LACEY LOWDOWN

Penina Davidson

Xmas may be looming but it has been business as usual for many of the Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks in college and Europe this week.

Penina Davidson has been by far the busiest with the University of California Berkley Golden Bears playing three games in as many days at a tournament in Las Vegas.

No problems with the schedule for the Bears winning three from three to extend their unbeaten run this season to 12 games. Cal recorded victories against Southern Mississippi 71-51, Oklahoma 82-74 and Arkansas State 80-55. Starting forward Davidson averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds across the three games.

Kalani Purcell produced her fourth double double of the season, as BYU was downed 82-70 by No 9 University of Washington on Thursday. The Tall Ferns swingman scored 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

New Zealand Select international Shalae Salmon is gathering more court time for BYU in her freshman season. The Wellington forward played 12 minutes in this one collecting 4 points and 2 rebounds.

5 points (2/2FG) and 5 rebounds from Jack Salt helped Virginia Cavaliers hold off the University of California, Berkley 56-52 on Thursday. The Cavs now ranked No 12 open Atlantic Coast Conference play next week at No 10 Louisville.

For the 13^th straight game Tai Webster was in double figures as Nebraska Huskers concluded non-conference action with an 81-76 victory against Southern. The former Westlaker had 10 points, 5 rebounds and a game high 5 assists as Nebraska improved to 7-6 for the season.

Mate v Mate

Cal State Northridge Matadors snapped a 10 game losing streak in the series against St Mary’s Gaels winning 73-61. Tessa Boagni added 7 rebounds and 3 steals to 5 points as the Matadors improved to 6-5 with a hard fought 73-61 win. Stella Beck led the Gaels scoring effort with 15 points and also dished 4 assists in their last non-conference game of the season.

This was a pleasing return for Boagni, the Cantabrian centre having missed a couple of games due to concussion.

In Europe

 Jillian Harmon helped Le Mura Lucca improve to 11-1 at the top of the Italian League. The power forward scored 16 points (8/16FG) and garnered 7 rebounds and 4 steals as Lucca comfortably beat Vigarano 75-52 ahead of a two weeks break over the holiday period.

Mike Karena with 10 points and 6 rebounds helped Sammic ISB climb to third equal spot on the Spanish Liga Endesa Silver Standings with a 75-67 win against Avia. Both teams have a 9-5 record.

Jarrod Kenny

Jarrod Kenny put in a terrific shift for Perth Wildcats but couldn’t prevent the undermanned NBL champions going down 92-86 at Adelaide in overtime. The Tall Blacks point guard scored a season high 15 points, added 5 rebounds and 3 assists in addition to putting in outstanding defensive shift on 36ers star Jerome Randle.

The best double of the week was put together by Kalani Purcell at the Maui Invitational tournament. The air in Hawaii was obviously to her liking as she excelled with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists as BYU Cougars dismissed University of Nevada, Las Vegas 63-54 on Saturday. On Sunday she was equally dominant, even though the Cougars went down 65-56 to Oregon State, scoring 21 points and corralling 10 rebounds.

Tai Webster put another fine double together. He was not quite at his best as Nebraska went down in a tight one 60-58 against Clemson. However the shooting guard was still good enough to register 12 points and 4 rebounds. Webster has double figures in all 8 of Nebraska’s games following 12 points, plus a career high 9 assists, in the 73-61 win against South Dakota.

 Tessa Boagni put on a fine shooting display as Cal State Northridge accounted for Northern Arizona 83-79. The Tall Ferns centre was 7 from 10 from the field including 3 from 5 threes. She also added 7 rebounds and a brace of steals in a commanding performance for the Matadors.

Stella Beck also had a good shooting night as St Mary’s Gaels improved to 3-4 after overcoming Cal Poly 79-71. Beck shot 7 from 10 from the floor for a team high 17 points to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.

The numbers don’t do him justice – Jack Salt played a significant role in helping Virginia come from behind to beat Ohio State 63-61 last Thursday. Salt had just 2 points but was extremely active at the defensive end claiming 6 boards, a block and a steal whilst also affecting the rhythm of Ohio’s offence with his presence in the paint.

Mate v Mate

 There was a double dose of mate v mate in Perth last week.

 On Thursday Jarrod Kenny contributed 9 points and a trio of assists and rebounds as Perth slipped to a third straight loss 90-75, against Reuben Te Rangi’s Brisbane Bullets in the NBL. Te Rangi, playing some solid defence, had 2 points and 2 rebounds in 13 minutes for the top of the table Bullets

 The following day Perth Lynx got the better of Townsville Fire for the second time in seven days to clinch the head to head 2-1 after winning 80-73.

The match pitched Tall Fern v Tall Ferns as Toni Edmondson gained bragging rights over Micaela Cocks and Chevannah Paalvast. Paalvast, playing significant minutes for the first game in a while, and Cocks both posted 9 points for the Fire whilst Edmondson went 6p/1r/4a/2st/1b for the Lynx

In Europe

 Jillian Harmon collected 5 rebounds and a steal to compliment 12 points as Le Murra Lucca moved to the top of the Italian League. Lucca defeated the previously unbeaten Familia Schio 61-53

Zaragoza got an unexpected win defeating second on the table Valladolid 71-59 in Spanish League action. Isaac Fotu came off the bench to register 5 points, 8 rebounds and a block as Zaragoza improve to 4-6.

Mike Karena led Sammic ISB in points (17) and rebounds (9) but they slipped to a second straight loss in the Spanish LEB Silver league.

There were a number of excellent performances from our Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks overseas last week.

The majority of our American college players were involved in Thanksgiving tournaments. There were a large number of games and plenty of strong performances so here is a quick recap.

 It was a mixed weekend from the Nebraska Huskers at the Wooden Legacy but a stunning three games from Tai Webster. He fouled out in 27 minutes as the Huskers edged Dayton 80-78 on Friday but scored 16 points before exiting. The following night the combo guard produced a career high 7 assists added to 19 points and 7 rebounds as the Huskers fell to UCLA 82-71. The former Westlake standout finished off with a game high 23 points plus 8 boards as Nebraska went down 66-53 to Virginia Tech.

St Mary’s Gaels were the hosts at the Hilton Concord Classic but went down 83-78 to Boise state on Saturday and 63-62 on Sunday to Utah. Stella Beck came within a whisker of a double double in both games. She followed up 15 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

Kalani Purcell went stats stuffing at the UNM tournament in Albuquerque. Coincidentally BYU won both their games 71-56 firstly against St Joseph’s then Tulsa.

No coincidence that Purcell was in the tick of things with 12/11/6/4b v St Joe’s and 19/7/6/2b/3st the next day.

Fellow Tall Ferns forward Penina Davidson was also busy. She landed 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks as Cal Berkley beat San Francisco 75-52 at their own Cal Classic tournament. Davidson made an even better return in the second game – 14p/9r/2a/2st/2b as the Golden Bears recorded another win this time against Duquesne 86-66.

Tessa Boagni was in fine rebounding form as Cal State, Northridge accounted for Detroit Mercy 76-67 at the Raddison Chatsworth Classic. Boagni snared 9 boards to accompany 4 points and a pair of blocks. There were another 9 boards plus 8 points for the Cantabrian in the 63-59 loss to Michigan State on Sunday.

Krystal Leger-Walker produced 11 points and 8 assists as Northern Colorado Bears beat the hosts University of Texas-San Antonio 73-66 on Saturday at the UTSA Classic. Leger-Walker had a poor shooting night (2/9FG) as the Bears downed Eastern Michigan 58-57 in their second game but the Waikato guard was all hustle with 4 assists and 5 steals. Her fifth steal was critical – secured with 18 seconds to play it enabled the Bears to set up the game winning final play.

Jacinta Beckley produced her best return of the season to date with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists as Seattle Redhawks went down to Portland State 79-71.

There was a nice return for Jack Salt as Virginia Cavs won both games at the Emarald Coast Classic. The Cavs beat Iowa 74-41 and Providence 63-52. Salt started in both games but really made a mark in game two with 8 points (4/6FG) and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes of action.

Tai Wynyard is struggling for court time at Kentucky but did put his limited time to good use against Cleveland State scoring 4 points and securing 3 rebounds in just four minutes as the Wildcats improved to 5-0 with a 101-70 victory against Cleveland State.

Away from college hoops:

In an Australian WNBL Grand Final rematch Perth Lynx stole a win in Townsville defeating the Fire 89-85 in another classic on Friday night.

The match pitched Tall Fern v Tall Fern as both Micaela Cocks and Toni Edmondson featured strongly for their respective teams.

For Perth Edmondson scored a season high 18 points (6/12FG, 3/7 3PG), secured a game high 11 rebounds and added a block and a steal.

Cocks also came close to a double double adding 9 rebounds to her 14 points for the Fire. The defending champions slip to sixth on the ladder with a 5-6 record, Perth (7-3) moved to second the table.

La Murra Lucca (7-1) proved far too good for bottom of the table Battipaglia in Italian League action. Jillian Harmon bullied the Batt’s to record 25 points and 8 rebounds.

Despite going down 60-57 at Zomotza Mike Karena’s Sammic ISB are still top of the Spanish second division competition with a 7-3 record. Karena had a double double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in his latest outing

In other news

There has been some bad news followed by better news for Tall Ferns Brooke Blair. As reported a couple of weeks ago Blair went down after just seven minutes of Idaho State’s 82-78 season opening loss to Santa Clara.

It can be confirmed that the former Rangitoto College standout has suffered a season ending ACL injury. The Bengals combo guard was looking forward to a successful senior year but will now spend the coming months rehabbing. The silver lining for Blair is that she is permitted to redshirt the current campaign meaning that she will be eligible to conclude her college career in the 2017-18 season.

Last season Blair started all 33 games for the Bengals reaching double figures in 26 contests. Averaging 12.4 points per game she finished second on the teams scoring and fourteenth on the Big Sky Conference scoring list earning Conference All-Tournament team selection.

Her consistent performances caught the eye of the Tall Ferns selectors and Blair made her full international debut against the Czech Republic in May on the tour of China

The following month she returned to her native North Shore and scored 22 points for New Zealand Select against China B at AUT Sports Centre.

The 22 year old is understandably “disappointed” to have to sit out the current season but as she told the Lowdown, “I will now concentrate on my rehab programme with the aim being to be fully fit for next season.”

Tai Webster, on the back of a career high 23 points for Nebraska University, wins the Lowdown player of the week gong. Nebraska beat Louisiana Tech 65-54 to maintain an unbeaten start to the season (3-0).

Webster had a fine all round game as he added 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals on a night when he was almost perfect from the foul line (11/12FT) and went 5 from 11 from the field.

 Second spot went to Stella Beck as she produced a highly efficient 7 from 9 shooting performance as St Mary’s Gaels defeated Northeastern in Boston 77-53. The former Hutt Valley standout finished with a team high 18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Isaac Fotu gets the bronze this week after coming close to a double double as Zaragoza went down 101-92 in overtime at Baskonia. Fotu had 14 points, 9 rebounds and a couple of steals – Zaragoza slipped to 12^th on the Spanish League ladder with a 3-6 record.

Despite a fine individual performance Kalani Purcell couldn’t prevent BYU fallingto a second consecutive defeat going down 68-61 to Oklahoma University. Purcell secured a team high 13 rebounds to go with 8 points, 3 assists and 4 steals. Fourth spot for the pugnacious Purcell this week.

Tessa Boagni continued her good early season form almost completing a double double (13 points and 9 rebounds) as Cal State Northridge accounted for Fresno Sate Bulldogs 61-57.

Moment of the week:

This belonged to Krystal Leger-Walker. The combo guard had a poor shooting night (2/9FG) for Northern Colorado Bears against Florida Gulf Coast but did connect with a critical three with one second left on the clock to tie the scores at 59 apiece in regulation. Leger-Walker managed just 5 points but that three provided the Bears with the opportunity to go on and win 77-74 in double overtime.

Bubbling under:

Jarrod Kenny made a welcome return to the Perth ranks as the Wildcats shared the spoils with the Sydney Kings over the weekend. The Cats won in Perth 93-80 where Kenny scored 5 points and dished 5 assists. His numbers were similar in Sydney (3 points and 5 assists) but the result was reversed as the Kings prevailed 83-72.

 It was a bad weekend for our Tall Ferns in the Australian WNBL. Micaela Cocks and Chev Paalvast (Townsville Fire), Jordan Hunter (Adelaide Lightning), Jess Bygate (Melbourne Boomers) and Toni Edmondson (Perth Lynx) all endured losses for their respective teams.

Edmondson was the only one of the five producing a significant contribution – 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists as Perth slip to joint second on the ladder with a 6-3 record.

In other News

 Jess Bygate will spend the Australian WNBL off-season with Sandringham Sabres in the SEABL competition. Currently playing in the WNBL with the Melbourne Boomers Bygate will remain in the Victorian capital. Last winter she teamed up with Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kereama at Sunbury Jets but for the 2017 season has decided to switch from the Big V League to the South East Australian Basketball League.

Junior Tall Ferns and NZ Under 18 3×3 internationals Zara Jillings and Kendell Heremaia are the latest athletes to confirm they will be heading to the USA next year to pursue college careers. Both are off to Fordham University on four-year scholarships.

Meanwhile Junior Tall Black and Auckland Grammar swingman Taki Fahrensohn has signed on with the University of Portland.

On Wednesday afternoon, Tuesday in the States, three Tall Blacks were involved in college games with all three on winning teams.

Tai Wynyard found himself playing in the iconic Madison Square Garden for Kentucky Wildcats against Michigan State. The Wildcats were too good for Michigan winning 69-48 although Wynyard was only granted two minutes of action, just enough time to snare a couple of rebounds.

Jack Salt retained a starting berth for Virginia Cavaliers as they ran riot against St Francis Brooklyn winning 72-32. The sophomore centre went a perfect 3 from 3 shooting adding a brace of rebounds to 6 points in 16 minutes as coach Tony Bennett utilised 14 players.

Nebraska Huskers were also on the right side of a lop sided scoreline defeating University of Mary 70-38 with Tai Webster one of two Huskers in double figures. The point guard notched 10 points in addition to 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.

US College action in the last 48 hours has seen four of our Tall Ferns in action, all making major contributions for their respective teams.

Stella Beck nabbed 17 points as St Mary’s Gaels went down 85-69 to Washington State. The Hutt Valley guard shot 6 from 12 and also added three rebounds and two assists but the Gaels have started the season with two losses.

Waikato’s Krystal Leger-Walker and Northern Colorado Bears have begun the campaign 1-1 after losing at Denver 83-62. The shooting guard, obviously given the green light by the Bears coaching staff, put up 21 shots for NCB connecting with 5 as she produced 11 points to go with 5 assists and 3 boards.

California State Northridge Matadors are also 1-1 after going down to San Diego 76-67. Tessa Boagni was terrific with a double double of 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Matadors. The Cantabrian centre also produced 3 blocks and a steal.

Penina Davidson was the only winner of the four. The Rangitoto College alumni contributed 12 points (6/10 FG) and 6 rebounds as the Golden Bears mauled Santa Clara 73-58. Davidson also snared 3 steals for good measure.

Jillian Harmon receives the plaudits this week, her 25 points haul for Le Mura Lucca earning the Tall Ferns forward the player of the week gong for performances by our international ballers overseas. Lucca thumped La Spezia 93-47 in Italian League action.

Overall second and best of the Tall Blacks overseas was Tai Webster. The combo guard scored 20 points at a pretty efficient 7 from 12 shooting as Nebraska opened its season with an 83-61 victory against Sacramento State.

Mike Karena earns third spot after scoring 16 points (8/9FG) as Sammic ISB beat the unfortunately named Moron 62-49 in the Spanish LEB Silver comp.

 Freshman Krystal Leger-Walker made a nice start for Northern Colorado Bears making 14 points in a 79-73 victory against Colorado.

The more experienced Stella Beck, two years under her belt at St Mary’s, had a nice stat line of 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals but the Gaels went down to Penina Davidson’s (5 points, 2 rebounds) California Berkley 74-67.

Tall Ferns team mate Tessa Boagni conjured up 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists as Cal State Northridge Matadors accounted for Portland State 99-72.

Bubbling under last week:

 Jack Salt played 27 minutes as a starter as Virginia Cavaliers accounted for UNC Greenboro 76-51. The former Westlake centre produced 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block.

Senior Kalani Purcell put together a sedate performance by her lofty standards as BYU Provo Cougars opened the season with a comfortable 68-50 victory against Utah Valley. Purcell snared a team high 9 rebounds to compliment 6 points, 5 assists and a pair of steals.

Mate v Mate

 A couple of Australian WNBL games matched Tall Fern against Tall Fern. Micaela Cocks and Jess Bygate both got in foul trouble as Townsville Fire just beat Melbourne Boomers 74-72 on Sunday in Melbourne. Cocks fouled out in 30 minutes for the Fire after contributing 5 points, 2 rebounds and a couple of steals. Bygate only disturbed the foul column on the stats sheet and perhaps came close to setting a Boomers record as she collected 4 personals in 3:57.

Jordan Hunter (3 points, 3 assists) and Adelaide Lightning are still winless after 6 rounds going down 75-63 to the table topping Perth Lynx at home on Saturday. Toni Edmondson contributed 4 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists to the Perth effort.

In other News

 Shout out to Matt Freeman. He is not a Tall Black yet but 15 points on his regular season debut for Oklahoma University in the 97-61 win against Northwestern State will have been noted. The swingman scored with 6 of his 7 scoring attempts including 3 from 4 threes.

 Sad to report that Brooke Blair suffered a serious injury just 5 minutes into Idaho State’s first game of the season. The Tall Ferns guard has a suspected ACL injury and awaits the outcome of an MRI scan.

Junior Tall Fern Tera Reed has committed to playing for Virginia Commonwealth University in the 2017-18 collegiate season. The Rams play in the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10).

It’s hard to overlook a couple of 20+ points haul when handing out the overseas player of the week gong. Jillian Harmon and Mike Karena were outstanding for their respective clubs but the performance of Isaac Fotu, in the strongest league in the world outside of the NBA, is too compelling to ignore.

It was a contentious decision amongst the voting panel of one but Fotu earns this week’s gong.

The Tall Blacks forward came up with a double double of 14 points and 10 rebounds against Real Madrid, one of the major club sides in the world, shooting the ball at a highly efficient 7 from 11 shots. Unfortunately Zaragoza was caned 57-31 in the second half to go down 94-68 to top of the table Madrid. Real remain unbeaten with a 5-0 record whilst Zaragoza (2-4) sits in the bottom half on the Liga Endesa table.

Despite scoring 25 points Jillian Harmon is relegated to second spot. Harmon led all scorers as Le Mura Lucca won a third straight game in the Italian League beating Broni 71-63. For good measure the power forward added 9 rebounds and 6 assists.

Third place went to Mike Karena as he helped propel Sammic ISB to a tight 91-88 success against Cambados. Karena was impressive with 23 points (11/16FG), 7 rebounds and a brace of assists. Sammic are tied for top spot, with a 4-1 record, in the Silver section of the Spanish second division.

Fourth spot went the way of Perth Lynx swingman Toni Edmondson. She scored 13 points and added 5 rebounds and 6 assists as the Lynx protected home court with an emphatic 93-60 win against Jordan Hunter’s Adelaide Lightning 

Bubbling under last week:

Micaela Cocks scored 10 points but defending Australian WNBL champions Townsville Fire slipped to a third straight loss this time going down 74-62 on their own court to Bendigo Spirit

Tai Wynyard recovered from a left cheek fracture to take his place in the Kentucky University lineup on Monday (NZ time). Wynyard played 9 minutes for the Wildcats and scored 6 points (2/2FG, 2/2FT) as well as grabbing 3 rebounds – all off the offensive glass.

In other News:

This weekly roundup is largely reserved for reviewing the performances of overseas-based Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns.

However this week I feel the urge to give a mention to former Junior Tall Black Alex Talma.

Talma signed for Texas A&M for the 2014-15 season but was ruled ineligible after playing the 2014 NBL season with the Waikato Pistons.

The Westlake Boys High alumnus had an unhappy time at A&M and transferred to Biola University but was forced to sit out another season, this time red shirting due to the complex collegiate transfer rules in US college basketball.

Finally last Friday Talma’s patience and perseverance was rewarded. The ‘6 8” power forward produced a strong 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals performance as Biola Eagles, the defending NAIA Golden State Conference Champions, thumped Sierra 85-53 in their opening game of the 2016-17 season.