A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
That’s what you call character.
The Gisborne Basketball Association under-15 girls bounced back from a 93-30 loss to Central Zone champions Taranaki in Game 1 of the age-group qualifiers at Queen’s Birthday Weekend to qualify for the Aon u15 National Championship Tournament.
GBA head coach Dwayne Tamatea was rapt.
“These girls’ attitudes were great,” he said.
“They improved and played well. But it’s time to start digging deep, because the hard work starts now.”
The national tourney will be held at Auckland’s Bruce Pulman Arena from July 18 to 21.
“With the exception of the u13 boys’ A crew, across the board our teams were smaller than their opponents,” Tamatea said.
“The u13s won every game bar the final, and our u13 boys’ development team only just missed out on making the semifinals.
“The u17s boys showed promise but the older the age-group, the higher the bar is in terms of skills and scoring.
“Both of our u15 teams played harder defence and their rebounding picked up as the weekend went on. They learned that the team who control their own boards control the tempo of the game. And they gave fewer 50-50 passes and gave up fewer turnovers.”
The u15 girls beat New Plymouth 56-48 and Whanganui 64-19 before losing 58-45 to Hawke’s Bay in the semis and 42-30 to Manawatu in the playoff for third.
Captain Kaden Moeke said it was tough at times during the weekend, but the support of experienced players like Amoe Wharehinga and Piper Donaldson helped everyone stay composed.
Energy, enthusiasm and effortMoeke, Riley Lewis of the u11 girls, Koru representative Manaia McGhee of the boys’ u15 A team and Jack Whaitiri of the u17 boys all stood out for their energy, enthusiasm and effort.
The u17 boys began their campaign with two losses — 80-52 to Manawatu and 75-71 to Hawke’s Bay — but bounced back with a 94-74 win against Levin.
Holden Wilson (21pts), Jack Whaitiri (18pts) and Karlyle Te Maari (7pts) were in great touch against Levin, and Isaiah Lemaua (4pts) played a strong fourth quarter.
Gisborne u17s coach Adam Tapsell was impressed by the leadership of captain Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown, along with the positive attitude and work ethic of forwards Adam Nepe, Darius Waititi-Leach, Tamati Horua and Whaitiri, who went toe to toe with big opposition in Hawke’s Bay.
Tapsell made special mention of Lytton High School’s hard-hustling Whaitiri, whose fighting qualities as a rebounder marked him out as a player for the future.
The u17s ended their tournament on a high note, overwhelming Whanganui 84-53 with sheer hustle on the back of a monster game from Tuwairua-Brown. The shooting guard hit a three-point shot to open the scoring and had four “treys” in total. He led all scorers in either team with 33 points.
“We didn’t achieve what we set out to, which is finish in the top three to qualify, but it was good to finish with a convincing win,” Tapsell said.
“We matched up size-wise with the opposition, yet we lacked experience — you couldn’t fault the effort.”
The u15 boys’ A team under coach Reg Namana lost 100-49 to Hawke’s Bay A and 66-43 to Manawatu Green, hammered Levin 85-35 and were pipped 58-55 by Whanganui in a thriller.
“We played hard consistently, and we played smart at times,” Namana said.
“It was a little like the Rising Suns in the old days — no height — but our team played with big hearts.”
The u15 boys’ development team lost 106-28 to Manawatu Black, 117-24 to Taranaki, 110-23 to Hawke’s Bay B and 73-69 to Levin.
“We’re a young team, with players new to the game and it was a high standard,” u13 boys’ development captain Sebastian Wilson said.
“We were more comfortable being on the court and handling the ball by the last day. Will Collier scored 25 points against
Levin, and that was our best match-effort of the tournament.”
The u13 boys’ A team ran the Ngamotu Hoop Club’s B team off the floor 87-21, and did much the same against the Hawke’s Bay u13 girls, 69-33. They beat Hawke’s Bay Black 63-48 and, in the semifinals, beat the Ngamotu Hoop Club’s A team 68-47.
They played Hawke’s Bay A in the final and lost 71-49.
The u13 boys’ development team lost to Hawke’s Bay A 89-39 and Ngamotu Hoop Club A 57-53. They played superbly to hold off Hawke’s Bay White and win 70-60, but they lost the playoff for fifth spot, 52-51, to the Hawke’s Bay u13 girls.
The u11 girls beat Hawke’s Bay White 50-19 and lost 57-33 to Hawke’s Bay Black. They lost 58-22 to Swish, then lost their rematch with Hawke’s Bay White 20-0 in the playoff for third and fourth.
Basketball Hawke’s Bay tournament co-ordinator Morgan Maskell said: “The Gisborne teams were very competitive, win or lose — they’re very physical and their u15 girls’ team had players who were dangerous at both ends, and who could take the ball to the basket.”
Tamatea said the Gisborne players started to play better team basketball and their structure improved as the tournament progressed.
“We can always make more easy shots and free-throws — that’s a factor for every player, every team,” he said.
“Our kids love ball, the companionship, the morale and the humour. They’re trusted by the coaches to make good decisions on and off the court, which they do.”
The Basketball New Zealand u13 central zone regional championships — both boys’ and girls’ open-entry tournaments — will be held in Lower Hutt from October 10 to 13, while the u11s will go to the invitation tournament in Rotorua over Labour Weekend.
The Gisborne Boys’ High School A basketball team, who contain players from the Gisborne u17 team, will play Rotorua Boys’
High School at the John McFarlane Memorial Sports Centre at Gisborne Boys’ High School this Sunday.
The 10-team men’s club basketball league, which will run at both Boys’ High and the YMCA, is set to begin on Monday.