GISBORNE basketball teams have come back from Tauranga laden with gold.
Four of the 12 age-group teams representing Gisborne Basketball Association (GBA) at the Mel Young Easter Classic tournament won their finals yesterday.
Adrian Sparks’s boys beat Tauranga White 69-64 on Court 4 at Trustpower Arena in the under-17 B Grade final; they won six games out of six.
The boys’ u15 A team under Adam Tapsell followed up their 75-74 Game 1 win against Victoria’s Berwick Saints Defenders with a 93-82 victory on TAC5 second time around.
Coach Sparks said: “Every game was a tussle and we became more cohesive as a team, playing tighter defence game by game. It’s better to be a warrior in the garden, than a gardener in a war.
“We look forward to playing in the A Grade next year.”
The Reggie Namana-coached girls’ u15 team were too strong for Tauranga, winning the B Grade final 81-27 on TAC9.
They had pulverised New Plymouth Green 83-19 in the semifinals and played the perfect tourney — five wins from five games.
The boys’ u13 A team beat Waikato Blue 59-28 for the B Grade crown on TA3.
Lawrence Mulligan’s u13 A boys were dominant.
“The core of this team’s been together for three years and the bulk of this squad competed at the Māori tournament in the premier grade, narrowly missing the playoffs,” Mulligan said.
“David Glendenning created our motion offence, and the boys committed to playing pressure defence.
“This was a complete team performance in which the boys knew and understood their roles, and executed them.”
The boys’ u15 Black team under Sean Pocock lost their third C Grade game 78-76 to Lake Taupō but later beat the same outfit 71-66 to claim bronze.
Coach Matt Tong’s u13 boys’ B team finished their C Grade campaign with a 55-30 loss to Tauranga Gold, leaving TA4 in fourth place with heads held high.
Luke Bradley’s girls’ u17s came sixth, bowing out with a 77-66 loss to Rotorua at the Mount Sports Centre.
The improvement in skills, discipline and output in all facets of play from every GBA team in Tauranga was noted.
The boys’ u11 B, and girls’ u13 A Grade teams — under Dom Wilson and Thomas Tindale respectively — finished their Easter Classic campaigns in fifth place.
Wilson’s unit signed off with a 49-27 win against Waikato Country Green on Court 1 at Tauranga Boys’ College. Tindale’s u13 A girls lost 50-48 to Waikato Country Blue in their quarterfinal at the Mount Sports Centre on Sunday.
Jimmy Wilson’s girls’ u13 B team won three out of six games in round-robin play to come fourth. They lost games 1, 3 and 6, and beat New Plymouth Blue 40-27, Tauranga 54-30 and Thames Valley 49-44.
The boys’ u11 team in the A Grade, coached by Willie Brown, lost the seventh/eighth playoff 63-25 to Tauranga on Court 1 at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre. But they had one of the magic moments of the tourney first up, in a heart-stopping 40-39 win against Tauranga at the QEYC Memorial Hall.
The GBA’s Cinderella story of this year’s tournament was that of the u11 girls coached by Daniel Beets and Nadia Hohipa. They won three games in a row before a 67-12 loss to unbeaten Waikato Red and then won their last two matches in the round-robin.
The u11 girls came from 12 points down to beat Tauranga 36-28 on QEYC1 in Game 6.
Beets stressed the importance of defence, and boxing out to secure rebounds — a message that sank in and paid off.
“We had leaders, such as Charleigh Karauria, who made game-plans and talked the most, and Merekahu Matahiki, who gave two assists a game,” Beets said.
“Our centre, Te Wai Kauri Hohipa-Smith, averaged a triple-double (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 blocks a game) and Piata Coleman hasn’t long been playing but brought the ball upcourt for us, leaving the opposition for dust. All of these girls play great physical hoops, which I love.”
GBA chair Kylie Turuwhenua-Tapsell was rapt with the performance put on by the association’s young teams.
“In Tauranga, our coaches and committee saw growth, with every team moving from more individual play to real team basketball. We’ve come back very proud of our effort and achievements.
“It’s given our players and teams a positive focus, which is a great win for us.”