By Jonty Ralphsmith
Pakenham’s Tyla Scorah is set to spend a semester playing at Miles City Community College, Montana.
A co-captain of the grand finalists in 2024, Scorah took off last Friday, with her semester to start in early September and run through until May.
It follows a season of great progression at the Warriors, where she gained confidence in her shooting and became more physical on the court.
Scorah, coming off an ankle injury which delayed her season, puts her improved shooting down to a more relaxed attitude and the aggression comes from a return to footy.
“Coming back to footy was a wake-up call, particularly being a high intensity physical sport,” Scorah said.
“It lets me release emotion and aggression so when I came back to basketball, I could just focus on the sport and I was relaxed and happy.
“Going up for a layup, I embrace the contact now rather than running away from it or throwing it up and hoping for the best.
“Plenty of times I have had a mismatch and being able to hold my own against taller, bigger people, which really helps.”
In her second match back from injury, Scorah shot six threes at 50 per cent which provided her with a launchpad for the rest of the season.
She made more threes than any of her teammates in 2024 and was comfortably their best freethrow shooter, making 85 per cent of her attempts.
“Before that, my shooting clicked and I became more confident with it and by the time I came back, the nerves were out of me and I was just excited to get into it and I think that translated to shooting the ball better,” she said.
“I’ve always enjoyed shooting and wanted to be a really good three point shooter.
“In juniors I was always one of the first ones trying to make the distance and since then it has always been part of my game – shooting threes
Shooting deep works better for me than being right up on the line because I’m more free and I’ve gained confidence to do it in the game
Scorah, who will study graphic design alongside her sport, has long desired playing basketball overseas, but thought that opportunity had bypassed her when she needed an ankle reconstruction as an aspiring teenager in the state academy.
“It’s a different style of game over there so I’m excited to learn different skills and train a lot more to become a better,” Scorah said.
“By the time I come back I’m hopefully dominating!
“I want to be more well-rounded.
“I want to become more aggressive defensively and offensive – I want to be even more consistent with my shooting.”
Scorah will return home in the middle of the 2025 Youth League women’s season, set to miss the play-in tournament as the Warriors seek to qualify for the championship division, but in time to play a part in the back end of the season.
