Canterbury Country Girls basketball team, consisting of players from North, South and Mid-Canterbury held off a determined last quarter challenge to beat North Harbour A 58-49 in the Grand Final of the Under 13 National Basketball Championships that finished in Dunedin on Saturday.

 The tournament represents the starting careers of future Canterbury Wildcats and Rams and even possibly future Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks.

Ashlee Strawbridge (Mid Canterbury) worked very hard for the Country Girls securing 12 valuable points and 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. Her defence in the tension packed last quarter was outstanding blocking a shot and scoring a vital basket as North Harbour came back strongly and closing the gap to six points (55-49) with just under a minute remaining. Two North Canterbury players to feature were Sila Morris with 13 points and Molly Cockburn with 10 while eight valuable points from bench player Roi Rawhiti Makatu (Mid) helped give the Canterbury Country better team depth.  

Mid-Canterbury’s Samantha Arnold, (9 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and five steals) along with Strawbridge, and North Canterbury’s Sila Morris made the tournament team with Morris named the tournament MVP.

Country had another slow start, down 11-0 after almost four minutes before a quick time out by coach Paul Neilson, a former Wildcats coach, re-focused the team getting back to trail 16-17 at Quarter-time. Neilson had his girl’s put pressure on the ball to outscore Harbour 16-9 to take the lead 32-26 by half-time.

In pool play the team had comfortable wins over North Harbour B 76-18, Tasman 88-19 and Hawks Bay 67-28, a tougher game against North Harbour A before pulling clear to win 53-41. Canterbury Country then beat Waitakere West in the quarters with a strong 61-37 victory and only just sneaked home in the semi’s with a nail biting 46-44 over Rotorua Gold after being down 1-11 in the early stages.

 Waitakere West’s Luka Crosbie (19) scored a vital basket 17 seconds from time to capture the U13 Boys title, coming from behind to pip North Harbour A 56-55.

Canterbury Metro Girls took 13th place edging Rotorua Maroon 44-42 after accounting for  North Harbour B 40-29 in the 13-16^th semi.

Canterbury Metro Boys won the 2nd Division Grand Final (Playoff for 9th & 10^th) beating North Harbour B 83-41. Earlier Canterbury Metro boys toppled  Tauranga City 91-29 in the 9-16 Quarter’s and stunned Tasman 72-28 in the 9-12 semi’s.

Canterbury Country Boys finished a confident seventh, beating host team Otago 55-28 after losing the 5-8^th semi-final against Hawkes Bay 54-71.

Results were:

Boys:

Pool play:

Pool 2: Palmerston North 49 Canterbury Country 35,Waikato 45 Canterbury Country 43, Canterbury Country 60 North Harbour C 53, Canterbury Country 63 Southland 37.

Pool 3: Hawkes Bay 67 Canterbury Metro 64, North Harbour A 52  Canterbury Metro 49,Canterbury Metro 74 North Harbour B 39, Canterbury Metro 71 Porirua 22.

Main Quarter-Finals: Auckland (1st Pool 4) 63 Canterbury Country 53 (2nd Pool 2).

Quarter-Finals 9-16: Canterbury Metro (3rd Pool 3) 91 Tauranga City 29 (4th Pool 1).

Semi-Finals 5-8: Hawkes Bay 71 Canterbury Country 54.

Semi-Finals 9-12:Canterbury Metro 72 Tasman 28.

Playoff for 7th & 8^th: Canterbury Country 55 Otago 28.

2nd Division Grand Final (Playoff for 9th & 10^th) Canterbury Metro 83 North Harbour B 41.

Grand Final: Waitakere West 56 (Luka Crosbie 19) North Harbour A 55 (Cian Emery 12, Dallas Clayton 10). HT: Waitakere 29-26. 

 

Girls:

Pool play:

Pool 1:  Canterbury Country 76 North Harbour B 18, Canterbury Country 88 Tasman 19, Canterbury Country 53 North Harbour A 41, Canterbury Country 67 Hawkes Bay 28.
Pool 4: Taranaki 48 Canterbury Metro 40, Rotorua Gold 46 Canterbury Metro 17, Canterbury Metro 35 Southland 29,Otago 26 Canterbury Metro 23.
Main Quarter-Finals: Canterbury Country (1st Pool 1) 61   Waitakere West 37, (2nd Pool 3).

Quarter-Finals 9-16: Wellington (3rd Pool 2) 46 Canterbury Metro 44. (4th Pool 4).
Main Semi-Finals: Canterbury Country 46 Rotorua Gold  44.

Semi-Finals 13-16: Canterbury Metro 40 North Harbour B 29.

Playoff for 13^th: Canterbury Metro 44 Rotorua Maroon 42.

Grand Final:  Canterbury Country 58 (Sila Morris- NC 13, Ashlee Strawbridge MC 12, 12R, 3BS, Molly Cockburn NC 10, Samantha Arnold MC 9, 11R, 2R, 5s) North Harbour A 49 (Jessica Moors 19, 4S, 26R). HT: 32-26.
Girls Tournament team: Samantha Arnold, Ashlee Strawbridge (Mid), Sila Morris (North).

MVP: Sila Morris

 

Team lists are:

Canterbury Country Boys U13

Ben Jackson, Kaleb Chamberlain, Mac Junior Kaitao, Penuel Pantaleon, Quinn Ritchie (Mid), Jack Crossan (South), Joshua Lacey, Mason Whittaker, Taylor Ellis, Wiremu Pihema(Nth Canty). Coach: Gordon Wong, Asst Coach: Liam Connelly. Manager Mark Whittaker, Juleen Lacey.

 

Canterbury Metro Boys U13

4  Oscar Obel-Hall, 5  Thomas Harrison, 6  William Obel-Hall, 7  Alfie May, 8  Guy Yarrell, 10 Ah-Li Fenika, 11 Liam Golding, 12 Okirano Fialele, 14 Sam Jenkins, 15 Ollie Hansen. Coach: Matt Hall. Asst Coach: Camilla Obel-Hall.

Manager Joanne Golding

 

Canterbury Country  Girls U13

Sophie Adams, Ashlee Strawbridge, Danielle McArthur,  Roi Rawhiti Makutu,

Samantha Arnold (Mid), Milly Ford (South), Laura Mann, Sila Morris, Molly Cockburn, Stella Porter. (North Canty). Coach: Paul Neilson. Asst Coach: Angus Gourlay (North). Managers: Mike and Mindy Cockburn

 

 Canterbury Metro Girls U13

4  Isabelle Orr, 5  Holly Groeneweg, 6  Katie-Jo van den Bogaert, 7  Mia Harrison, 8  Hannah Manalaysay, 10 Emily McAuley-Scott, 11 Malia Faitaua-Nanai, 12 Shontel Leiataua, 13 Georgia Hollings, 14 Ella Gardiner, 15 Georgia Knowles. Coach: Dave Harrison. Asst Coach: Pina Lissaman. Manager Jo van den Bogaert.