Basketball is quickly becoming New Zealand’s trendiest sport.
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The Hawke’s Bay Under 20 Basketball team came close to winning it all at the National Championships, despite only playing together for a short time.
The Foot Locker U20 Nationals were held over King’s Birthday weekend and saw the best young players from around the country meet in Tauranga todo battle on the court.
James Henare, Hawke’s Bay U20 coach and older brother of former Tall Black coach Paul Henare, pulled a team together that included six Hawke’s Bay Hawks players at the last minute.
“I think we might’ve had two full trainings together,” laughed Henare.
The team drew a tricky pool, which featured Auckland, Wellington, and Nelson, but the team had a winning mindset and beat Auckland 90-58 and Wellington 75-66, but went down to Nelson 83 to 55.
The Hawke's Bay U20 Men's Basketball Team finished 2nd at the National Championships in Tauranga.
However, the two wins were enough to get them into the preliminary quarter-finals, where they took on Manawatū and won 92-58, carrying on into the next round where they took on Counties Manukau, who came out strong early.
“They were a bunch of big lads – they looked like they should’ve been on a rugby field, but our boys weathered the storm,” Henare said about the 80-66 win.
Then the team found themselves up against North Shore, one of the biggest basketball programmes in the country, with a place in the final on the line.
Hawks player Zoram Smiler hit a late shot, giving Hawke’s Bay 25 seconds to defend for the win, with Henare calling it the longest 25 seconds of his life.
The team was then off to the finals where the team met a dominant Canterbury.
“They were very tough,” Henare said.
“They went nine for 13 from the three line in the first half and the score was 67 – 42."
Despite the blowout at the half the team stayed in the game and managed to claw back some points, but Canterbury were just too good and won the game 113-93.
“Canterbury is setting a high pedestal in New Zealand basketball because they keep winning everything,” Henare said.
“So it’s good to be able to compete against them but we just lag that little bit behind them at the moment.”
Despite the loss, Henare said he couldn’t be prouder of his team and is getting ready for next year’s competition.
“We’re trying to build a culture in Hawke’s Bay where the programme keeps running strong right through and we’re developing these kids.”
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier.
