Basketball will take centre stage in Wairarapa sport over the weekend with three national league men's sides contesting the Highwayman Motel tournament at the Genesis Recreation Centre in Masterton tonight and tomorrow. Finalising their preparations for the forthcoming NBL season will be defending champions, the Hawke's Bay Hawks, Palmerston North Jetsand the Taranaki Mountain Airs, and they will be joined by a Wairarapa invitation team with a good mix of experience and youth. Organiser Gareth Teahan said the timing of the tourney meant all three NBL teams would be approaching their matches in serious fashion. "They are not here for fun, they are at the stage where combinations need to be working well and they'll be looking for that to happen here," Teahan said. Tonight's draw sees Taranaki Mountain Airs playing the Bay Hawks at 6pm and the Palmerston North Jets squaring off against the Wairarapa invitation team at 8pm. The two winners will then play in the grand final at 7pm on Saturday in a match which will be preceded by that between the two losers, which will get under way at 5pm. Going on last season's form the Bay Hawks have to be the team to beat, even more so with the news that their American "import" Kareem Johnson will be part of their squad. They will be coached by Darren Larsen, who is also involved in an assistant coaching role with the Tall Blacks. Another high profile player strutting his stuff will be Darren Rampton, a member of the Taranaki Mountain Airs team who was in the Tall Blacks when they finished a stunning fourth at the world championships. Rampton will not be the only former Tall Black playing this weekend. Kent Mori, from Palmerston North, will be part of the invitation side as will Blair Truslove, who played for the New Zealand Breakers in their debut season in the ABL and who is now their coaching director manager. Playing alongside Rampton and Trislove will be four Wairarapa-based players. Stu Northe has been part of the province's premier side for the last three years, Joe Papaii debuted for them last year, Martinborough's Heath Kershaw formerly played for the Otago Nuggets and has spent the last three years playing in Brisbane and 19-year-old Ben Bull has just trialled for the Palmerston North Jets and has been accepted as part of their development squad. He will also play for the Manawatu under-21s this year. There will also be some big names in the refereeing ranks this weekend too, notably Wairarapa's own Andy Thackray, who has officiated at international level both in New Zealand and overseas.
