LACEY LOWDOWN

The New Zealand Under 16 Men will rue 33 turnovers after going down 83-76 to Victoria Metro on the opening day of the Australian State Championships in Melbourne on Saturday.

A perennial powerhouse, Victoria trailed 45-26 at half-time, as New Zealand captain Shalom Broughton led all scorers at the break with 13 points.

As expected Vic Metro, 25 times winners of the U16 title, made a move at the start of the second half, with a 16-2 run.

Despite 10 points in the third from Rosmini’s Joseph Hylton, the hosts had trimmed the NZ advantage to just 11 points, 62-51 at three-quarter time.

Hylton and Broughton made baskets before a 13-0 Vic run cut the margin to three points with 5 minutes to play.

Another two scores from Broughton took the NZ advantage to 73-66 with just over three minutes to play but from there it all went pear shaped for the Dave Mackay coached team.

Vic took the lead for the first time in the match with 1:46 to play and despite a late three from Southland’s Tom Cowie closed out the game 83-76. Six turnovers in the final two minutes stifled any chance of a notable first up win for the Kiwis.

NZ Scorers; Broughton 21pts/8rebs, Hylton 18/15, Cowie 11/7/4 assists, Mitchell Dance 10, Kainoa Lepou 5, Morgan Trott 4/6, Logan McIntosh 3, Ezrah Vaigafa 3, Marvin Williams-Dunn 1

View full stats here.

Over 150 proud family members and friends attended the New Zealand Under 16 teams singlet presentation at North Shore Events Centre on Tuesday evening.

Under 16 Men’s head coach Dave Mackay complimented the 20 athletes on being chosen to represent New Zealand.

“The selection process began last July at Under 15 Nationals. Today is the culmination of a lot of hard work and sacrifice by both the players and their families. All concerned can be very proud of their achievements, he said.

First to be announced were the Under 16 Women’s team introduced by their head coach Angela Perrott-Hunt. Charlisse Leger-Walker, who has already worn the black singlet on two occasions this year, led the team out. She was a member of the Junior Tall Ferns team that toured China in April. Last month she was a member of the 3×3 team that attended the FIBA 3×3 Under 18 World Championships in Kazakhstan.

Following the introduction of the Men’s team members of Te Ropu Rangatira, representing Rosmini College Maori department, performed a stirring haka.

The haka was accepted by players Mitchell Dance and Marvin Williams-Dunn whoboth attend Rosmini.

The teams traveled to Melbourne today with the Australian Under 16 State Championships commencing on Saturday.

The Men begin with a tough assignment against perennial powerhouse Victoria Metro whilst the Women face Queensland on the opening day.

New Zealand U16 Women: 

Ella Bradley – Waikato, Isabelle Cook – Taranaki Country, Gracie Hasler-Ewin – North Harbour, Charlisse Leger-Walker – Waikato, Jordyn Maddix – North Harbour, Caitlin O’Connell – Taranaki Country, Sharne Pupuke-Robati – Auckland Counties Manukau, Briarley Rogers – Tauranga City, Rosalia Samia – Hawkes Bay, Rashaan Smith – North Harbour.

New Zealand U16 Men:

Shalom Broughton – Tauranga City, Tom Cowie – Southland, Mitchell Dance – North Harbour, Joseph Hylton – North Harbour, Kainoa Lepou – Waikato, Logan McIntosh – North Harbour, Jared Thornton – North Harbour, Morgan Trott – Taranaki Country, Ezrah Vaigafa – Wellington, Marvin Williams-Dunn – Auckland Counties Manukau.