Last week saw over 1,000 visitors to the Hawkes Bay region for the 2017 Under 13 Central Regional Basketball Championships. Teams from all over the lower North Island had been preparing for this tournament all season. See below for our wrap up on each grade:

A Grade Boys
The A Grade Boys was a very competitive competition with Manawatu going undefeated through pool play, with their closest win coming by only 3 points over Hawkes Bay. Three teams were tied for second place after all exchanging wins against one another during pool play. After tiebreakers, Hawkes Bay finished second and saw third placed Wellington in a semi-final. Meanwhile, fourth placed Taranaki faced off against Manawatu. Manawatu (by 10) & Hawkes Bay (by 18) won their semis to set up a rematch of their tight pool play game.

Hawkes Bay played an excellent final. The game broke open in the second quarter which Hawkes Bay won 17-10, to give them a 34-23 lead at the half which the boys never relinquished. A 17-9 third quarter looked to put the game out of reach as the Bay took a 19 point lead into the final quarter; a margin too far for the Manawatu team.

Hawkes Bay 66 (Ihaia Abbott 19, Izaiah Tuilau 14, Tama Heather 10)
Manawatu 42 (Hikaia Lambert 11, Khan Mason 9, Lewis Bertinshaw 7)

A Grade Girls
The A Grade Girls was also very competitive. Wellington came out on Day 1 with a huge win over Manawatu, and continued through pool play undefeated to secure their place in the final. Hawkes Bay started the tournament on the wrong note by going down in overtime to Porirua. After Taranaki beat Porirua, this left the Hawkes Bay girls with no other option. They needed to secure a large victory over Taranaki to create a tiebreak situation for second place. The girls did just that, winning by 68-54 over Taranaki – which placed them second in the pool. This set up a final against the favourites Wellington. Hawkes Bay had already shown that they had the capability to do so as they pushed Wellington harder than any other team, going down 41-43 in pool play.

Another tight affair played out between Wellington and Hawkes Bay this time round. Wellington used a 15-5 second quarter to give them a 27-20 lead at the half. Hawkes Bay then turned that around with a 13-4 third quarter to give the Bay a slim 2-point lead coming into the final quarter. Both teams had 12 points in final quarter, and the Bay came away with a 45-43 victory

Hawkes Bay 45 (Kalia Taito 16, Raedeen Blake 13, Jannali Ruawai 10)
Wellington 43 (Maia Mariner 15, Lily Taulelei 10)

B Grade Boys
The B Grade Boys saw Hawkes Bay get another gold medal as the Hawkes Bay White team emerged undefeated in pool play, with their closest game coming against the Hawkes Bay Black team, where they were victors to the tune of 16 points. They blew Manawatu Green off the court in the semi-final 67-32 to set up a final against New Plymouth. New Plymouth had also gone through pool play undefeated, with their closest win coming against Levin by 19 points. Hawkes Bay Black pushed them hard in the semi-final before eventually succumbing; 63-58.

The two form team met for the first time in the final, and it was extremely close throughout with the lead remaining within 5 points for most of the match. New Plymouth led by 3 at the half, but a 20-14 third quarter gave the Bay a 3 point lead with one quarter remaining. Both teams scored 11 in a scrappy fourth quarter, which gave Hawkes Bay a 60-57 win.

Hawkes Bay White 60 (Braxton Payne 23, Levi Saxton 10)
New Plymouth 57 (Brock McCurdy 15, Caius Owen 11, Tane Lawrence 10)

B Grade Girls
In the B Grade Girls, Levin were extremely impressive all tournament with some great players. They swept through pool play, with their closest win coming by 11 against New Plymouth. In the semi-final they won 92-38 against Whanganui. Waiting for them in the final was Taranaki Country Uira, coached by Memz Taylor. Taranaki Country had suffered a 2-point loss to Whanganui on Day 1 of the tournament, but since then had hit their stride. They defeated Kapiti in the semi-final 34-27.

The final was more one-sided than the other three finals, as Levin won the first quarter by 6, the second quarter by 5 and then put the game out of reach with a 20-8 third quarter. Levin eventually ran out as 66-42 winners of the B Grade

Manawatu Levin 66 (Ngapera Wilton 16, Maraea Graham 14, Piata Paurini & Ashlee Millard 10)
Taranaki Country Uira 42 (Zeta Barber 21, Jorja Agent 10)