The Tall Ferns squad named by coach Kennedy Kereama for the upcoming international programme is close to a full strength lineup.
But for a knee injury Jordan Hunter would have been in the point guard mix and college commitments have ruled out regulars Penina Davidson and Stella Beck.
Otherwise this is a team with a nice blend of veteran experience and youth.
Take a look link
What is happening in Sunbury? The Jets hadn’t lost a Big V fixture in a season and a half but now they have lost twice in a fortnight. To be precise they had won 35 consecutive games so to lose two on the trot is not something followers of the team expected.
However it’s not all doom and gloom for the Kennedy Kereama coached Jets as they still sit top of the Big V table with an 11-2 record despite going down 71-61 at Ringwood Hawks
Tall Ferns centre Josie Stockill threatened a triple double for the Jets with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks.
Also in Melbourne Jess Bygate secured a double double of 20 points and 13 rebounds for Sandringham but the Sabres went down 68-52 to Kilsyth Cobras. The Sabres are now 4-9 in the SEABL East competition.
On the Australian west coast Perry Lakes Hawks suffered a surprise first defeat of the season in the State League. Perry Lakes (14-1) went down 72-63 to Joondalup Wolves on Friday with Toni Farnworth contributing 8 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists for the Hawks.
Perth Redbacks lost 83-75 at Stirling Senators with Lisa Wallbutton adding 8 rebounds to 10 points for the Redbacks. The Redbacks slip to seventh on the twelve-team ladder with a 6-8 record.
It was a mixed weekend in Queensland Basketball League (QBL) for Micaela Cocks and Chevannah Paalvast.
Their club Mackay Meteorettes scooted past Gold Coast Rollers 74-39 on Friday but met a storm at Logan on Saturday rolled 88-69 by the Thunder.
Cocks had 7 points and 9 rebounds on Friday and 11 points the following day. Paalvast scored 13 points against the Rollers and 9 points at Logan.
Mackay slip to third on the ladder with an 8-2 record.
Top of the QBL table are unbeaten Brisbane Spartans (10-0) after wins against Ipswich and Toowoomba at the weekend.
Kalani Purcell nailed 18 points and 10 rebounds at Ipswich and followed up with 10 points against Toowoomba. Natalie Taylor scored 14 points in the second game of the weekend after going scoreless at Ipswich.
The New Zealand team has been named today ahead of the FIBA Under 18 3×3 World Cup, which will be hosted in Chengdu, China, from 28 June to 2 July.
Rangimarie Mita, Thabo Manyere, William Heather, Isaiah Jones will depart for China this week to take on the world’s best young 3×3 talent.
Although considered underdogs this year, the team boasts a proud Kiwi history with two world titles in New Zealand trophy cabinet. The first is from 2011 when James Ashby, Tai Webster, Reuben Te Rangi and Isaac Fotu won in 2011. All have since gone on to become Tall Blacks. In 2015 New Zealand’s second World Cup was won by captain Nikau McCullough, tournament MVP Tai Wynyard, Sam Timmins and Matt Freeman, who brought the house down by beating Argentina in a tense final 20 to 18.
Head Coach Anthony Corban was at the teams’ helm for both of those world titles.
“I take pride in our outstanding history in the U18 3×3 World Championship. What made those teams world beaters was that they had been put through a tough training regime before the tournament. They experienced fatigue and failure in training and learnt from it,” says Corban.
This 2017 team is another group of talented young men who will need to adapt quickly to the hype that has become synonymous with 3×3 events, but Coach Corban says he’s picked a team that will gel on court, and that these young men have the grit required to overcome their underdog status at this World Cup.
“Will Heather is a post player with the ability to stretch the defence with his outside shooting ability. I like the fact he can strongly defend the post with one-on-one coverage.
“Then there’s Thabo [Manyere], who’s an athletic player. He can overpower smaller players on the perimeter and take bigger players off the dribble. I particularly like his on-court work ethic.
“Isaia [Jones] is athletic guard with inside/outside game. It will be tough for teams to match up on him and defend. I like his physical strength and ability to get to the basket.
“Rangimarie Mita is a tall shooting guard with ability to get to the basket off the dribble,” said Coach Corban.
Everyone one of these players will have to be on their game if the wish to advance through to the playoff rounds, as New Zealand has drawn formidable opposition in Pool B – Ukraine, Bahrain, Georgia, and Qatar.
“I wish it was easy to predict how we are going to go, but yes we are in a tough group. Qatar are defending champions, and Ukraine and Georgia were particularly good teams last year.
“We’ve trained with tough opposition in mind though. Our camps have been intense with these boys learning to play bigger and stronger teams, particularly through the training sessions we’ve had with our open men’s team. But at the end of the day, the main focus for this team is on what they can control, which is our decision making on the court – get that right and everything else takes care of itself.”
Coach Corban will meet the team in China after departing Nantes in France where he’s been at the open men’s FIBA 3×3 World Cup. In China, he’ll be looking to go at least one stage further than the open men’s team, with the playoff stages in mind. Corban says the junior programme in New Zealand is continuing to produce talented basketballers and predicts more world titles.
“With the Junior Tall Blacks team in Cairo and Under 18 team heading to Guam, solid performances on the court in China will further underline the continuing depth New Zealand is building in age group basketball,” says Corban.
“It’s us against the world.”
New Zealand U18 3×3 Team:
· Rangimarie Mita | Basketball Manawatu
· Thabo Manyere | Harbour Basketball
· William Heather | Harbour Basketball
· Isaiah Jones | Basketball Hawkes Bay
For more go to the FIBA U18 3×3 World Cup webpage: http://www.fiba.com/3x3u18worldcup/2017
Keeley Tini
On the back of a commanding fourth quarter performance Auckland Girls Grammar School defeated Westlake Girls 88-54 in Premier Grade action on Monday night.
Westlake made the better start leading 26-22 after a free flowing opening quarter with Jordyn Maddix and Keeley Tini knocking down triples to more than counter the efforts of Karma Skelton-Roberts and Mariah Ropati.
Auckland exerted some dominance in the second winning the period 20-9 as Mele Latu and Rionne Papa went to work.
Maddix scored another three in the third frame but Auckland were well served by Teneva Ropati and led 57-49 at the three-quarter mark.
Any thoughts Westlake had of heading back over the Harbour Bridge with a victory were quashed in the final stanza. The AGGS defence reduced Westlake’s scoring to occasional trips to the foul line whilst their offence piled in 30 points.
AGGS had six players in double figures emphasising their all-round scoring ability.
The win moves Grammar, temporarily at least, to the top of the league. Massey High and Mt Albert Grammar – the other two teams with just one defeat this season – play again on Friday.
Score: Auckland Girls 88 – Papa 15, Latu 14, Hettig 13, T Ropati 12, M Ropati 11, Skelton-Roberts 10
Westlake Girls 54 – Maddix 16, Tini 10, Shearer 8, Davidson 6, Moors 6
Premier Standings
7-1 AGGS
6-1 Mt Albert
5-1 Massey
4-4 Westlake
3-4 Rangitoto
2-5 Carmel
1-6 Orewa
0-6 Avondale
The Waikato Wizards and Harbour Breeze won their respective Women’s Basketball Championship local derbies at the weekend. Tall Ferns trialists Charlisse Leger-Walker, Deena Franklin and Georgia Agnew all made an impact link
Courtesy of Kelly Vivian at Spinnerchild Photography
In the latest round of Girls Premier grade action in Auckland Orewa College celebrated its first win of the season with Mt Albert Grammar and Auckland Grammar also gaining W’s.
At Rangitoto a low scoring opening quarter was edged by Orewa College 12-11.
When Rangitoto opened up a 25-14 advantage in the second quarter Orewa coach Jane Finlayson, probably fearing another tough night for her charges, called a timeout.
Up to that point Mania Spooner and Ella Moore had been dictating terms for the hosts but on the resumption Sophie Emmitt and Shan-Lee Swanepoel made much needed baskets for Orewa. A long two from Hannah Wentworth on the half-time buzzer reduced the deficit to a more manageable 31-22.
Megan Hoare and Arianna Henare scored back-to-back baskets at the mid point of the third as Orewa closed to 36-29 – the turn of Rangi coach Tony Pompallier to call a timeout.
Spooner produced the required response with a basket but Wentworth nailed a three and Janke Pretorius converted a finger roll lay up to make it a two point game – Henare tied proceedings at 38 all. The momentum was all Orewa’s winning the quarter 20-7 to lead 42-38 at the third break.
Another 11-2 surge, including a Wentworth triple, increased the Orewa advantage to ten points.
A spinning drive from Spooner and a hook shot from Centaine Noon-Duckworth helped Rangi but Pretorius kept finding her way to the basket for the visitors
When Wentworth nailed a long three with 2:02 to play an Orewa victory looked likely – when she repeated the dose a couple of plays later the first win of the season became a certainty.
Score: Rangitoto 53 – Spooner 17, Moore 16, Noon-Duckworth 8, Campbell 6
Orewa 67 – Wentworth 20, Emmitt 12, Pretorius 12, Henare 8
After a couple of recent successes Carmel College were brought back to earth with a thump by Auckland Girls Grammar going down 111-40.
The encounter threw up a couple of interesting statistics. The Ropati twins, Mariah and Teneva, shared 62 points for Auckland and Tayla Dalton scored a staggering 70% of Carmel’s points – 28 from 40.
The writing was on the wall for Carmel in the first period as Grammar raced to a 30-7 lead increased to 56-16 by the interval.
The Ropati’s were doing most of the damage but Zhanay Hettig and Mele Latu also chipped in with telling points.
The only hindrance to the AGGS progress, other than the continuous efforts of Dalton, was a twenty minutes lights failure.
Power was restored but it remained gloomy for Carmel as they slid to a heavy defeat.
Score: AGGS 111 – M Ropati 32, T Ropati 30, Hettig 18, Latu 12
Carmel 40 – Dalton 28, Green 4
The meeting of a couple of quality forwards was one of the features of the Westlake versus Mt Albert Grammar tie. The pair didn’t disappoint as Sharne Pupuke-Robati scored a game high 32 points for MAGS and Lake captain Keeley Tini led the home team resistance with 27 points.
Pupuke-Robati set the tone in the opening quarter landing 13 points as MAGS ked 26-22.
Jordyn Maddix landed a triple for Westlake at the outset of the second and Emme Shearer collected eight points in the frame but MAGS still led 43-40 at half-time.
Ten points from Jada Manase in the decisive third period helped MAGS to a 68-59 three-quarter time lead.
Tini and Shearer kept plugging away for Lake but the greater all round scoring threat of the visitors with Manase, Trinity Peau and P-R to the fore carried MAGS to a comfortable win.
Score: Westlake 76 – Tini 27, Shearer 22, Maddix 10, Manolas 9
MAGS 95 – Pupuke-Robati 32, Manase 22, Peau 15, Rangi-Brown 8, Talo-Tomokino 8
The Avondale College v Massey High fixture was postponed to a later date.
Premier Standings
6-1 Mt Albert, Auckland Girls Grammar
5-1 Massey
4-3 Westlake
3-4 Rangitoto
2-5 Carmel
1-6 Orewa
0-6 Avondale
St Mary’s were comfortable 92-48 victors over Mt Roskill in the Senior A competition.
I don’t have the results of Diocesan v Epsom or Birkenhead v Pakuranga.
The New Zealand men’s team have finished their first day at the FIBA 3×3 World Cup with one win and one loss.
Head Coach Anthony Corban said this first day of the tournament was a tough ask due to the heat in Nantes, with temperatures soaring to over 30 degrees on court. Corban said the conditions suited their opposition – 13th ranked Indonesia and 20th ranked South Korea – with both teams from the Asian Conference being well conditioned to the heat.
“We started slowly against Indonesia and that proved costly. As the game rolled along the heat and humidity hit us hard. We gave up five two-point shots uncontested, which was 10 of their 15 points. From there, we were playing catch up for the rest of the game and managed to close it up to 12 all with 90 seconds to go. We were down two with a minute left, but broke away from our pre-game plan and sets. We had Indonesia in the two free throw penalty, but persisted with taking outside shots as opposed to attacking the rim off the dribble. This was a game we should have won, but as a group we only have ourselves to blame,” said Corban.
Eventually the clock ran down and Indonesia won, 15 – 12.
The Kiwis were determined to tidy their play after that disappointing loss and refocused for game two against South Korea, which was scheduled only 40 minutes after their first game defeat.
“We played tired. The heat and humidity was again a telling factor, but our group dug deep and refused to let this one slip.
“This was a game with plenty of physicality on and off the ball. We had South Korea in the 7 and 10 free throw penalty. Down the stretch we missed four key free throws, that meant we had to go to overtime to close this game out.”
Corban added there was far too much on and off the ball fouling and niggle that he wasn’t happy with, particularly for what is now and Olympic sport.
“My players did well to control themselves with that poor discipline. I was led to believe the three second rule was going to be heavily policed too, but it wasn’t, and that played right into the hands of the big man from South Korea.”
That wasn’t enough for the Korean’s though, with the Kiwis managing to run down the clock in front, eventually winning 15-13.
Corban says they will rest up with a recovery day now, which will comprise of a light gym session, shooting and a bit of sightseeing for the players. There will be no rest for Corban though, with his afternoon set for reviewing game film and looking for a way to unsettle The Netherlands (5) and USA (4), two heavy weight teams which a reputation of sliding into the playoffs with ease.
New Zealand play the United States early tomorrow morning (19 June at 00:40) and the Netherlands (19 June 02:10). Both games will be livestreamed here: https://www.youtube.com/fiba3x3a
The newly mounted scoreboard wasn’t the only thing shining brightly at Rangitoto College on Friday night in the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier competition.
Rangitoto point guard Harry Clarke put on an illuminating display of his own leading his team to a win against Rosmini College with 19 points (7/13FG), 7 assists and a couple of steals.
Early on Mitchell Dance landed a couple of early threes for Rosmini but it was the home side that made the early pace to lead 26-19 at quarter time.
Cam Stone landed his second triple of the game to open the scoring in the second, another basket from the left hander stretching the Rangi lead further.
Marvin Williams-Dunn got the Rosmini score moving and Will Heather guided home a hook shot but Ethan Mandeno kept Rangi ahead 35-26 at the mid point of the stanza.
Joseph Hylton closed the scoring for the half, Rangitoto ahead 37-32 at the interval.
Hylton made it three on the bounce with the first two baskets of the second half before Clarke scored 9 straight points to push Rangi out to 48-36.
Logan Anderson dropped a three and Rangi were comfortably placed at three-quarter time, 61-51, ahead.
Zack Te Puni kept the Rangi lead at ten points with 6:40 to play –Payne stretched the lead to 73-60 before Caleb Langridge took the game out of sight with a brace of baskets.
Heather converted an And 1 play with 4 minutes to play to reduce the lead to 77-66 but a late Rozza comeback didn’t materialise as Langridge and Stone closed the door on a disappointing performance by their local rivals.
Score: Rangitoto 83 – Payne 19, Anderson 14, Stone 13, Langridge 13, Payne 11
Rosmini 68 – Dance 20, Williams-Dunn 12, Heather 10, Hylton 10
At Macleans College it was all locked up at 28 each in the first half against Auckland Grammar. Blake van Uden had 14 points at the break for the hosts, Rua Winitana 11 points for Grammar.
Grammar enjoyed a nice spread of scoring in the third with Campbell Green and Leroy Brown prominent as the visitors forged a 51-46 lead as the period expired.
Despite eleven points in the fourth from Grammar forward Anzac Rissetto the visitors were run down by a fast finishing Mac-attack.
Michael Babaran started the charge with a three, Harrison Roper added a couple of baskets and Sai Kuvelkar nailed another three.
Alex Arthur and van Uden got in on the action and Macleans sailed home for a second straight win.
Score: Macleans 72 – van Uden 27, Kuvelkar 15, Roper 10, Arthur 8, Babaran 8
Auckland Grammar 64 – Rissetto 21, Winitana 15, Green 10, Brown 8
It was yet another heart breaking loss for Mt Albert Grammar, their third consecutive single digit loss, this time going down 85-80 at Westlake Boys despite a combined 45 points from the forward pairing of Jonty Vink and Jack Morrison.
MAGS made the early running, 11 points from Morrison aiding a 23-19 first period lead.
Jesse Winter put on a shooting exhibition in the second connecting with four straight triples as Westlake gained a slim lead at the break – 44-42.
It was largely Westlake in the third, the hosts opening up a twin figure lead as Marc Malingin and Reuben Fitzgerald found their range. MAGS responded at the back end of the period courtesy of Ryan Laumatia and Mandela Baledrokadroka – 63-59 at the end of the stanza.
A stirring fourth quarter followed – Vink and Theo Hurdley carried MAGS into the lead before Matthew Cairns-Hita made three straight baskets for Westlake including a couple of threes.
A triple from Cole Pocock and more Vink points threatened to undo Westlake but the league leaders regained their composure as Fitzgerald, Winter and Alex Freeman carried them across the line for a seventh straight win.
Score: Westlake 85 – Fitzgerald 22, Winter 16, Cairns-Hita 14, Malingin 10
Mt Albert 80 – Vink 25/12, Morrison 20, Laumatia 11 Baledrokadroka 10
Led by 35 points from Max Shorter, St Kentigern College bounced back from a couple of losses with an 84-76 home win against Kelston Boys.
Six points apiece from Thomas Hyland and Kyle Robb, plus a late three from Zac Chan, capped off a 23-18 opening gambit from St Kentigern.
Matangi Prescott led the Kelston effort with 15 first half points but a couple more triples from Chan and 11 points in the second stanza from Shorter took the hosts out to 44-37 at the interval.
Shorter was terrorising the Kelston defence and he loaded in another dozen points in the third period to extend the St Kent’s lead to double figures.
Kale Lawson and Liam Milne put points on the board for Kelston in the fourth but a timely trey from Ryan Jones and closing points from Robb and Shorter sealed a valuable win for St Kents.
Score: St Kentigern 84 – Shorter 35, Robb 16, Chan 12, Hyland 8
Kelston 76 – Prescott 22, Milne 22, Lawson 21, Brooking 9
Premier Grade Standings
7-0 Westlake
5-1 Rangitoto
4-2 Rosmini
4-3 Auckland Grammarr
3-4 St Kentigern, Macleans
1-6 Mt Albert
0-7 Kelston
Senior A Results
St Peter’s 89 Liston 73
Northcote 113 Pakuranga 81
Manurewa 76 Western Springs 85
Avondale 87 Massey 77
Senior A Standings
6-1 St Peter’s
5-2 Avondale
4-3 Northcote
3-4 Pakuranga, Liston
3-4 Western Springs
2-3 Manurewa
1-5 Massey
Four Kiwi internationals were involved in a Queensland State Basketball league (QBL) showdown last Saturday.
The four, Kalani Pucell, Natalie Taylor, Chevannah Paalvast and Micaela Cocks, departed the Tall Ferns Selection Camp last Friday and flew back to Queensland for a QBL top of the table clash.
Sisters Kalani and Natalie were left with the winning grin as Brisbane Spartans edged Mackay Meteorettes 80-77.
The scores were tied 36 apiece at half-time and although Mackay shaded the third Brisbane were not going away.
Purcell, scored 10 points in the last quarter – a lay up putting Brisbane 76-72 up with 23 seconds to play. Mackay immediately landed a three but forced to foul sent Purcell to the free throw line.
Purcell, recently signed for the WNBL season by Melbourne Boomers, iced both – 78-75.
In an exciting finish Cocks made a basket with ten seconds to play but Brisbane made another couple of freebies to edge a close one by three points.
Purcell finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds, sister Nat Taylor contributing 6 points and 4 assists for Brisbane. Paalvast and Cocks scored 12 points and 13 points respectively for Mackay.
The Meteorettes, following the defeat, are now 7-1 for the season the Spartans improving to 7-0.
The Tall Ferns squad to compete at the FIBA Asia Cup will be announced in the next couple of days.
I managed to have a chat with leading 3×3 New Zealand international Karl Noyer before he headed to France for the FIBA 3×3 World Cup beginning in a couple of days time.
The team also includes fellow Harbour representative Marco Alexander, Taranaki’s Aaron Bailey-Nowell and former Nelson rep Angus Riley now playing at Bryant University in the States.
Read more link
LACEY LOWDOWN 