Colo Vale's Dylan Ruiters and Moss Vale's Tristan Glenn have a superb year with Camden

Colo Vale's Dylan Ruiters captained the Camden Valley Wildfire to a runners up finish in the Waratah Senior League and was aided by superb performances from Moss Vale resident Tristan Glenn.

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Ruiters said it was a tough start for his side, but his teammates grew from strength to strength as the season went on.

"As a whole team, we played really well throughout the whole season but our coach wasn't there much at the start of the year," he said.

"However, that brought the players together and helped us bond well."

After finishing second in their pool, Camden qualified for the grand final against the Newcastle Falcons at the Sutherland Basketball Stadium on August 27 by beating the Macarthur Heat and Sutherland Sharks in the qualifying final and semifinal respectively after losing to the same opponents in the opening week of the finals series.

However, the Falcons were too good once again, winning 69-62.

"We went into the final against Newcastle as underdogs," Ruiters said.

"Momentum switched around throughout the match, but it came down to the last few minutes.

"They led by a small margin all game and extended it when it mattered most."

Despite the heartbreak, Ruiters said the players had so much to be proud of.

"We all put in a great effort, but making it to the final was a great achievement as it rarely happens in the club's history," he said.

Glenn played a major part in Camden's success by being the leading scorer of the league with 512 points and averaging over 25 points a game, and Ruiters said he always knew he was capable of that.

"He can get a basket whenever he wants and is difficult to stop," Ruiters said.

"When we train, we joke about how you have to either foul him or climb inside his shirt to stop him from shooting.

"If he does get the shot off, it's likely that it goes in."

Ruiters and Glenn weren't the only Highlanders to do well this season, with Banjo Talbot (part of last year's Magic Youth team) playing for Manly in NBL1 and Grace Bentley playing the u18s and youth women's competition with Illawarra in the Premier League.

Eric Hackett, who coached for many years in Moss Vale, also coached Illawarra to the u18 men's state finals.

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