Both the Aon Under 17 Men’s and Women’s teams recorded emphatic wins over Guam in the FIBA Under 17 Oceania Championship on Tuesday in New Caledonia.
The Women won 110-24 and the Men 104-19 with Guam outclassed in both contests.
Taranaki guard Caitlin O’Connell led the Kiwi Women’s scoring with 20 points ably supported by Rochelle Fourie (19 points and 6 rebounds), Chynelle Marama with 15 points and Arielle Williams with a dozen.
New Zealand 110– Caitlin O’Connell 20, Rochelle Fourie 19, Chynelle Marama 15, Arielle Williams 12, Ashlee Strawbridge 10, E Tahata 9, Olivia Williams 8, Sophie Adams 6, Jess Moors 4, Hannah Matehaere 4, Ella Paleaae-Cook 2, Paris Mason 1
Guam 26
The Men’s win was built on solid defence whilst at the offensive end all the team made scoring contributions led by Robbie Coman’s 16 points.
Also in double figures were Campbell Atkinson (14 points), Sean Murphy (13 points), Rishon Royce (12 points and 7 rebounds) and Finn Lally (10 points).
New Zealand 104– R Coman 16, C Atkinson 14, S Murphy 13, R Royce 12/7rebs, F Lally 10, Z Stallworth 9, R Maxwell-Topia 7, H Payne 6, C Ngan 6, A McNaught 6, E Vaigafa 5/8r
Guam 19– I Malig 6
Both New Zealand teams take on Australia tomorrow to decide top spot in their Pools.
The Men play at midday and the Women play at 2pm (NZST).
The top-two finishers at the FIBA Under 17 Oceania Championship advance to the FIBA Under 18 Asian Championship, which is the official qualifier to the FIBA U19 World Cup.
LACEY LOWDOWN 