Dante Matakatea in action for the Indian Panthers against the Hawks in Napier earlier this season. Photo / Photosport
Dante Matakatea in action for the Indian Panthers against the Hawks in Napier earlier this season. Photo / Photosport
The Hawke’s Bay Hawks will have a bit of a new look with two new arrivals for two crucial on-tour matches in the South Island this weekend.
New on the team, with seven matches to play before the Sal’s NBL playoffs, are American import Brandon Alston, from Washington DC, and20-year-old Aucklander Dante Matakatea, who had approached the Big Barrel Hawks amid the vanquishing of the Panthers, for whom he’d played earlier in the season.
Alston replaces previous import Darnell Cowart, who was injured and had to be released, and, along with Matakatea, will relieve some of the pressure as the Hawks, placed fifth on the ladder and targeting a top-six berth for the playoffs in July, face the temporary loss of players heading for national team duties.
Jackson Ball, who scored 40 in the opening game of the season against the Panthers, willbe away for four games with the Junior Tall Blacks at the June 28-July 6 Fiba Junior World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland, along with Kahu Treacher, and Campbell Scott will be away with a national under-21 3x3 team.
Hawks general manager Jarrod Kenny said both Alston and Matakatea are on the team sheet for Saturday’s game against Sal’s NBL leaders and defending champions the Canterbury Rams in Christchurch and Monday’s match against Nelson Giants, in Nelson.
