Joy at being selected for her first full-blown New Zealand age-group team was quickly tinged with despair for Tauranga schoolgirl Courtney Wilson when she learned it was good friend and Tauranga rep teammate Makayla Daysh she was replacing in the national under-18 side.
Wilson, 16, was initially picked as non-travelling reserve in the New Zealand side for the Australian state nationals in Perth but got a call at school at Aquinas College several weeks ago to say she would be on the plane.
"They didn't say who, the coach just said one person had pulled out and I was in," Wilson said. "I was pretty excited to get the opportunity but when I saw Makayla at training that afternoon and found out she'd been injured it was pretty hard because she's one of my real good friends."
Daysh, also 16, was one of the top selections for the New Zealand lineup, with the 1.85m forward a huge talent and earmarked as a future prospect for the Tall Ferns.
But her plans to suit up in Perth next week came crashing down when she was double-teamed in a tackle while playing sevens rugby for Tauranga Girls' College against Opotiki last month, tearing the medial ligament on her left knee.
Instead it was Wilson and Otumoetai College's Theo Johnson who left Auckland yesterday bound for Western Australia, where the New Zealand age-group teams will line up against the top state sides from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Northern Territory. New Zealand under-18 men were fourth last year in Perth, with their female counterparts 11th.
Daysh, who had only just started playing sevens, had burst 60m upfield after collecting an Opotiki kickoff when her basketball career came to a screeching halt.
"It was the Sunday before our last basketball trial and I got tackled from behind by one girl, with another hitting me from the side."
Daysh knew straight away it wasn't good, with scans showing the tear and deep bone bruising. "My [New Zealand] coach was a bit annoyed when he found out."
She'll be sidelined for up to two months, although disappointment at missing out was tempered by the fact Wilson gets to go in her place, with the pair Tauranga reps together and part of a national development squad tour to Port Macquarie last year.
Johnson and Wilson crossed the ditch in January with Koru development teams, although both were roundly thrashed. Johnson left yesterday feeling more confident about his team's chances in Perth, where any court time he gets will be at point guard, shooting guard or small forward. "This is a pretty solid team and big too, so I'm hoping we should do okay"
Johnson was part of a history-making Otumoetai College team last year that won the Bay of Plenty championship and qualified for the premier nationals as well, finishing 12th. Daysh's Tauranga Girls' side also had a great year, making the top eight at nationals for the first time.
Two other Tauranga basketballers, Kelcy Ballantyne and Connor Johnston, are down to the last 20 in the selection hunt for the New Zealand under-16 teams.