New Zealand won gold and silver at the FIBA U17 Oceania Cup in Samoa with Hunter Johns and Sahara Katene both having outstanding tournaments.

Sahara was named to the Tournament All-Star 5 after helping the New Zealand Women claim silver. Sahara averaged a team high 12.4 points per game scoring 10 points in the Grand Final loss to Australia.

The New Zealand Men went one better, convincingly beating Australia 82-62 in the gold medal game. Hunter posted 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals a block and a single point but the stats don’t reflect his outstanding display in the final - particularly at the defensive end.

Both teams have qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup in 2026. 

College Basketball

NCAA Division I

Julius Halaifonua set a new career mark scoring 22 points (plus 9 rebounds and 2 blocks) as Georgetown won 76-68 in overtime against Saint Peter’s.

Tom Beattie had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals as UC San Diego beat Tulane 93-67.

Kiani Saxon contributed 5 points, a season high 9 rebounds, 4 assists and a block as Wyoming recorded a 106-79 win against South Dakota.

Izzy Pugh had a season best in points (10) and blocks (3) as Wisconsin Milwaukee defeated Ripon 72-43. 

Florida Atlantic dropped a derby game against Florida Gulf Coast  70-59. Jess Moors with 9 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of steals for the Atlantic.

In another derby game Bailey Flavell had 9 points and 3 assist for Hawaii in a 61-47 win v Hawaii at Hilo.

Florence Dallow added 8 points to 6 rebounds as Portland secured a 94-58 win against Long Beach State.

NCAA Division II

Hannah Wentworth dished 3 assists and scored 12 points but Lynn University were comfortably beaten by Florida Southern 83-57.

For Florida Southern men Charlie Dalton was busy against Lincoln in posting 10 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals in a comfortable 97-63 win. 

NCAA Division II

Jacob Fotu was an efficient 6 from 9 from the field and 4 from 4 at the free throw line as he mustered 18 points for Whitman College in an 86-76 win over Walla Walla.

Junior College

Aaron Sievert has had a strong start to this season with Casper College. The shooting guard has made 51 three-pointers at 43%.

In the Pro’s.

Emme Shearer and Tayla Dalton are in their rookie year as pros but haven’t had to wait long to taste success. The pair are members of the Northern Group Tauranga Whai team that are back-to-back G.J. Gardner Homes Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa champions after a runaway 93-66 Grand Final win against Probuild ITM Mainland Pouākai in Christchurch.

Emme in particular had an outstanding season as the leading NZ scorer in the league. She tallied 16 points in the final with Tayla scoring 7 points.

Having missed the start of the Australian NBL season through injury Sam Waardenburg made a long awaited return to the Cairns Taipans lineup. However his 8 points and 6 rebounds couldn’t prevent the Taipans suffering an 81-68 loss at the hands of the Tasmania Jack Jumpers.

The Breakers winning streak was snapped at 3 games after going down 92-80 at South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Sam Mennenga scored 9 points and added 9 rebounds while Tai Webster, playing his second game since re-joining the Breakers, scored 10 points.

Isaac Fotu totalled 17 points to help Utsunomiya Brex to a 95-90 victory over San-en NP in the Japanese League.

Yanni Wetzell had a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds to propel  Akita Northern Happinets to a narrow 89-85 win against Sea Horses Mikawa – just the fourth win of the season for the Happinets.

In the Japanese League third tier Dan Fotu had 14 points and 9 rebounds as Gifu Swoops beat Tokyo Z 86-62.

Meanwhile, in the British League, Brayden Inger pulled down a career high 18 rebounds to supplement 10 points but it was not enough to prevent Hemel Storm going down 98-85 to Essex Rebels. 

James Moors grabbed a team high 10 rebounds and added 7 points as Traiskirchen Lions were beaten 89-63 by Kapfenburg in the Austrian League.

In the Australian WNBL Akiene-Tera Reed scored 10 points as Southside Melbourne Flyers fell 97-71 to Canberra Capitals.