Saturday Final NZ vs Australia at Vallee de Tir

The opportunity to face the Australian’s U17 womens side in the Oceania Youth Finals was what the NZ Women had worked all year towards. Vallee de Tir was full with a lively crowd fresh off watching the local boys side play against Guam for Bronze.

The first quarter was a tough defensive affair with both team coming out with physical aggressive defence and keeping the scoring to a low 15-12 to Australia at the first break. The NZ side faced with a much taller opposition team pushed the ball at every opportunity and had to make adjustments to get half court opportunities against the long arms in the passing lanes. The kiwis began the second quarter well pulling closer to tie the game in the middle of the period. A mounting foul count forced coach Sean Fuller to look deep into his bench. The NZ Women hung close until the last 3 minutes of the quarter when a turnovers followed by quick transition baskets by the Australian team pushed the lead out 10 points.

At the half both teams had matched up very evenly: both shooting a torrid 30% from the floor, both with 9 assists and 6 turnovers. The major difference was in the 5 steals the NZ women had given up and the taller Australian’s 9-5 offensive rebounding advantage which gave them 10 more shots in the half. Jamie Lee-Tito led NZ scorers in the half with 10 first half points, no other kiwi had managed to make more than a single field goal in the half.

The third quarter was marked by runs… the kiwi’s came out firing with two consecutive three point shots from Amiria Koopu and Aleesha Coulter closing the gap. The NZ team new that one of the keys to success was limiting the effectiveness of firey Australian point guard Tiana Mangakahia – the entertaining and physical battle between her and NZ guard Brooke Blair eventually cause Mangakahia to foul out. Both teams had made runs in the third with the Australian’s pushing out the lead again near the end to a seemingly unreachable 11 points.

In the first part of the final period the NZ team could only manage to close the gap slightly with the score still 55-46 with 5 minutes to go. Brooke Blair and Aleesha Coulter shook off low first half scoring performances to take the game into their own hands for the remaining 5 minutes and led a spirited comeback that saw the Kiwi’s ball in hand 3 points down with 17sec remaining. Blair had 14 second half points mostly scored in the fourth quarter and Coulter delivered a commanding 18 points, 5 assists and a perfect 8/8 from the line for the game after being limited to 6 first half points.

The final second opportunity didn’t go the kiwis way and the Australian’s managed two quick baskets against pressure in the dying seconds for a final 67-61 Australian win.

 

 

Friday Semi Final NZ vs Tahiti at Vallee de Tir

Playoff basketball can change many things… the game tempo is often different as the wear and tear of tournament play has taken its toll and the pressure of crowds and game on the line can cause new heroes to rise up and make a mark for a team. The NZ Women faced a Tahiti team they had convincingly beaten in rounds. The first quarter was a low scoring affair with both teams struggling to produce quality offense in the first 5 minutes. The two teams remained neck and neck throughout the second quarter with New Zealand’s post players Jamie Campbell, Marlia Lisala, Te Oramae Solomon and Jamiee-Lee Tito dominating the paint to produce 23 of New Zealand’s 33 first half points. New Zealand struggled to contain Tahiti’s Oceane Lefranc who top scored for 11 in the half. The first time New Zealand saw daylight between the scores came late in the first half when guard Amiria Koopu cooly drained two long jump shots to swing the momentum in the favour of the NZ. Half time score 33-25 to NZ.

The second half was a long slow paced battle as New Zealand used its stronger interior game to continue to pile up the fouls count against the Tahiti players. Defensive intensity improved and Oceane Lefranc was held to a single second half field goal. Te Oramae Solomon came alive in the 3^rd quarter in the post finishing the game leading all scorers with 14 points from 6/10 shooting and helped NZ push out the lead to 20 points. Other scoring leaders for NZ were Jamie Campbell with 12 and Jamie Lee-Tito with 10. Aleesha Coulter fought through a tough shooting night (1/11 FG) leading rebounding with 9 and assists with 8 to contribute in other ways.

NZ face the Australian Women tomorrow in the final.

Thursday FIBA 33 tournament and cultural performances

Day 5 of the FIBA Oceania Youth Tournament featured a tournament in the new FIBA 33 format with teams composed of athletes from all nations in the Noumea town centre. After spending the morning travelling back from Kone the members of the NZ U17 Womens team split up into their respective teams and competed in the four hour tournament. Teams featuring New Zealand athletes Aleesha Coulter and Jamie Lee-Tito made the finals. This break from the usual tournament format continued into the evening where each of the nations performed in a cultural exchange.

 

Wednesday Game 4 vs Vanuatu at Kone

Having qualified first in their pool the NZ U17 Women embarked on the long cross country trip to Kone for their quarter final game against Vanuatu. Playing tournament basketball in tropical heat after travelling to a more remote part of New Caledonia to promote the game came with its own challenges: ensuring sufficient availability of safe water for rehydration, dealing with unfamiliar food and playing surfaces.

The NZ team made a strong start against an unorthodox but hard working Vanuatu team leading at the end of the first quarter 23-9. By the half NZ had a definite decisive lead 48-16 and coach Sean Fuller was able to experiment with different line ups and approaches looking ahead to the semi finals. Forward Marlia Lisala produced her most dominant game yet with 10 rebounds and 11 points off a perfect 4/4 FGs. Scoring was well balanced across the team with Brooke Blair leading with 16 followed by Aleesha Coulter with 15. Guard Morgan Roberts had a balanced game with 7 assists, 4 steals and 9 points off 4/12 shooting. The U17s now face Tahiti in the semi final at 6pm Friday.

 

Monday Game 1 Fiji Mont Dore

 

In our opening game against Fiji the U17 Women came out with consistently tight defence for the first quarter holding the less experienced Fijian team to 2 points and scoring 25. The tight defence continued till the half forcing 19 opposition turnovers and holding them to a 17% FG%. The Kiwis produced solid interior offence shooting 47% for the half and managing to get everyone involved with 8 players putting up points in the first half.

 

Starting the second half with a 46-10 lead the challenge became remaining safe throughout an intensely physical game and dealing with a dangerously slippery floor. Small forwards Morgan Hunter (18pts off 9/13 shooting and 7 Reb) and Aleesha Coulter (22pts off 8/17 shooting and 3/7 from beyond the arc along with 3 assists and 6 Rebounds) lead the way. Both centers Jamie Campbell (8pts) and Marlia Lisala (14pts) delivered solid offensive performances with 4/6 and 5/8 shooting respectively. Guard Morgan Roberts came down with a bad fall in the first half counting her out for the remainder of the game and the second game against American Samoa.

 

 

Tuesday Game 2 American Samoa Mont Dore

 

The American Samoa team hard worked hard to be able to attend the tournament and were only able to field 6 players, naturally an almost impossible task at junior international level. The game proved very physical with both centers Marlia Lisala and Jamie Campbell injured and in doubt for game three, Jamie more seriously injured with a dislocated finger.

 

The NZ defensive pressure and transition game delivered an early lead and dominant offensive rebounding gave 23 second chance points. Final score 113 – 30.

 

 

Wednesday Game 3 Tahiti Vallee de Tir

 

The change in venue came with a change in refereeing approach it quickly became apparent that the tight officiating was going to limit the amount of defensive pressure for the U17 Women. Although NZ took an early lead 24-15 at the end of the first quarter two starters with two fouls changed the players rotations and required the bench to step up. With Alicia Couter who shot an efficent 4/5 from the floor for 8 first half points on the bench with foul trouble Te Oramae Solomon stepped up off the bench to deliver 9 points off 4/8 shooting and help the kiwis extend to a 40-21 lead.

 

Keeping a cool head under pressure as the foul count continued in the second half proved essential as more than 50 fouls were called in the game. Only one NZ players fouled out but 3 finished with 4 fouls and another 4 players had 3. By the end of the game the NZ Women’s passing game proved the difference with 27 assists including 7 from guard Brooke Blair who also delivered 13 points. Scoring balance and interior game also helped NZ with 4 players in double figures, 32 points off the bench to 14 for Tahiti and NZ producing an excellent 50 points in the paint. The NZ team protected the ball extremely well committing only 5 turnovers for the game. Scoring leaders were Aleesha Coulter (18pts 8 reb 4 ast), Brooke Blair (13pts, 7 ast) and Morgan Roberts (11pts, 7 reb).

 

The win sees the Kiwi’s top their pool and travel by bus to Kone tomorrow in the 1 vs 4 quarter final against Vanuatu.