The final day of the 3×3 Basketball competition saw three of Team Scotland’s teams in the medal matches and history made with bronze for the men’s running team, followed by silver for the women’s wheelchair team. Not only the first ever Commonwealth Games basketball medals for Team Scotland, they were also the first to be won in any team sport on the Games programme.

The Men’s Running team kicked off a trio of semi-finals versus Australia and were disappointed to go down 14-21, the same score as when they met in the group stages on day 1.

In the Bronze medal match they faced New Zealand, who they had lost to in the group stages on day three (13-21). But this was Scotland’s day. They missed out on bronze at the 2022 Games by a single point to Canada and were also fourth in at Gold Coast 2018, so for Kyle Jimenez and Fraser Malcolm who were part of both teams it was a case of third time lucky.

Speaking after their historic victory giving Team Scotland its first-ever 3×3 and first ever team medal, Fraser Malcolm said: “The commitment from the four of us has been incredible and the support from everyone in the backroom staff and everyone who’s supported us in their numbers here, it’s been incredible.”

Skyler White said: “It’s been so much fun. We love to compete at the highest level and we brought that today.”

Asked where it ranks in their career, Owen McCormack said: “I’d say top two and it’s not number two! We [Owen and Skyler] joined them and they’ve shown us the way. It’s something new for us both and they welcomed us with open arms and it’s been great to put the cherry on top.”

Kyle Jiminez added: “We had that belief amongst our team. Nobody else thought anything of us and we proved the world wrong today.”

The Men’s Wheelchair team also took on the green and gold of Australia in their semi-final. The Aussies, who won Gold in Birmingham four years ago, looked to be on top form and took a 19-12 win to put the Scots into the bronze medal match versus Canada.

Canada proved tough opponents and the team missed too many shots to stay in contention with the Canadians who were rarely missing. Canada took the Bronze 19-9, leaving Scotland in a credible fourth place on their first outing at a Commonwealth Games.

Tyler said after the loss: “This has shown everyone what the sport is about. I am really proud of the boys. We’ve had a good tournament; we just fell on the last hurdle today. It is gutting but you can’t change it now. We can definitely come back together in four years and finish better than we have done today.”

The trilogy against Australia ended on a high note when the Women’s Wheelchair team won their semifinal 15-12, booking their place in the gold medal match against England.

“Are you mad?” Said Lea Smith when asked what she’d have said if someone had told her they’d be in this position before the competition started.

She continued: “But now we are all mad. We are here! The crowd has been amazing, supporting us every round.”

In the final match, England got off to a quicker start and took a 10-3 lead after 4 minutes. The Scottish women kept pushing and with just over two minutes to go it was there was only five points in it (10-15). A few baskets failed to drop for the Scots while the English held their ground. The final score was 10-18 giving the team with a very well deserved silver medal, banishing the disappointment of a fourth place finish four years ago.

Robyn shared what this means to her and the team saying: “It’s an absolute honour to play with these girls. We’ve had a month together and what have we achieved! It’s down to their attitude, their coachability, their ability to have fun and to learn. As a coach and a teammate, you couldn’t ask for any more.”