We begin this week’s roundup with the Sal’s New Zealand NBL where the majority of our Harbour contingent of players performed with distinction.

In the opening game of Round 7 Rob Loe had a monster 19 points and 16 rebounds as Auckland Tuatara defeated the previously undefeated Otago Nuggets 93-84 in Dunedin on Thursday night in a rematch of the 2022 Grand Final.

There were also impressive performances from our U19 reps Tom Beattie and Charlie Dalton in the win. Charlie finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while Tom had his best scoring night in the NBL posting 15 points, making 3 from 5 shots from beyond the arc.

48 hours later the Tuatara completed their South Island swing with an 84-72 defeat of the Canterbury Rams. Rob Loe was again in great form as he almost compiled a triple double finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists while Charlie Dalton demonstrated his growing stature in the league with 14 points and 6 rebounds.

The Franklin Bulls also came up with a road win claiming a 78-71 victory in New Plymouth against the Taranaki Airs with former Harbour reps excelling for both teams. Scott Telfer scored 17 points for the Airs with Dan Fotu dropping 20 points for the Bulls.

Brayden Inger, now recovered from his early season injury woes, scored 18 points as Southland Sharks bit the Manawatu Jets winning 105-89. Liam Judd scored 9 points for the Jets.

In other NBL news former Westlake Boys High and Harbour standout Matt Freeman has signed for the Franklin Bulls for the remainder of the 2023 season. Matt has just returned after completing his commitments in Germany where he has played for the last three years following his time playing NCAA Division I at the University of Oklahoma and UC Santa Barbara.

Also in Germany Sam Waardenburg and his club Ludwigsburg have swept Oldenburg 3-0 in the Bundesliga quarter-finals with Sam scoring 13 points in game two of the series. Ludwigsburg face a likely semi-final meeting with top seed Bonn who have former Breaker Finn Delany in their lineup.

Meanwhile on the other side of the draw second seed ALBA Berlin and Yanni Wetzell are in a tricky situation as they trail Ulm 2-1 in their best of five quarter-final match up. Yanni scored 9 points in both games two and three of the series. 

The Melbourne Boomers have announced that Penina Davidson will again suit up for the club in the 2023-24 Australian WNBL season – her fourth season with the club.

There is a fair bit of water to flow under the bridge before the WNBL season commences with Penina certain to be a key player for the Tall Ferns at the FIBA Asia Cup in Sydney next month.