Cambridge grad named to NBL1 National Finals Women’s All-Star Five
Cambridge's Lilly Ritz (far right) with the other selections to the NBL1 National Finals Women's All-Star Five.
By Jeff Harrison
Lilly Ritz enjoyed more than her share of g’days in her first season “down under”.
Ritz, the talented 2018 graduate of Cambridge High who also excelled in college at Wheeling University and Youngstown State University, took her basketball talents to Australia and was a major player in leading her team – the Central District Lions – to new heights including a first-ever NBL1 Central title and that district’s first-ever win at the National Championships.
Ritz had a tremendous effort in the Lions’ first round victory with 23 points, 22 rebounds and five assists as the Lions beat the Southern District Spartans (78-70, however the team lost its next game to the Bendigo Braves (90-68), with Ritz scoring 10 points and 10 rebounds.
For her performance, however the 24-year-old Ritz was selected to the Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 National Finals Women’s All-Star Five – the equivalent to an all-tournament team here.
As her first year in Australia came to a close, we reached out to Ritz to share her experience.
“Coming to play in Australia after playing in Switzerland (she played part of a season in 2023 there) was a tough choice, but one that I’m happy I made,” she said. “Having a winning season after the club had only won one game last year was not something I had expected, and this season with the Lions exceeded my expectations by miles and I had a lot of fun doing it!
“We had some really amazing athletes on our team this year and a great coaching staff which helped us get where we wanted to be,” Ritz continued. “We didn’t have any expectations coming into the season and ended up winning the corner grand final and making it to the nationals for the first time ever.”
What was the biggest adjustment for Ritz being 10,000 miles away from home?
“The biggest adjustment was probably the time difference,” Ritz related. “I am a huge family person, so only having a few hours a day to talk to my friends and family back home was hard and something I needed to get used to.
“Being away from home was hard, but I became really close with my Lions’ family which made things a lot easier!” she added.
How did playing professionally compare to what she had experienced before?
“The style of play here was definitely a step above college basketball,” said Ritz. “There are girls here that are playing in the WNBL (the Australian version of the WNBA) who are amazing basketball players. It’s a highly competitive league and you play against teams that have played together for over 10 years and we were basically a brand-new team, so that was a little overwhelming at first. “Playing in the national tournament with some of Australia’s highest decorated players was an amazing experience,” she related. “Being on the All-Star Five at Nationals with four WNBL players is something I never dreamed of.
“It was really fun to get the chance to play with and against top tier players and know that I was able to compete with them,” she continued. “Being an American import, you kind of have a target on your back to live up to a certain standard, so it was a tough adjustment. Once I had a few games under my belt, though, I felt confident in my abilities to play in this league but being a li’l ol’ Cambridge gal playing against WNBL players felt so surreal.”
Ritz did far more than just compete, she excelled from the get-go.
For the season, Ritz posted impressive numbers, averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. In 22 games, she tallied 374 points (17.0 ppg) and 269 rebounds (12.2 rbpg) with 15 double-doubles, missing out on three more by just one rebound. She also averaged 3.3 steals per game and shot an impressive 65 percent from the field.
Regarding her future, Ritz said things are still up in the air.
“I’m not 100% sure what my plans are for next season yet,” she offered. “I’m not sure if I want to continue playing at all or not. I just need to come home for a little bit and then I’ll make my decision for next year.”
Ritz is already headed back to Cambridge.
“I’ll be home this week!” she said with much anticipation. “One of my teammates, who also is named Lily (Zbierski), is visiting in October.
“I’ll have to take her to all the hot spots in Cambridge,” she laughed.
Good on ya, Lilly!
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