Action from the Te Arawa under-19 women's team at the 2017 National Maori Basketball Tournament in Rotorua.
Te Arawa teams have won two titles at the National Maori Basketball Tournament in Rotorua.
The annual competition attracted a record 165 team teams to the Energy Events Centre with games played from Thursday to Saturday.
Te Arawa were represented across 13 grades and the home teams performed strongly -especially across the female draw, winning the under-15 girls' and under-19 women's grades.
The under-19 team also finished up as women open B-grade runners-up after losing to Tainui Kakariki in the final 34-45.
Te Arawa under-19 player Awatea Leach during her side's final against Tainui Kakariki. PHOTO/ BEN FRASER
Te Arawa under-19 coach Darrell Pene said he was pleased with his side's performance over the tournament but missed three-pointers cost them dearly in the final.
"We've had a very good run through and it's impressive that such a young side made it through to that B-grade final," Pene said. "We just needed to pick up the intensity a bit more because we were up against a very good side. They exploited our weakness and pushed ahead at crucial stages.
"But everything is looking very bright for the future of this team and what a result also with our younger players."
The under-15 team, coached by Steven Adams' older brother Moses Beckham, beat Ngati Toa 37-24 in their final.
The Te Arawa under-19 team with coach Darrell Pene. PHOTO/ SUPPLIED
Beckham, who said he had taken some of Adams' "words of wisdom" ahead of the tournament, added fitness and a strong defence set his side apart.
"I always pick his [Adams] brain about basketball. This is a tournament that I give him a heads-up about," Beckham said.
"I was pretty confident coming into this because a lot of them play other sports so fitness was never going to be an issue. You have to have that with three days of intense competition. Each player had to really push themselves.
"The final was such a close game at the end of the first quarter it was only 3-2 to us. It was a brutal game with lots of fouls being pulled up. Our defence pulled it out of the bag for us. It was a great whole team effort and I'm excited about the future for them all in basketball."
The open awards went to Tainui (Waikato) in the men's open division and Tainui Kahurangi (Waikato) in the women's open division.
The Te Arawa men's team finished fourth overall, following on from their runners-up position last year.
Te Arawa men's open player Tamakari Vercoe-Kameta in action during pool play. PHOTO/ BEN FRASER
Other positive results for Te Arawa included the under-13 boys and under-11 girls finishing third and the under-17 boys runners-up in their B-grade final.
Tournament director Sue Pene said she was impressed with the standard of play throughout the tournament and added the future looks bright for basketball locally.
"It's been a very busy one this year because of so many teams, I'm sure this is the biggest tournament of its kind in New Zealand," she said.
"The quality was certainly higher and there were some very close games. In the past we've had it where a couple of the iwi dominate but that's all changed now.
"Basketball is very healthy in the area right now and it's going to be interesting to see how far our young players will go. The key is to keep them in the game past junior level, that's hard in an area like this where lots of sport is available but it's a great sport to be a part of."
2017 National Maori Basketball Tournament results:
Men's grade: Tainui (Waikato); Women's grade: Tainui Kahurangi (Waikato); Mixed grade: Rakaipaaka (Hawke's Bay); Masters grade: Heretaunga (Hawke's Bay); Special Olympics: Ngati Toa (Porirua); U19 women: Te Arawa (Rotorua); U19 men: Morehu U17 boys: Ngati Toa (Porirua ); U17 girls: Rangitane (Manawatu); U15 boys: Ahuriri (Hawke's Bay) ; U15 girls: Te Arawa (Rotorua); U13 boys: Rakaipaaka (Hawke's Bay); U13 girls: Te Maru o Mauao (Tauranga); U11 boys: Tainui Kahurangi (Waikato); U11 girls: Tainui Kahurangi (Waikato); U9 boys Ngati Toa (Porirua); U9 girls: Tainui Kahurangi (Waikato).
