Friends gather to honour Luca Bennett

Luca is a Scots College student and passionate basketballer, social media shows.

He was invited to attend the prestigious US-based Phenom National Camp in July last year in California. Previous alumni from the program include NBA heavyweights Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ja Morant, as well as 200 other NBA and 68 WNBA players. Luca was also part of Basketball NSW’s High-Performance Program designed to prepare young athletes to represent the state at the national championships.

Luca was playing with friends at North Avoca Rocks on Tuesday afternoon when the group was taken into the sea from a rock shelf at about 2.40pm.

His two friends managed to get back on the rocks and raise the alarm with lifesavers, but Bennett disappeared.

According to social media, Luca started high school at Terrigal before joining Scots College.

A newsletter from The Central Coast Academy of Sport shows Luca and his basketball teammates standing together and smiling.

Luca played under-16s basketball for the Norths Bears in Sydney.

While the search continued Wednesday, friends and family posted concerned messages on social media.

Just one week ago, Luca posted a photo on Instagram looking out to the ocean from some rocks, with the caption: “Gettin warmer.”

Luca’s mother’s Facebook posts show her pride in her son’s sporting achievements and days spent with him at art galleries.

District Inspector Benjamin Campbell said on Wednesday that rescuers hadn’t been able to locate Luca.

“It’s a very tragic incident, and I feel for the family at this time of year. It’s just a timely reminder of how dangerous the rocks can be around the ocean and how everyone has to be really careful about what’s going on around there,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to [the family]. They’re obviously very upset at the moment, and they’re dealing with what they can.”

Surf Rescue duty officer Matt Slattery said Wednesday’s search was focused on where the boy was last seen and would continue until dark.

“The surf is definitely not flat, but the training and the experience and the team, they’re more than capable of performing in these conditions,” Slattery said.

North Avoca local Jason Hicks said he witnessed attempts to rescue Luca minutes after the group was swept off the rocks.

“The boys who managed to get out were visibly upset, a couple of surfers were as well. And there was one guy who tried to jump in and rescue [the boy] and he was visibly beside himself,” Hicks said.

“I didn’t really do anything, there was nothing to do really, it just happened so quick I think, but all the services were here in a matter of minutes. It was just incredible how fast they responded, and all the surf lifesavers were unbelievable jumping in and trying to find him.”

Hicks said this was a rare occurrence for the “very tight-knit” North Avoca community.

“I actually spoke with [the family] this morning, because I was sort of standing down there and they’re just beside themselves. Just lovely, lovely, local people, and we’re just such a tight-knit community here … It’s just such a sad day for North Avoca.”

NSW Police, NSW Ambulance, local surf lifesavers and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service were involved in the search, which was paused after 8pm on Tuesday before continuing on Wednesday.

Local surf lifesavers, marine rescue and water police, as well as the Surf Life Saving NSW drone team began looking again for the boy at first light.

Twenty volunteer surf rescue workers were involved and four paid council lifeguards searched around the rock shelf with three jetskis, while a diver searched near the rocks.

With Cindy Yin and Nigel Gladstone

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