U15 Nationals

Kalani Purcell and Faustina Tuala were almost mirror images as they both collapsed to the floor at the final buzzer.

But both were feeling very different emotions.

As Purcell’s Waikato team-mates bounced in a team group-hug metres away, Maria’s Waitakere City team-mates could only hold their heads and consider the what ifs after a thrilling end to the under-15 girls final at the Oreo Under-13 & Under-15 National Championships in Rotorua.

Girls MVP Veshae Wilkinson finished with 16 points and made the game-deciding three-point play with 13 seconds remaining as Waikato held on for a 63-62 win at Unison Arena.

Trailing for the entire first half, Waikato took their first lead of the game in the opening minute of the third quarter and were able to lead out the rest of the period behind the play of Wilkinson, Purcell and Rhaiah Spooner-Knight, who top-scored with 19 points.

Waikato took a 54-50 lead at the six minute mark as Waitakere were held to two points for the opening four minutes of the final quarter in a defensive struggle.

Waitakere leveled the game at 56-56 on a Morgan Roberts basket with 2:41 to play, with tournament teamer Penina Davidson, who scored a game-high 26 points, keeping them in the game.

Keziah Lewis gave Y-Tak a 62-60 lead with 21 seconds left on a pass from captain Isabella Lawrence but 12-year-old Wilkinson responded at the other end with a nifty spin move, making the basket and drawing Davidson’s fifth foul, before making the freebie.

Waitakere rimmed-out two game-winning shots in the final seconds as desperation turned to jubilation for Waikato.

“It was just sheer determination, experience and intelligence,” said Parlayne Hawea, Waikato’s assistant coach, as Purcell and Tahlia Te Kiri chanted “You owe us Rainbow’s End” behind him, revealing a reward promise the coach had made.

“We said that before the game, that team-work wins games but intelligence and experience wins championships and I think that showed in the last few seconds.

“We had the ball in one of our best player’s hands and she made a great play and it was an and-one to give us the lead. We probably didn’t play too well but we hung in there.”

Purcell, one of Waikato’s three tournament team selections along with Wilkinson and Spooner-Knight, finished with 13 points, while Maria, who gained all-tournament honours with Davidson and Lawrence, had 16 points.

After a resounding pre-game haka from Waikato, the under-15 boys final had to wait another 45 minutes to start after the lights went out in Unison Arena, forcing the game, along with the under-13 girls final, into the Sportsdrome.

And once there, it was Kurt Heatherley’s game.

Heatherley, the under-13 MVP from 12 months ago, scored 18 of his team’s 22 fourth quarter points as Waikato held off a determined Nelson squad, 88-83, in the final minute, for the largest winning margin of all four finals in Rotorua.

Up three points going into the fourth, Heatherley put Waikato on his shoulders in the final 10 minutes, scoring in all manners for his game-high 34 points and winning the MVP award for a second straight year, this time in under-15s.

Down three points with four minutes remaining, Waikato got the benefit of a controversial zone defence technical foul with 2:41 to run. Heatherley made one-of-two free-throws, then scored on a third attempt put-back to tie the scores at 78-78.

Nelson hung tough, regaining the lead twice on a Mitchell Drummond free-throw and Taylor Davidson basket, with 1:27 remaining.

But Heatherley had the deciding say, driving the lane for the lead, then grabbing a steal and lay-in for a three-point lead with 55.3 seconds. He then put the game away with two free-throws to restore the three-point edge with 25.4 seconds on the clock.

“Any coach could’ve taken these kids and won it,” Waikato coach Alby Ellis said. “Honestly. They’re a great bunch of kids, hard-working and great players.”

Nelson had trailed by 11 points at halftime after a 23-13 second quarter put Waikato on the brink of running away with the game. But in typical South Island fashion, Nelson worked their way back with all-out defence.

“Nelson fought back fantastically but I knew we had the purpose and the team to do it,” Ellis said. “I was never worried because I always knew that we had the weaponry or the players to handle the pressure.

“They’re pressure was killing us. We were just doing silly things. Every time we ran our offence, it ended in a lay-up. We just didn’t do that and that’s pressure. Nelson gave us a good run.”

Brynn McKenzie finished with 22 points for Waikato, while captain Aaron Keppler had 17 points and Jershon Hereaka, a tournament team pick, had 12 points, including the clinching lay-in as time expired.

Nelson’s scoring leader Scott Cameron finished with 27 points and was named to the tourney team along with team-mate Ollie Shallcrass, and Drummond had 24 points in the final.

Oreo Under-15 National Championships

Rotorua Events Centre, Rotorua

FINALS

Boys
Waikato 88 (Kurt Heatherley 34, Brynn McKenzie 22, Aaron Keppler 17, Jershon Hereaka 12) Nelson 83 (Scott Cameron 27, Mitchell Drummond 24, Taylor Davidson 10)

Girls
Waikato 63 (Rhaiah Spooner-Knight 19, Veshae Wilkinson 16, Kalani Purcell 13) Waitakere City 62 (Penina Davidson 26, Faustina Maria 16)

FINAL PLACINGS

Boys
1 Waikato
2 Nelson
3 North Harbour
4 Hutt Valley
5 Counties Manukau
6 Massey
7 Wellington
8 Whangarei
9 Hawke’s Bay
10 Porirua
11 Auckland
12 Otago
13 Canterbury
14 Western Bay of Plenty
15 Rotorua
16 Mid Canterbury

Girls
1 Waikato
2 Waitakere City
3 North Harbour
4 North Canterbury
5 Nelson
6 Canterbury
7 Massey
8 Wellington
9 Hutt Valley
10 New Plymouth
11 Southland
12 Counties Manukau
13 Hawke’s Bay
14 Rotorua
15 Western BOP
16 Thames Valley

Oreo Under-13 National Championships

Rotorua Events Centre, Rotorua

FINALS

Boys
Canterbury 60 (Brandon Gleaves 29, DJ Shadrock 14, Ihaka Pink 10) North Harbour 58 (Niko Morales 14, Jack Salt 11)

Girls
Canterbury 61 (Gabriela Edmondson 17, Laken Wairau 14, Tessa Boagni 10) North Harbour 60 (Annabelle Jenkins 20, Petra Dye-Hutchinson 19, Bianca Nukunuku 11)

FINAL PLACINGS

Boys
1 Canterbury
2 North Harbour
3 Waikato Black
4 Wellington
5 Waitakere City
6 Massey
7 Hibiscus Coast
8 Hutt Valley
9 Nelson
10 Otago
11 Hawke’s Bay
12 New Plymouth
13 Rotorua
14 North Canterbury
15 Counties Manukau
16 Waikato Gold

Girls
1 Canterbury
2 North Harbour
3 Counties Manukau
4 Hawke’s Bay
5 Waikato
6 Nelson
7 Waitakere City
8 Rotorua
9 Auckland
10 North Canterbury
11 Mid Canterbury
12 Wellington
13 Hutt Valley
14 Porirua
15 Hibiscus Coast
16 Thames Valley