

Brooke Basham is thriving as a point guard in the NBL1 North at Cairns Dolphins and in the Far North Queensland lifestyle, but she's equally excited to now experience the total opposite as an inaugural WNBL player at the Tasmania Jewels.

Adelaide has always been home to Basham whether in her own playing career across a variety of clubs in what is now the NBL1 Central or with the Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL, or as a self-confessed Adelaide 36ers diehard in the NBL.

She's put together a tremendous career in Adelaide too having spent five seasons with the Lightning including the best of her career in the last she had there in 2024/25 with 7.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in over 20 minutes a game.

She's also been a star with the Eastern Mavericks, Forestville Eagles, Norwood Flames and then for the past three seasons, the North Adelaide Rockets, but she also wondered what else was out there.

She always wanted to experience living somewhere else and now is loving everything about the lifestyle in Cairns and is about to experience the total opposite in Hobart, and in so many ways joining the Jewels is a dream opportunity because of what a fan she's become of the JackJumpers.

>> NORTH FINALS | MONIQUE HAS 25 AND METEORETTES STAY ALIVE

>> NORTH FINALS | WOODS STARS AS FLAMES WIN A THRILLER

>> NORTH WRAP | WOMEN'S ROUND 14

Not only has Basham's move to Far North Queensland agreed with her in terms of embracing the lifestyle, but playing with the Cairns Dolphins under coach Marcus Wong has been the best thing for her too.

She's now playing more as a point guard than ever before and starring with 21.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.3 steals on a team that finished the regular season second and now hosts the Townsville Flames on Saturday night for a spot in the Grand Final.

Basham couldn’t be happier with everything she's found in Cairns.

"The move was so easy for me and obviously leaving my family was hard, but I love North Queensland, I love Cairns, I love the weather, the people and the club has been amazing," Basham said.

"The coaches, the players, management have been so incredible and it's just been a really, really easy transition for me. I absolutely love Cairns and my life here is incredible on and off court so I'm very grateful."

Being an inaugural Jewels player

Basham is loving the North Queensland weather and lifestyle, but is now about to experience something that is almost the opposite once she gets to Hobart to be part of the first ever season for the Jewels in the WNBL.

But she can't wait to get started there either once the job is done in Cairns this NBL1 North season.

"I'm so excited about it and just the whole opportunity of playing for that state and for the new club is so exciting," Basham said.

"It's obviously a brand new organisation and I'm just super grateful for the opportunity and I don’t really know how to explain it, but I'm really appreciative and so excited for the chance to be a part of that.

"I hope that I can contribute to something very impactful and contribute to winning and building something really special in that state. I can't wait to get there and I'm so excited, I just wanna get there and get started."

Playing for a Grand Final spot

Before turning her full attention to that WNBL season with the Jewels, Basham is fully committed to a big finish with the Dolphins who already are having a best ever season in the NBL1 North in 2026 having made the finals for the first time in 2025.

Cairns started the season winning the first nine matches before a slip up against the Townsville Flames who just happen to be their opponents now on Saturday night with Courtney Woods having been named MVP once again.

But Basham was named to the All-Second Team while her teammate Mia Loyd made the First Team and Wong was awarded Coach of the Year so she is fully confident with the Dolphins team she's going into battle with.

"First of all we're just so excited to play them and we feel really good about it, and we feel confident," Basham said.

"We're just focused on ourselves and our strengths and going into it with that mentality but when you play Townsville, obviously Courtney Woods is the MVP for an absolute reason.

"We've obviously got a big focus on her but also it's just a team effort and we're not too concerned about who matches up on her, it will take a team effort to get the job done.

"We're just focusing on what we need to do and we're up for the challenge and we feel really good as a team and a club going into Saturday night."

Having the weekend off

Having finished the regular season in second position meant that the Dolphins got the weekend off to start the NBL1 North finals while Townsville had to beat the Southern Districts Spartans to set up the clash with Cairns.

Basham usually would always prefer to keep playing games, but in this instance it was probably for the best that they did get to have that week off ahead of what they hope will be a massive next two weekends.

"Usually I would say that I don’t really love having the week off but I think for our team and the situation that we were sort of in, we had a couple of players sick, we've had injuries and I think that extra week was actually good for our team," Basham said.

"We've been training really hard still and had some extra trainings so we're really locked in now for Saturday night. And it was good for us that we had that extra week to hone in."

Embracing the point guard role

Not only has it been a big change on the lifestyle front for Basham to go to Cairns from Adelaide or even just overall with the basketball going to the NBL1 North from the Central, but her role out on the court with the Dolphins has changed too.

Basham has always spent most of her career playing in either the two or three spot and doing it well, but in Cairns she's been given more of a role as a point guard and as a combo guard sharing those duties with Loyd.

It's worked a treat too with just how versatile both players are and Basham has enjoyed the point guard role more than she ever had imagined.

"My role here is quite different to the roles I've had in Adelaide and I'm actually playing more like a point guard sort of role here in Cairns and I've never really had the chance to do that before," Basham said.

"I've obviously swung into the point at times in Adelaide, but that has been kinda like my sole role on this Cairns team and I've kind of fallen in love with it and taking on that challenge.

"I've never been a point guard but I've taken it seriously and I've tried to learn what every teammate needs and how they want the ball, and just learning about game tempos and when I need to be aggressive or when I need to get through an offence or find someone a shot.

"I've really loved that role and learning to try and be good in that role."

Moving from the Central to North

Basham had never really known anything different to playing in Adelaide so wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when she joined the NBL1 North for the first time.

But what she has found is a step up in not only on the court, but also off the court with how the professionalism of the league is perhaps a leap up and she's enjoyed everything about being part of it.

"It is a step up I feel like and it's a higher level of basketball and I think the talent is also better, and I even think the resources and professionalism within the clubs here as well feels a bit higher," Basham said.

"It feels like a bit more of a professional league and I've loved the competition and it is a really good league.

"Obviously I've played in Adelaide a very long time, over 10 years and you just sort of play the same people the same year and the same teams so I've really enjoyed trying to learn new players and how new teams play, and their style and stuff. I've absolutely loved it, it's been so much."

Getting to see Queensland too

It's not until you actually spend some time in Queensland that you realise just how vast the state is and indeed how far Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast are all from one another.

Basham was used to just playing teams from around Adelaide and there's really never more than a half-hour drive to any of the different venues, but it's a totally different story in the North playing right throughout Queensland.

As much as she has loved the basketball, she has also fully enjoyed the chance to explore a new state.

"It's been awesome and I didn’t really fathom just how far Cairns is away," Basham said.

"Before I got here, I just thought heading down to Brisbane might be a quick 45-minute flight but then when we were on the plane, I just looked to my teammates and asked why are we still flying after a couple of hours.

"But I have loved the road trips and I think they are great for team bonding that you don't get in Adelaide because every stadium is within driving distance.

"But I've loved seeing all the country towns and I had never been to Rockhampton or places like that before and hadn’t even spent too much time in Brisbane. It's been really cool seeing the whole of Queensland, country and city."

Following what JackJumpers have done

Basham might always still be a 36ers NBL fan deep down, but she has admired from afar everything about the JackJumpers and the culture they have been able to build from scratch led by coach Scott Roth.

That's what made her unable to contain her excitement when she found out Kayla Steindl wanted to talk to her about being part of the first ever Jewels team.

Then once she spoke with coach Claudia Brassard and she knew she wanted to be part of and actually see from the inside what that culture is like that she fell in love with that the JackJumpers had built.

"I mentioned it when I first spoke with the Jewels and I've loved watching the JackJumpers and obviously I'm an Adelaide girl through and through, and I'm a Sixers diehard, but whenever the JackJumpers play I make sure I watch," Basham said.

"I just love what they stand for and their values and their brand of basketball is incredible to watch. I'm hoping that the Jewels will sort of emulate the same thing and I think we'll be on the same page with them which I think is amazing.

"I've also never been to Tassie and I don't know much about the state, but I can see the crowds at the JackJumpers and how they engage with their community and fans, and especially with the grassroots in Tasmania, and they do that maybe the best of any club in Australia so now we can have men and women doing that. That will be amazing to be part of."

Also getting to explore Tasmania

Now that Basham has got to enjoy everything about living in North Queensland, she can't wait to get to Tasmania not only to live in Hobart, but also explore the entire state and to throw herself fully into the community.

"I'm super excited and obviously it's going to be a weather change again but I'm from Adelaide so I can deal with drastic weather changes," Basham said.

"I'm excited not just for the basketball, but to get down to Tassie to live and everyone talks about how amazing the natural scenery is, the people are so nice and apparently the coffee's good so I'm cool with that.

"I'm so excited to just immerse myself with the whole Tasmanian community and can't wait to get there. I feel very lucky and grateful."