LACEY LOWDOWN

The Junior Tall Blacks (JTB’s) pulled off a stunning victory in the final of the FIBA Under 18 Oceania Championships in Fiji on Saturday evening defeating favorites Australia 57-51.

The Junior Tall Blacks become the first New Zealand age group team to qualify for a FIBA World Championships and to do so against our powerful, well funded nearest rivals makes the victory sweeter. The JTB’s will now head to Cairo next for the FIBA Under 19 World Championships

The heroes for the JTB’s in the closing two minutes were Canterbury guard Quinn Clinton and Wellington forward Taane Samuel. With the game on a knife edge Clinton landed two threes in the final 90 seconds as the JTB’s twice came from behind. His second three produced a slender 53-51 advantage. Clinton had been fouled on the shot but missed the resulting freebie only for Samuel to score on a put back.

After Australia missed a couple of scoring opportunities Samuel iced the game with a pair of free throws to set off wild celebrations amongst the New Zealand team and supporters.

Defence dominated the early stages and it was two minutes into the game before Quinn Clinton, later to be named Grand Final MVP, scored the first basket of the encounter.

Callum Mcrae scored the next basket for the Kiwis and the big Kiwi centre was also prominent at the defensive end with three rebounds and a block in the quarter.

A tight first period ended with New Zealand 12-8 ahead.

A Sam Waardenburg put back got the scoreboard moving in the second stanza and a Taki Fahrensohn three took New Zealand to a 17-10 lead forcing a concerned Australian coach to call a timeout.

Hamish McDonald connected with a triple followed by a jump shot as New Zealand moved to a 24-16 lead. An excellent first half defensive effort from the JTB’s finished with them ahead 27-20. Waardenburg led all scorers and rebounders at the interval with 7 points and 6 boards.

A pair of Clinton triples took the JTB’s to a double digit advantage but Australia responded with a 10-0 run. That run was broken by Taane Samuel but a strong Australian third period ended with the JTB’s just three points ahead, 40-37.

Flynn Cameron scored with a left handed drive but another Australia run took Australia into the lead 44-42 with 7 minutes to play.

Waardenburg tied the scores only for Australia to reclaim the advantage and with 4:20 to play the Kiwis trailed 48-40. The Kiwis offence had gone cold but a turn around jumper by Samuel moved the JTB’s within two points, 48-46, with three to play.

After that it became the Clinton and Samuel show.

Basketball New Zealand Chief Executive Iain Potter described the victory as, “A great achievement by the team and the coaching staff and an historic moment for New Zealand basketball. The win once again highlights the enormous amount of talent that we have emerging from our national and local development programmes.”

Final Score; Junior Tall Blacks 57 Australia 51

Scorers – Clinton 14, Samuel 11, Waardenburg 11 + 12 rebounds, McDonald 5, F Cameron 4, McRae 3, Fahrensohn 3, T Cameron 2, Aitcheson 2, Letoa 1, Fotu 1

Charlisse Leger-Walker

The Junior Tall Ferns (JTF’s) were well beaten by Australia in the gold medal game at the FIBA U18 Oceania Championships in Suva on Saturday. Australia led from start to finish to claim the championship with a 107-52 victory.

Australia made a strong start establishing an early 11-5 lead, the Junior Tall Ferns only scores were courtesy of Akiene Reed and Alyssa Hirawani at the free throw line.

The game was seven minutes old before the JTF’s scored their first basket from the field from Charlisse Leger-Walker but Australia were 21-8 to the good at that stage.

Australia made a brace of threes to finish the period and led 28-9 at quarter time.

Leger-Walker scored with a neat drive and Kendall Heremaia landed a long three but the Australian lead had ballooned out to 41-15 at the five minute mark in the second period.

Reed and Jillings made further scores but the JTF’s were in a hole at half time trailing 49-20.

Australian centre Ezi Magbegor, the leading rebounder in the tournament, was dominating in the paint and had 7 points, 6 rebounds and an intimidating 4 blocks at the interval. Leger-Walker was the best of the Kiwis with 6 points and 4 rebounds.

Charlotte Whittaker, Jayden Fuiava and Leger-Walker scored as the JTF’s exchanged baskets in the early stages of the second half but Australia finished the third period with a 13-4 run to lead 78-36 at the final break.

To their credit the JTF’s out scored the Australians in the early minutes of the final period as Jillings, Whittaker and Leger-Walker found the hoop. However it was too little too late as Australia eased to a 107-52 win and a trip to the U19 World Championships in Cairo next year.

Final Score:

Junior Tall Ferns 52 Australia 107

NZ Leading scorers – Leger-Walker 12, Whittaker 8, Jillings 7, Reed 5, Heremaia 5

Congratulations to Christchurch referee Matt Bathurst was one of the three referees officiating the gold medal game.

Fahrensohn with the dunk

The Junior Tall Blacks (JTB’s) followed the Junior Tall Ferns into the final of the FIBA Under 18 Oceania Championships with a convincing win against Guam, 116-54, in Fiji on Friday evening.

The JTB’s utilised their height advantage with Sam Waardenburg (21 points and 5 rebounds in just 14 minutes) and 7 footer Callum McRae, a double double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, leading the way.

JTB’s head coach Daryl Cartwright believed that Guam would be a good challenge as they have structure in place at both ends of the floor.

“They have some very quick guards who can handle the ball well, so that will test our ability to sit down and stay in front of our man on the defensive end.

We do have a significant size advantage and that is where we will look to assert our dominance by getting the ball inside and controlling the rebounds at both ends of the floor,” he added

That size, in the form of Waardenburg, dominated early proceedings scoring 12 points in the opening 5 minutes as the JTB’s forged a 16-0 lead.

Guam was next to score but a couple of transition baskets from Taki Fahrensohn and a triple from Hamish McDonald capped a fine 31-9 opening frame from New Zealand.

Centre McRae (8 points in the second period) emphasised the JTB’s inside dominance with a pair of baskets and when Tobias Cameron converted a breakaway dunk from a Josh Aitcheson steal Guam needed a timeout trailing 43-15.

Active New Zealand defence made scoring opportunities few and far between for Guam. The defence also fuelled open looks in transition, Flynn Cameron landing a triple and a lay-up as the JTB’s led 57-19 at half-time. Waardenburg led all scorers with 17 points at the break.

Despite a Quinn Clinton three Guam had the better of the opening minutes of the second half scoring 13 points in less than three minutes. Taane Samuel settled the JTB’s with a pair of baskets as did a Fahrensohn dunk after a Flynn Cameron steal – 76 to 34 in favour of New Zealand five minutes into the third.

Samson Aruwa scored off a Dan Fotu assist, then twice more after corralling offensive rebounds. Isaac Letoa scored a brace of baskets to end an entertaining third with the JTF’s ahead 93-40.

Coach Cartwright was able to rotate his squad in the fourth quarter ahead of the final 24 hours later.

Final Score; Junior Tall Blacks 116 Guam 54

Scorers – Waardenburg 21, Clinton 15, McRae 12/10r, Aruwa 12, Fahrensohn 10, T Cameron 9/5a, Samuel 8, Aitcheson 8, F Cameron 7, Letoa 6/5a, Fotu 4, McDonald 4

The JTB’s will play Australia, 121-30 victors against New Caledonia in the other semi-final, in the final at 7.00pm on Saturday. The winners of the tournament will earn a place at the FIBA Under 19 World Cup in Cairo next year.

Akiene Reed

The Junior Tall Ferns accounted for Papua New Guinea 121-13 in their final pool game at the FIBA Under 18 Oceania Championships in Fiji on Wednesday afternoon.

Charlotte Whittaker (9 points in the opening quarter) scored the first two baskets of the game but the Junior Tall Ferns did not have it all their own way in the early stages. The JTF’s led 11-7 after 4 minutes but then reeled off 23 points to lead 34-7 at quarter time.

Unselfish play by the JTF’s led to easy scores for McKenna Dale and Jayden Fuiava. A triple from Akiene Reed added to PNG’s woes and with the score mounting PNG needed a timeout at the mid point of the second trailing 55-7.

Consecutive corner threes from Zara Jillings and Reed and inside baskets from Esra McGoldrick extended the JTF’s advantage to 69-7 before PNG finally got on the scoreboard again.

Reed led all scorers with 12 points and Aliyah Dunn and Whittaker had 11 points each as the JTF’s led 71-11 at the interval.

The accomplished Reed, who led the JTF’s scoring, got the scoring underway in the second half, Jillings made another triple and Charlisse Leger-Walker scored in transition before PNG added to their half-time score.

An error-ridden spell followed forcing JTF’s coach Brett Matehaere to call a timeout. Nicole Ruske and Dale landed threes after the resumption but turnovers continued to punctuate the JTF’s performance. Despite some unforced errors the Kiwis led 98-13 at three-quarter time.

Tiarna Clarke brought up triple figures for the Kiwis with a long three and although the JTF’s scoring slowed in the final period another convincing win was gained and a 3-0 record in pool play satisfyingly achieved.

Like the JTB’s the Junior Tall Ferns have a rest day on Thursday before semi-final action on Friday – most likely against Samoa.

Final Score Junior Tall Ferns 121 PNG 13

NZ scorers: Reed 19/7r/4a/3s, Whittaker 17/8r, Dunn 13/4b, Fuiava 13/6r, Ruske 11, Dale 11, Leger-Walker 8/5a/3s, Jillings 8/4a, McGoldrick 8, Hirawani 7/4a/3s, Clarke 4, Heremaia 2/8r/3s

Hamish McDonald

The Junior Tall Blacks (JTBs) followed up an opening win against Samoa at the FIBA Under 18 Oceania Championships with a second big win defeating New Caledonia 137-22 in their second outing early on Friday.

The game tipped off at 8.00am in Suva and the New Caledonians were caught napping. Flynn Cameron opened the scoring for the JTB’s, a couple of Dan Fotu (he had 7 first quarter points) baskets followed, and with the Kiwis ahead 8-0 after three minutes New Caledonia needed a timeout and a wake up call.

Coach Daryl Cartwright had the luxury of bringing Sam Waardenburg and captain Quinn Clinton off the bench and both found the hoop as the JTB’s forged a commanding lead. Tobias Cameron landed the JTB’s only three of the period but with a quarter time lead of 35-0 it was of little consequence.

A spinning drive from Tobias Cameron opened the second quarter scoring as the JTF’s continued to dominate the plucky New Caledonians. Back to back threes from Hamish McDonald and Flynn Cameron took the JTB’s score past fifty, a one sided opening half ending with the Kiwis 67-2 ahead. Waardenburg (17 points) and McDonald (11 points) led the first half scoring effort.

New Caledonia emerged from the break with fresh energy and scored a couple of neat baskets but the response was immediate from the JTB’s as Waardenburg, Callum McRae and Josh Aitcheson rattled in points. The third ended with a McDonald basket and the JTB’s 106-12 to the good.

The impressive Flynn Cameron (9pts, 5rebs, 2a, 6st, 1bl) began the final stanza with a block and an assist for a Taane Samuel score but coach Cartwright was unhappy with some sloppy play and called a timeout two minutes into the period. The JTB’s continued to pile on the points and head for semi-final action in good heart after logging their second win with a margin in excess of 100 points.

Waardenburg (29pts/10rebs), Clinton (22pts) and Fotu (17pts/8rebs) led the scoring but it was very much a team effort with a combined 27 assists logged.

Point guards Flynn Cameron and Isaac Letoa combined for 12 steals as the team amassed 33 in the game. 15 turnovers may be a few too many and just 6 threes from 25 attempts at 24% may need some improvement but the JTB’s will enjoy a rest day on Thursday before semi-final action on Friday.

The winners of the tournament will earn a place at the FIBA Under 19 World Cup in Cairo next year.

Final score: New Zealand 137 New Caledonia 22

Scorers for NZ – Waardenburg 29, Clinton 22, Fotu 17, T Cameron 14, McDonald 13, Aitcheson 11, Samuel 9, F Cameron 9, Letoa 5, McRae 4, Farensohn 4, Aruwa DNP