NZ are playing Aussie in Palmy this weekend for the right to attend next years Under 19 Worlds. Tickets only $10.

The games times are on

Game 1 is on Friday 3.30 and 5.30 the program has the boys playing first and the girls second, but it is more likely they girls will be first and the boys second.

Game 2 is on Saturday 5.30pm and 7.30pm,

Game 3 Sunday 1pm and 3pm

2010 FIBA Oceania U18 Championships

The 2010 FIBA Oceania U18 Championships will see the home teams - the NZ Junior Tall Blacks and NZ Junior Tall Ferns - take on their Australian counterparts, not only for the zone titles, but also for the right to compete at next year’s respective world championships.

New Zealand has never beaten Australia in an age group series, but came close last year when the Emerging Junior Tall Blacks took Game Two in the FIBA U16 Oceania Championship for Men and challenged strongly in the third and final encounter in Brisbane.

The Junior Tall Blacks also performed strongly on home soil at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship for Men in Auckland, taking Argentina and Croatia to the limit in pool play and eventually finishing 13th.

Australia has one of the world’s best junior programmes and present a formidable obstacle for Basketball New Zealand’s age group teams hoping to reach the world championships.

This year’s U18 series will take place in Palmerston North, September 17-19.