Cant Women Finish Third at U23s

NZ Under 23 Basketball Championships Tauranga

North Harbour continued to be the dominate centre of New Zealands rising basketball stars after winning both the Men’s and Women’s grand-finals at the National Under 23 basketball championships which concluded in Tauranga on Saturday.

An injury-plagued Canterbury Men’s team captured seventh place, beating Auckland 76-62 in the play-off game. With its star player Ethan Rusbatch unable to travel due to a knee injury, Nick Erwood was added to the team and had to use Alex Dobbs and Zacc Dwan despite them carrying niggling injuries. Chris Duthie featured for Canterbury, driving the lanes while also setting up much of the play and averaging around 17 points per game. Canterbury finished pool play with a 3-2 record but went precariously close to gaining a main-semi-final berth only going down to the eventual champion North Harbour 56-62 in a tight match. In yet another close game Canterbury was edged 79-75 by Wellington in the 5-8 Semi before despatching Auckland in the play-off game. For his hard work Duthie was later selected in the tournament team. The Canterbury team was coached by David Langrell.

 

The Canterbury Women’s team finished in third place after Canterbury avenged an earlier 55-46 loss to Capital in the third-place play-off game, beating Capital 65-60 with a strong team effort. Canterbury had a 3-3 record in round robin play which included good wins over Waitakere West, host side Tauranga City and squeezing past Rotorua 49-46. Canterbury produced an outstanding effort against eventual Champion North Harbour in round robin play only going down 56-66 through the efforts of the Wildcats captain Shea Crotty (24) and NZ Junior rep Tessa Boagni with 11 points. A fired up North Harbour despachted Canterbury 75-47 in the semi’s on Saturday morning but bounced back to take third place against Capital.

In that game Boagni stood out with a hard-earned 21 points and backed up by Laken Wairau on 15 and Bridget Lawn 11 points. Her efforts all tournament saw Boagni selected for the Tournament team. The team was coached by Pina Lissaman.

 

Results were:

Men’s Pool two:

Canterbury 85 (Matt Campbell 16, Alex Dobbs 13, Chris Duthie 13) Hibiscus Coast 59 (Benjamin Fraser 20), Counties-Manukau 93 (Reuben Te Rangi 17, Javaan Mumtaz 17) Canterbury 64 (Chris Duthie 14, William Utley 10, Kaye McKee 10), Canterbury 95 (Zacc Dwan 19, Chris Duthie 18, Kaye McKee 16) Waikato 53 (Tamaki Courtney 14), Canterbury 80 (Matt Campbell 15, Nick Erwood 14, Michael Aitken 14) Rotorua 61 (Rore Neho 14),North Harbour 62 (Isaac Fotu 19, Zac Fitzgerald 14) Canterbury 56 (Kaye McKee 12). Pool placings: North Harbour 5-0, Counties-Manukau 3-2, Canterbury 3-2, Waikato 2-3, Rotorua 2-3, Hibiscus Coast 0-5. Semi-Final 5-8: Wellington 79 (Stanley Williams 22)Canterbury 75 (Chris Duthie 13, Alex Dobbs 12, Sam Evans 12), Play-off 7th place: Canterbury 76 (Chris Duthie 28, Alex Jellie 12, Sam Evans 12) Auckland 62 (Derone Raukawa 30). Grand Final North Harbour 101 (Marco Alexander 25, Mathew Lacey 19, Mike Becker 16) Counties-Manakau 92 (Shea Ili 23, Reuben Te Rangi 20, Javaan Mumtaz 16).

Tournament Team: Chris Duthie (Canterbury). MVP: Issac Fotu (North Harbour).

Final Officials: Men Umpire 2 Matt Bathurst (Canterbury).

Women

Round Robin play:

Waikato 83 (Kalani Purcell 26, Dionne Darlington Martin 21) Canterbury 62 (Tessa Boagni 23, Shea Crotty 13, Laken Wairau 7), Canterbury 58 (Laken Wairau 13, Bridget Lawn 13, Tessa Boagni 8) Waitakere West 48 (Wuanyei Ah-Hing 23), North Harbour 66 (Deena Franklin 14, Morgan Roberts 14) Canterbury 56 (Shea Crotty 24, Tessa Boagni 11),

Canterbury 69 (Shea Crotty 16, Ashlee Fane 11, Tessa Boagni 11) Tauranga City 44 (Makayla Daysh 16), Capital 55 (Milomilo Nanai 12, Laykin Paenga 12) Canterbury 46 (Tessa Boagni 17, Ashlee Fane 8), Canterbury 49 (Tessa Boagni 20, Hannah Turton 8, Shea Crotty 7) Rotorua 46 (Bayley Ross-Waitai 17). Round robin placings:North Harbour 6-0, Waikato 4-2, Capital 4-2, Canterbury 3-3, Rotorua 2-4, Waitakere West 2-4, Tauranga City 0-6. Semi-Finals: North Harbour 75 Canterbury 47, Waikato 56 Capital 53, Play-off 3rd: Canterbury 65 (Tessa Boagni 21, Laken Wairau 15, Bridget Lawn 11) Capital 60 (Tiana Thompson 18, Tanaka Gapare 16). Grand Final: North Harbour 57 (Sian Telfer 11, Anna Lacey 10) Waikato 34 (Dionne Darlington Martin 13, Krystal Leger-Walker 11).

Tournament Team: Tessa Boagni (Canterbury). MVP: Ella Fotu (North Harbour).

Final Officials Women: Referee Marty Davison, Umpire 1 Scott Harris (Canterbury).




Comments

Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.

Download the GameDay App!

Stay up-to-date with your favourite teams and keep an eye on your rivals by accessing the latest match results, fixtures and stats via GameDay App.

GameDay Splash Screen
App Store Google Play