The Harbour U15 Boys won through pool play undefeated, with their toughest game coming from Waikato Red (75-55) and who finished 2^nd in their pool.

 

Then the real basketball started in the quarter-finals on Friday where the team met Hawkes Bay who had finished 2^nd to Canterbury in Pool 3.

Harbour found Hawkes Bay difficult to put away, it required a player to step-up with a clutch of baskets and this came by way of Cameron Stone (Rangitoto College), who on at least 3 occasions, late in the game, scored a basket at a critical time and Harbour secured victory 72-68. Phew!

 

Their semi-final was against Auckland and based on Easter and SuperCity results, Auckland may well have been favourites, but from the get-go, the outcome was never in doubt and Harbour won this encounter by 15 points 86-71.

 

When Canterbury defeated Waitakere in their semi, it was a South Island versus North Island (Harbour) final and what these two teams delivered was an exciting, memorable game of basketball. There were no losers; ‘basketball’ was the winner.

 

Harbour after the 1^st quarter were down by 10 (18-28) with Quinn Clinton (Canterbury BHS), who had just returned from Australian State Championships with the NZ U16 team, rebounded and shot strongly. Daniel Fotu (Rangitoto College) was in early foul trouble unfortunately as he had led his team well for all of the competition.The Canterbury lead got out to 18, only to be pegged back to 46-51 at half-time and the game leveled 66-66 at the third break. With 5 minutes left in the game Canterbury were up 5 (70-75) however Harbour continued to close, with a huge defensive game from Logan Anderson (Rangitoto College) on Quinn Clinton, taking the lead with two minutes remaining, lifting its intensity and making fewer mistakes than Canterbury.

The final score Harbour 80-77 and nothing can be taken away from this Harbour team, who showed great determination, as Canterbury had the lead for 30 minutes, yet these young athletes fought hard, played with pride and were rewarded with National honours.

A great final from Cameron Stone who top scored with 17 points, assisted by Logan Anderson (14) and Thabo Manyere (WBHS) with 16 points.

Congratulations boys, also to Thabo for his selection into the tournament team and to Coach Kenny Stone and his team. Well done!

 

Our ‘B’ Boys finished 3^rd in their pool, defeating Wellington and Waikato ‘B’ and when they played Taranaki, they were playing for a spot in the 2^nd Division final (9th-10th). This game they lead for three quarters but faded in the last 10 minutes, with Taranaki winning 69-62. They then played Rotorua (11^th-12^th) in their final game and lost 78-64.

 

Harbour had two Girl’s team qualify for the U15 Nationals in Wellington and the ‘A’ Girls were in Pool 3 and didn’t manage to advance to the top 8 with a lose against Waikato (an eventual finalist) and Taranaki by just 4 (62-58). Having qualified 3^rd in their Pool, the best they could do was finish 9^th and this they did in great style defeating Waitakere West 63-55 and winning the Girls 2^nd Division trophy. Well done and too those who decided to stay at home due to the Wellington earthquakes, we understood and we will see you back on the court in due course.

 

Our ‘B’ Girls found the competition tough over all 4 days and whilst their expectations may not have been set high, they did gain experience and the realisation that effort and training is necessary to achieve a satisfactory result.

 

Nelson Basketball hosted the U19 Women and Men’s Nationals during 24-27 July and a Women and Men’s team represented Harbour.

The mens team found the going tough and finished in 7th place.

The ladies fought hard against a tough Porirua team on the Saturday morning to then have to go up against Waitakere West just a few hours later.

Unfortuinately our ladies just couldnt stop the brilliant play by Waitakeres Penina Davidson and in the end had to settle for silver medal.

Congratulations to Deena Franklin,Bronwyn Kjestrup and Ella Fotu who made the tournament team.