McDonalds 3X3 and All Star Game Recap
McDonalds 3X3 and All-Star Recap.
For the first time, we combined the McDonalds 3x3 and All-Star game on the same day to celebrate our Friday Night Basketball competition and the competing schools and players - it was a raging success. Ohoka School’s gym was packed out from 10am through to 4pm, and alongside the Ohoka School Fete, the atmosphere around the school was buzzing.
The 3x3 competition had 10 teams playing; 3 from Swannanoa, and 2 from Kaiapoi North, Pegasus, Woodend, Leithfield, Kaiapoi Jr Basketball Club, and Ashgrove were also represented. 35 games were played across 3 hours, with each team getting 6 to 8 games, by the end of the day the teams were gassed due to the fast-paced, non-stop nature of the 3X3 game. Katrina Parish spent the day taking photos of the event, and we will share the photos on facebook shortly.
The semi-finals were a hit out between KJBC and Kaiapoi North 2, and Kaiapoi North 1 v Pegasus, with KJBC and KNS 1 moving through to the final. The final was a close affair with KJBC coming away with a 2-point victory in front of a very rowdy crowd.
McDonalds 3x3 Final Placings
- Kaiapoi Jr Basketball Club
- Kaiapoi North 1
- Pegasus
- Kaiapoi North 2
- Swannanoa Red
- Ashgrove
- Swannanoa White
- Woodend
- Swannanoa Blue
- Leithfield
The 3X3 game is now an Olympic sport, and players can represent New Zealand in tournaments across the globe. Additionally, 3X3 leagues are popping up across the world, and Christchurch has its very own conference in the 3X3.EXE league, based out of Japan.
We are looking forward to growing the 3X3 competition in coming years, and have a social 3X3 league to finish out the year. For more information and to register, visit this link here.
After the 3X3 final, the big event rolled around with the All-Star game between the North Schools and South Schools.
The game featured plenty of highly skilled players across both sides, however in our very official Facebook poll, the South team were favoured to win.
South Team:
Joe Loffhagen - Southbrook
Max Dunbar - Kaiapoi North
Aliyah Newton - Kaiapoi North
Abby Prattley - Swannanoa
Jonty Daniels - Swannanoa
Troy Cutbush - St Joes
Harry Cournane - St Joes
Toa Harimate-Parata - KJBC
Ella Sharpe - KJBC
Kalio Fungavaka - Fernside
Injured - Connor Hutchings - Swannanoa
Coaches
Jess Evers - Cust
Hunter Cutbush - St Joes
North Team:
Harry Witt - North Loburn
Charlie Ward - North Loburn
Kyra Leatham - Ashgrove
Grace Tull - Ashgrove
Dom Morgan - Broomfield
Eamon Martin - Leithfield
Noah Loffhagen - Rangiora Borough
Toby McConnon - Sefton
Harrison Bint - Loburn
Archie Legget - Woodend
Coaches
Brooke Palmer - Ashgrove
Harry Skirrow - Rangiora Borough
The game started at a frantic pace. The North team, looking a bit nervous, made some poor decisions and kept turning the ball over, which allowed the South team to thrive in transition, and build a big lead quickly. Max Dunbar and Troy Cutbush especially made their presence felt. The score at half time was 27-7 to South.
With over 300 people jammed into the gym to watch the game, it was a big occasion for the players. Many of them would only be used to playing in front of their families on a Friday night, so to jump to a game on this stage would have been a shock to the system, but no doubt a big learning experience for them.
Half time did wonders for the North team, allowing them to settle down and regather themselves and they came out firing to start the 2nd half. Lead by Charlie Ward’s effort and energy, and Harry Witt’s shooting, they started the half on a run. A passage of play, which commentator, Sam Watkins said was “probably the best period of play I’ve seen in the 6 years of All-Stars”, involved three 3 pointers, 3 possessions in a row which left the crowd going crazy. Sam also said it was a great game, and “Cool to see a bunch of new faces out on the court”
Ultimately, the early lead built by South was too much to overcome, with them running away with the game 49-35.
Head over to Facebook to re-watch the McDonalds All-Star Game. Note. Most of the first half is missing due to technical difficulties.
https://www.facebook.com/McDonaldsNCBAFNBB/videos/460879648176465/
Max Dunbar from Kaiapoi North School took home MVP honors for his efforts throughout the game where he complied 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 steals. Charlie Ward, took home the heart award for helping bring his North squad back into the game with the early 2nd half run, finishing with 8 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals. Toa Harimate-Parata also contributed in a big way to his South team with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Richard Connelly, from GameFace was back again taking photos of the event and captured these awesome shots. More will be released in coming days.
The McDonalds Friday night competition is entering playoffs this week and will wrap up in 2 weeks. Alongside this, NCBA has one more big event on the calendar for the year, and then our busy 2019 will wrap up. There is still time to register for our Golf Tournament this Sunday, 1st December at Rangiora Golf Course. For more information and to register, visit this link.
The day was a massive event and couldn’t have been achieved without the hard work of the NC committee, staff, and the other volunteers that helped throughout the day. However, without McDonalds valuable and continued to support, events like FNBB and McDonalds 3x3 and All-Stars games wouldn't be the same. So Thank you to David Bond and the McDonalds North Canterbury crew! We are looking forward to making the event bigger and better in the coming years.
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