Hineaupounamu Nuku from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori ō Te Kura Kōkiri competes at last year's National secondary schools 3x3 basketball championships at Mount Maunganui. Photo / File
Hineaupounamu Nuku from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori ō Te Kura Kōkiri competes at last year's National secondary schools 3x3 basketball championships at Mount Maunganui. Photo / File
Basketball's continued growth has extended to the sport's shortened format with a record number of entries in this year's Secondary School 3x3 championships in Mount Maunganui.
Close to 600 players will take to the courts at Trustpower Arena from today for the 2019 Secondary Schools 3x3 Champs, which end onFriday.
Team entries have increased 22 per cent from last year with 128 teams - from 52 different schools - competing this week. Seventeen of these teams have travelled from the South Island.
The tournament caters to two different age groups across both genders, junior and senior, and two different playing levels, open and elite.
Headlining the entries to this year's champs are St Peter's School of Cambridge, led by Tall Fern Charlisse Leger Walker. The current Schick Championship AA Girls National Champions and Secondary Schools 3X3 Champions look to extend their dominance in the game's shortened format, in what shapes to be the most highly contested grade at the event.
The three-point shootout and dunk contest returns in 2019 and will showcase the marksmanship and explosive athleticism on-hand. Last year's Dunk Contest winner Shalom Broughton is competing for Saint Kentigern College in the senior elite grade and should be keen to retain his title as the competition's highest flyer.
National coaches Joshua Thompson (U18 3X3 men's coach) and Anthony Corbin (3X3 men's coach) will also be attending, keeping a watchful eye on the country's next generation of talent. With 3x3 now an Olympic sport, players will appreciate the opportunity to be under the gaze of national selectors.
Games start at 9am today, with playoffs on Friday and an awards ceremony about 5.30pm.
