Monthly Archives: July 2017

Jul 10 2017
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Age Group NZ Teams

NZ Age Group teams win big in Australia and Guam

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Large victories were the feature on a successful day for the four New Zealand teams in action overseas on Monday.

On Day 1 of the 2017 Fiba Under 17 Oceania Championships New Zealand Men were far too strong for Tahiti winning 106-36. The Women also won by a ton defeating hosts Guam 139-34.

Harbour forward Keeley Tini, Canterbury guard Amiee Book and Wellingtonian Lawrin Tipene each scored 20 points for the Women. All 12 players featured in the points column on the stats sheet as coach Jody Cameron experimented with various combinations.

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Men’s coach Miles Pearce split the minutes pretty evenly amongst his 12 players with all playing between 13 and 19 minutes.

 

Cantabrian guard Max de Geest led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds; Tom Higgins had 14 points/9 rebounds with another three players scoring 9 points – Matt O’Connell, Kruz Perrott-Hunt and Cooper Boyce-Towler.

Over in Perth the NZ Under 16 Boys made it three from three with an emphatic 96-63 victory against WA Country at the Australian state Championships.

Reihana Maxwell-Topia vacuumed up 20 rebounds to go with 8 points whilst fellow Harbour player Harry  Payne led all scorers with 19 points.

The Boys have enjoyed an average 28+ points differential in their three wins to date – Payne averaging 21 points per outing. He was joined in double figures on Monday by Mac Stodart (16pts), Sam Jenkins (16pts) and Ezrah Vaigafa (15pts/10 assists).

Having suffered two defeats on the first two days the Under 16 Girls, led by double digit contributions rom Emme Shearer, Waiata Jennings, Jazz Kailahi-Fulu and Caitlin O’Connell secured a much needed win beating WA Country 91-58.

Jess Moors led the rebounding count with 11 and Jennings the assists category with 7.

Jul 10 2017
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Tall Ferns

Tall Ferns finish strong at William Jones

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Fine performance from Micaela Cocks

The Tall Ferns have finished tied for the best record at the William Jones Cup, following a 75-72 win over Japan on Sunday.

Their 4-1 record ties them with Japan, who were unbeaten coming in to tonight’s fixture.

“It was a truly competitive game, a game of good execution for both teams at both ends of the court,” head coach Kennedy Kereama said.

That comment is reflected in the stats, as the two sides couldn’t be separated at halftime at 37-37.

13 third quarter points for Micaela Cocks (she topped the Kiwi scoring during the tournament with 79 points in 5 games) helped the Tall Ferns take a hold of the match after the break though, as they pulled out to a nine point lead with a quarter to play.

It was no surprise to see Japan throw everything at them in the final stanza, but the Tall Ferns held firm to close out the three point victory.

“It’s always good to have really close games, because going into the World Cup Qualifiers (Asia Cup), that’s how we’re going to get better,” Cocks said.

Cocks had a standout game, shooting a game-high 27 points to go with five rebounds.

Her efforts were assisted by 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Antonia Edmondson, while Rebecca Ott was a force off the bench with a team high seven rebounds.

The win wraps up a strong William Jones Cup for the Tall Ferns, who continue to build towards the Asia Cup at the end of the month.

They’ll now head to Singapore for a series beginning 11 July, with Kereama happy with his side’s progress.

“Although we have a lot of experience, we have a lot of debutants as well, and we were very pleased with the performance of our veterans, as well as our younger players,” Kereama said.

“For us, it was a very successful tournament, but we’ll make some adjustments, and, of course, we’ve got lots of improvement to make.”

Tall Ferns 75 – Cocks 27/5r, Harmon 16/6r, Edmondson 13/7r, Ott 5/7r, Purcell 5/6r, Stockill 5,  Agnew 4

Japan 72

Jul 10 2017
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Age Group Basketball

JTB’s beat Egypt to finish 11th

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Photos courtesy of Jolene Cartwright

The Anchor Junior Tall Blacks have ended their FIBA U19 World Cup on a high, thrashing hosts Egypt 85-69 to finish 11th at the tournament, on the first occasion New Zealand has ever qualified a team to play at this level.

The win was earned on a strong performance across the board, the team dominated rebounds as they have through most of the tournament, cut down turnovers and shot the ball at a good clip throughout.

Head Coach Daryl Cartwright spoke of the atmosphere playing the hosts and the way his team handled that pressure.

“The crowd built over the game, there was a delay at halftime and the crowd seemed to double before the second half started and it spurred them on to come back at us but we gathered, made some good plays and finished strongly.

“Our starting group has been pretty consistent for the most part, Taane has been up there in our scoring and I think Tai ended up leading the team for scoring and rebounding. Quinn has provided great leadership to the team as well. But the bench too has provided good production at times, but the starting group has played a big part in our tournament.”

Cartwright acknowledged the contribution from Isaac Letoa in the assist column tonight, as he again went close to double figures.

“Isaac has had two games with nine assists now and does a good job when he plays under control and has our systems running and gets guys the right looks. There have been some areas we have struggled with, notably turnovers, and we got that ratio right tonight for sure.”

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Cartwright also referenced the commitment from everyone involved in the team and the programme, most notably the families and players themselves.

“I am proud of the team, the staff and everyone’s families in what we have achieved. It has been a tough six months with our preparation, trying to get all the guys together, with Sam based in Miami and not part of our build up at all really. Our isolation makes it difficult too, trying to play other U19 teams in the buildup to get a feel for the style of basketball that we would come up against.”

While disappointed not to have gone deeper into the tournament and earned a top ten ranking, Cartwright reflected on a team that never threw in the towel and always gave 100%.

“I spoke about it in the locker room today, in virtually every game we were within four or five points in the final moments. A couple of those results blew out as we were fouling at the end trying to get back in. But we showed we are a competitive side and found a way even when losing badly in the number of possessions for each team on the back of our turnover issues.

“There are some learnings for our guys, hopefully this experience is a positive one to motivate them to continue to develop, work hard and one day be in the Tall Blacks. This group of young men can be the core of the Tall Blacks for a few years to come, if they continue their development wherever they end up over the next few years.”

Cartwright says the game is in rude good health, with a depth and level of talent being produced like never before, but the challenges are significant for a sport that has multiple national teams and programmes in action at any one time – all largely 100% funded by the sport or the players and their families.

“The game is going from strength to strength, as our local associations and coaches improve their knowledge and systems. We are seeing more and more young people choose basketball as their sport of choice instead of a second sport. I hope that growth continues, but it needs financial support to match it.

“One of the areas is the possibility of long-term government funding to support this programme and filter down to the junior teams. One of the challenges is we are athlete funded, sometimes that can exclude some of our best athletes. I know we are the only team here at the World Cup that is athlete funded, that is the reality of what we are going up against.”

Anchor Junior Tall Blacks 85
Wynyard 17/10r, Samuel 17, Clinton 12/5r/4a, Waardenburg 97r, Letoa 7/9a,F Cameron 6,  McDonald 5, Aitcheson 4, McRae 4, T Cameron 3, McWilliam 1

Egypt 69

Highlights link here

Jul 09 2017
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WBC, Womens Basketball

Canterbury Wildcats retain WBC Title

Canterbury Wildcats

It wasn’t all straight forward but Alloyfold Canterbury Wildcats held off a gutsy Taranaki Thunder to win back to back WBC titles.

Taranaki were hamstrung by injuries and foul trouble but didn’t go down without a fight.

read more

 

Jul 08 2017
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Age Group NZ Teams

Samuel and JTB’s too good for Mali

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Photo courtesy of Jolene Cartwright

The Anchor Junior Tall Blacks threw off the shackles in a dominant performance at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Cairo this morning, defeating Mali 87-63, posting the biggest winning margin of any game on the day.

The win was built on the back of a stellar performance from Wellingtonian Taane Samuel, the athletic big man posting 24 points and 9 rebounds and getting great support from fellow big Tai Wynyard (17 & 13).

Head Coach Daryl Cartwright was proud of his charges tonight, as they showed great character after a tough week in Cairo.

“It has been a tough week, with three close losses where we have been in those games and not get the results. Today we felt we needed a dominant performance, we wanted to put the game away by halftime and avoid a dogfight. We played good team basketball and were able to build a lead through our execution as well as defensive pressure.”

Samuel stepped up when given his opportunity as Sam Waardenburg found himself in early foul trouble and would go on to play just 10 minutes, thanks largely to the productivity of Samuel.

“Sam got into foul trouble and then struggled to get into rhythm tonight and Taane played well off the bench and was our leading scorer, so we got more minutes out of him and we didn’t need to play Sam so much in the four spot and gave us the chance to play Angus McWilliam a bit more tonight and Callum also in those forward positions.”

Cartwright said his players had shown great resolve to put the disappointment of earlier in the week behind them. Plus it helped with the roster being as close to fully fit and healthy as they have been all tournament, finally shaking the effects of the stomach virus thanks largely to the rest day.

“We had moved on from that, tonight was about not being complacent, we needed to prove that we were in those close games with the top teams for a reason, that we are a quality side. We might have missed the top eight but we wanted to make a point that we feel there is separation from our team and the likes of Mali and wanted to show that on the scoreboard with a dominant performance. Tonight was about being mentally focused, not coming out flat. We wanted to put them away, play well and prove a point to ourselves as well. Winning this game puts us in the bracket for 9 to 12, we have a goal of getting that ninth place and we need to win one more game to give ourselves a shot at that.”

Cartwright was not overly concerned about an outside shooting percentage of just 24% (4 of 17), with the main focus tonight being work in the paint.

“It was a dominant performance by Taane and Tai inside. It is nice when we get that production from our bigs, we need to play inside out, that is our strength to open up space for our shooters. While some of the shots we took weren’t great – we didn’t run a lot of sets for outside looks tonight so that percentage is not too much of a concern as a lot of it was end of shot clock situations.”

Others to shine for the New Zealanders were guards Quinn Clinton and Isaac Letoa, with Clinton finding his shooting form securing 11 points on just six shots, while Letoa had a game high nine assists as he found his scorers in the paint, with Flynn Cameron also dishing off five dimes.

Next up at 2am tomorrow morning for the Anchor supported side is Puerto Rico, a tough challenge but one with big rewards, with a place in the 9th 10th match on the line for the winner.

“We play Puerto Rico next, I am watching tape of their game against Germany and they challenged them. They were only three points back in the fourth quarter before the score blew out. They will be tough, they are smaller than us and guard orientated so it will be a job to stop their offence from their guards and use the strength of our bigs against them.”

Anchor Junior Tall Blacks 87
Samuel 24/ 9r, Wynyard 17/13r, Clinton 11, Letoa 7/9a, Aitcheson 7, F Cameron 5/5a, McWilliam 4, McRae 4, McDonald 3, T Cameron 3, Waardenburg 2

Mali 63
Traore 19, Keita 12

Jul 07 2017
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Tall Ferns

Tall Ferns move to 2-0 at William Jones Cup

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The Tall Ferns have moved to 2-0 at the William Jones Cup, beating the Korea KB All Stars 58-40 in their second match of the tournament.

The Kiwis were led by a double-double from Antonia Edmondson and 12 rebounds from Kalani Purcell as they followed up yesterday’s 75-52 win over India with another strong showing.

“It was a good win and a big improvement on yesterday,” head coach Kennedy Kereama said.

“The team responded very well to our game plan and played four quarters of very good defence.”

Knowing the Korean side would pose a stern test, the Tall Ferns made a quick start, racing out to a 20-8 first quarter lead.

Korea bounced back by winning the second quarter, as the Tall Ferns went into halftime with a slim 26-24 lead.

Edmondson was just three rebounds short of a double-double by halftime, and it didn’t take long to complete the feat after the break, as the Tall Ferns out-rebounded their opposites 26-9 in the second spell to secure the victory.

“We had one patch where we were challenged on the offensive end where shots weren’t dropping, but we held our nerve and made great adjustments,” Kereama said.

“Antonia was a standout on offence but everyone made great contributions, and everyone was great defensively.”

Purcell added eight points and three assists to her game high 12 rebounds, while the Queensland based pair Micaela Cocks and Chevannah Paalvast contributed 9 points apiece. Josephine Stockill put in a solid showing off the bench, with six points, four rebounds and two blocks.

 

Once again, Kereama was able to ensure all eleven members of the playing squad saw court time in the win, as the team builds towards the all-important Asia Cup at the end of the month.

The Tall Ferns will meet the first of two China sides tonight, taking on China Blue at 10pm NZT.

Tall Ferns 58 – Edmondson 16/11r, Paalvast 9/4r, Cocks 9, Purcell 8/12r/3a, Harmon 6/4r, Stockill 6/4r, Ott 4

Korea KB All-Stars 40

Jul 06 2017
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Uncategorized

Junior Tall Blacks oh so close again

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Photo courtesy of Jolene Cartwright

The Anchor Junior Tall Blacks are a little tired of de ja vu, as they lost a third game on the run at the FIBA U19 World Cup after showing great fight and tenacity against higher ranked opponents, this time beaten by Germany 72-65 in the round of 16.

It means the best the young Kiwis can hope for is a ninth-place finish at the tournament, which in itself is a lofty goal for a team having qualified for the first time in their history, but Head Coach Daryl Cartwright is struggling to get over the initial disappointment, knowing the effort that has gone into the campaign.

“It is really gutting, I was kind of lost for words a little in the changing room, you could see it on the guys, their heads were down and they were hurting bad. That is three games in a row now where we have been oh so close but not quite good enough, that margin for error is so small. We struggled to deal with their length and athleticism early and got rattled. But yeah, it hurts, we didn’t want to be in the bottom half of the tournament and after the run we have had, we are gutted.”

That run is not only the three losses on the bounce, but the way they have occurred and the circumstance surrounding them, with the entire team at one point or another having to overcome the effects of an energy sapping stomach illness, to the extent that Cartwright would look up during a halftime team talk and see half the team were in the toilets.

Cartwright was not using that as an excuse though, highlighting his team’s inability to deal with the early German pressure for the loss – despite a brave fightback that brought them back from 21-7 down to make it a one basket game inside the final minute.

“Our care with the basketball wasn’t good enough, their length saw them getting deflections on passes and we were over penetrating and forced into bad shots. They average 6’8” across the floor with their starting lineup and we kept the ball in the hands too much and over dribbled and we were stuttering at the offensive end and they kept piling on the pressure at the other end knocking down shots as well.”

Cartwright has a job to do now to ensure his players regroup and focus on the next task, winning their classification matches knowing that ninth place is well within their capabilities.

“I have been so proud of this team’s effort, it has been huge and we always find a way to come back and give ourselves a chance. We key on the core values of what Tall Blacks basketball is, that never say die. We pride ourselves on our defence and the effort categories like rebounding. That area of our game cannot be faulted. It was just the mental side, patience and poise under pressure. We can say we are not exposed to that level of basketball enough but that is just an excuse.

“We have made adjustments in our game through the tournament, but once again that big hole and not being able to claw it back is gutting, but I am massively proud of our guys and the group, and they can be proud of themselves and so too their families as well.”

The final moments were not without controversy, with the referees awarding Germany an unsportsmanlike foul after contact between two players before the ball was inbound with the Germans leading by just three. Cartwright felt it should have been a no-call.

“I said to the referee, we have fought back and you have kind of decided the game with that call. I thought both players were holding, there was no disadvantage to the Germans and you could have called it both ways so why not let it go and let the players decide it? That would have been much better, the gutting thing is we got the stop but bobbled the rebound out of bounds and gave them the possession.

“There were a number of ‘if only moments’ at the end there, that is gutting for me as a coach but the players are disappointed as well with a call like that, it takes the opportunity away from them to tie the game up with one possession on the clock.”

The team will now rest up for 24 hours before playing Mali on Friday (tip off time TBC) in their first classification match.

Anchor Junior Tall Blacks 65
Samuel 14, Wynyard 14p/ 9r Waardenburg 11p/ 12r, McDonald 6, Letoa 5, T Cameron 4, McWilliam 4, Clinton 3/5a, Aitcheson 2, F Cameron 2

Germany 72
Sanders 15, de Silva 12, Olinde 12

Jul 05 2017
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Uncategorized

Women’s Basketball Champs finale begins Thursday

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So who are the teams likely to get their claws into defending champions Alloyfold Canterbury Wildcats?

The climax of the WBKC programme begins in Christchurch tomorrow more

 

Jul 05 2017
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Age Group NZ Teams

Junior Tall Blacks edged by Argentina now face Germany

 

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Photo courtesy of Jolene Cartwright

A poor second quarter proved costly as the Anchor Junior Tall Blacks were defeated 74-70 by South American powerhouse Argentina at the FIBA U19 World Cup this morning, New Zealand time.

A 16-29 second quarter aside, the young Kiwis were much improved, winning the rebound count 60-43 and improving their accuracy from the free throw line to 66%, but despite winning the second half by 11 points, the margin was too big to overhaul.

Best for the Kiwis were point guard Quinn Clinton (19 points and 12 rebounds), Sam Waardenburg (15 and 10), Isaac Letoa (13 and 5) and Tane Samuel (12 points) in another all-round team effort that had them going toe to toe with the world #9 ranked Argentinians for the majority of the match.

Head Coach Daryl Cartwright was left to rue that poor period in the game after his side appeared to have done their homework effectively.

“We started really well, all of our practice preparation and videos were focused on the mental side of things, turnovers and free throws were something we challenged the guys to improve and we did that for most parts. But unfortunately, we buttoned off a little and Argentina made some shots and got their tails up and we dug a hole we couldn’t come back from.”

Cartwright said the talent is there, it is just the consistency that is lacking from his impressive young group of players.

“We had a good buildup in China but getting exposed to tough games week in week out is hard for New Zealand teams because of our location and the challenge in bringing our group back together. But we have shown we are good enough in this tournament, but the margin is small between being a good team and great team and we have been great in parts but the consistency is the difference for us in being 3 and 0 in this pool and now being 1 and 2.”

Clinton and Letoa again led the guard line superbly, going a combined 32 points and 17 rebounds with the team improved in looking after the ball, with 16 turnovers in a game played at a high tempo.

“They played well, we have had a bit of a challenge with over half the team being sick the past two days with s stomach virus. It was a good test of our resilience and we spoke about it and had to find a way to overcome not feeling the greatest and being a bit run down, I think we did that. After the game it was mixed emotions, I was proud of our fight but I thought we could have controlled the game better than we did in patches. It is within us to do that, but we need all guys when they step on the floor to contribute every possession and we had some breakdowns that cost us in the end.”

The New Zealanders were also dealing with adversity of a more serious nature, wearing armbands as a mark of respect to their team mate Tane Samuel, with news of the Samuel family suffering a bereavement reaching the team just prior to their game against France. The team in Egypt and all at Basketball New Zealand send their condolences and prayers to the family at this time.

The team will now face off against another giant of the game in Germany in the round of 16 at 6.00am (NZ time) Thursday morning.

New Zealand 70
Clinton 19 point/ 12 rebounds, Waardenburg 15/10r, Letoa 13/5r, Samuel 12, Wynyard 3/9r/3 blocks, T Cameron 3, Aitcheson 2, F Cameron 2, H McDonald 1

Argentina 74
Solanas 16, Lopez 14, Caffaro 11

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Jul 04 2017
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School Basketball

Rosmini beat Rangitoto and Massey girls thrash Avondale

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Photo courtesy of Chris Abdon

They trailed for a good portion of the game but Rosmini College made key baskets down the stretch to defeat Rangitoto College 92-85 in an Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade catch up game on Monday night.

The win moves Rosmini, 8-2 for the season, to the top of the Premier League table. They have the same record as Westlake but edge their local rivals on point’s differential.

Logan McIntosh opened proceedings with a couple of baskets and Harry Clarke picked up where he left off from his 47 points haul on Friday night as Rangitoto forged an 8-4 early lead in the Tom Gerrard Gym.

Mitch Dance scored six points and Kruz Perrott-Hunt a triple as Rosmini closed to 17-15.

A long range three from Marvin Williams-Dunn reduced the visitors advantage to 24-23 at quarter time.

A coast-to-coast effort from Logan McIntosh impressed as the lead changed hands on several occasions early in the second.

A nicely worked post up for Cam Stone was neutralised by Dance as Rangi led an entertaining game 38-37 at the mid point in the second.

Back to back baskets from Perrott-Hunt were answered by three treys from Logan Anderson (18 points in the half) that opened a seven points margin 49-42. Dance led all scorers at the break with 19 points but Rangi led 52-47 at half-time.

Anderson continued his scoring assault to open the scoring in the second half and with Ethan Mandeno adding five quick points the visitors had a double figure lead. Williams-Dunn landed a jumper but Rangi were well in control at 63-49.

Rosmini were looking for a shift in the momentum and found it with some pressing defence.

W-D’s three and a Reihana Maxwell-Topia jump shot trimmed the advantage to 67-60 at the five minutes mark in the third.

Harry Payne re-established the 10 points Rangi lead before Terence Abdon and Matt Sokol once again ate into the advantage – 72-66 at three-quarter time in favour of Rangitoto.

Maxwell-Topia’s persistence was rewarded with an inside basket and Abdon’s three cancelled out Clarke’s And-1– 79-77 with 5:15 to play.

Another Wiliams-Dunn three, his fifth of the game, tied the scores at 80-apiece with 4:20 to play.

Dance was the next scorer and at 82-80 in favour of the hosts with 3:40 on the clock Kenny Stone called a timeout.

McIntosh provided the scoring punch his coach requested, his two baskets bookending a Maxwell-Topia triple – 85-84 in favour of Rozza with three minutes to play.

A Williams–Dunn jump shot increased the lead to three points with a touch over two minutes to play.

The two teams traded free throws –Rozza ahead 88-85 with 1:13 left to play.

Rangi had a couple of open looks but having lost their earlier scoring rhythm failed to capitalize.

Williams-Dunn, who scored 11 points in the final quarter, scored off a strong drive with 26 seconds left on the clock to seal the win.

Good news for Rangitoto supporters is that Dan Fotu joined in the pre game warm-up and looks set to return to action after the July holiday break.

Rosmini 92 – Dance 29, Williams-Dunn 24, Perrott-Hunt 15, Maxwell-Topia 11, Abdon 9

Rangitoto 85 – Anderson 29, McIntosh 19, Clarke 16, Payne 9

Premier Grade Standings

8-2 Rangitoto, Westlake

7-3 Rangitoto, Auckland Grammar

3-7 St Kentigern, Macleans, Mt Albert

1-9 Kelston

Unfortunately the Girls Prem game played on Monday was a far less competitive affair with Massey High out classing Avondale College 112-19.

Massey will be pleased to get back in the winners circle after consecutive losses but the gulf in ability made for an uneven contest.

Winning every quarter the hosts raced to a 31-8 opening quarter lead and never looked back.

Massey, barring a complete loss of form, are heading for the play-offs – Avondale almost certainly relegation bound.

Massey 112 – Povey 24, Aratangi 18, Fuaivaa 14, Wieczorek 12, Nikolaison 12, Tyacke 9, Schuster 9

Avondale 19 – Michaels 6, Rasmusen 5

Girls Premier Standings

9-1 AGGS, Mt Albert

7-3 Massey

6-4 Westlake

5-5 Rangitoto

2-8 Carmel, Orewa

0-10 Avondale

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