Last season’s national league runners-up overcame TTU KK 90-61 in the final with former New Zealand NBL star Josh Pace recording a double double of 15 points/11 rebounds.

Kalev cruised to the title game by defeating Kuremaa 85-75 in the quarterfinals and overwhelming Parnu 105-53 in the semis, after leading 59-18 at halftime.

Meanwhile, former national coach Tab Baldwin and his U-Mobitelco Cluj Napoca had an easy start to the Romanian national league, walking over Rapid Bucuresti 106-32 in their opening game.

Emerging Tall Black Leon Henry finished with 18 points (8/8 FG, 1/1 3pt, 1/2 FT) and six rebounds in 17 minutes as 2007/08 runners-up Mobitelco ran out to a 41-7 advantage in the opening quarter.

In Spain, Tall Black centre Craig Bradshaw led Grupo Begar Leon to a 61-51 win over Basquet Mallorca, scoring 14 points (6/7 FG, 2/4 FT) and grabbing five rebounds. Leon, relegated from the ACB last season, are 3-1 for the season, tied in second position on the LEB Gold competition.

Tall Fern Lisa Wallbutton also experienced a comfortable start to their Belgium women’s league, managing nine points in Dexia Namur’s 106-57 victory over newcomers Blue Cats Leper.

In Australia, Kiwi point guard Angela Marino helped champions Adelaide Lightning maintain their unbeaten start to the WNBL season, compiling 17 points (4/11 FG, 2/5 3pt, 7/8 FT), six assists, six rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes of a 97-65 win over Bendigo.

Ferns team-mate Natalie Purcell continued her good form for the expansion Logan Thunder with 16 points (5/13 FG, 4/9 3pt, 2/2 FT), six rebounds and a steal in a 48-63 road loss to Dandenong.

She also had eight points (3/11 FG, 1/8 3pt, 1/2 FT), three assists, a rebound and a steal in Logan’s 61-92 loss to Bulleen Boomers the next day. Kiwi shooter Lisa Pardon had 17 points (6/9 FG, 5/7 3pt) and four assists for Bulleen.

In the Australian men’s league, Tall Black point guard Lindsay Tait was on hand to boost Wollongong Hawks to an 85-82 win over Perth Wildcats.

Tait hit a baseline jumper to cap a 7-0 run that tied the scores at 82-82. Former Bay Hawks import Dusty Rychart hit a rare three pointer for the win.

Former NZ centre Tony Rampton helped Sydney Spirit to a pair of wins over the weekend, posting two points (1/2 FG), six rebounds and two blocks in a 98-92 road win over the winless Gold Coast Blaze.

Tall Black Casey Frank had 14 points (6/10 FG, 2/4 FT), six boards and two assists for the Blaze, while international captain Pero Cameron had six points and three rebounds.

With a dominating performance in their 60-58 win over North Harbour, Canterbury’s Brandon Gleaves took home the under-13 boys MVP, while Tessa Boagni took home the girls award after Canterbury held off Harbour for a 61-60 win.

Waikato did the double in the under-15 grade, with Kurt Heatherley claiming the boys MVP after an 88-82 win over Nelson, and Veshae Wilkinson, who hit the winning free-throw, got the girls accolade after a 63-62 victory against Waitakere City.

Oreo Under-13 & Under-15 National Championships

Tournament Teams

Under-15 Boys

Hoani Tepania-Walker (Porirua), Komiti Oli (Hawke’s Bay), Niko Buckrell (Hutt Valley), Logan Botica (Massey), Scott Cameron (Nelson), Matt Lacey (North Harbour), Kurt Heatherley (Waikato), Tim Aspilata (Counties Manukau), Jershon Hereaka (Waikato), Ollie Shallcrass (Nelson)

Most Valuable Player
Kurt Heatherley (Waikato)

Under-15 Girls

Holly Lloyd (Canterbury), Hana Wilkinson (Nelson), Alex Svoboda (North Canterbury), Deena Franklin (North Harbour), Faustina Maria (Waitakere City), Isabella Lawrence (Waitakere City), Penina Davidson (Waitakere City), Kalani Purcell (Waikato), Rhaiah Spooner-Knight (Waikato), Veshae Wilkinson (Waikato)

Most Valuable Player
Veshae Wilkinson (Waikato)

Under-13 Boys

Brandon Gleaves (Canterbury), DJ Shadrock (Canterbury), Samuel Wong (North Canterbury), Barkhad Mohamed (Wellington), Whetu Simmons (Waikato Black), Josh Armitt (Massey), Jaylen Gerrand (Hibiscus Coast), Keanu Singsam (Counties Manukau), Niko Morales (North Harbour), Luuk Witteveen (North Harbour)

Most Valuable Player
Brandon Gleaves (Canterbury)

Under-13 Girls

Gracie Roberts (Nelson), Maia Watene (Counties Manukau), Faamu Ross (Waitakere City), Aaliyah Smiler-Ah Kiong (Hawke’s Bay), Shenade Southon (Hawke’s Bay), Ella Robertson (Mid Canterbury), Tessa Boagni (Canterbury), Tevina Wanoa (Canterbury), Petra Dye-Hutchinson (North Harbour), Annabelle Jenkins (North Harbour)

Most Valuable Player
Tessa Boagni (Canterbury)

Oreo Under-15 National Championships

Rotorua Events Centre, Rotorua

Day Five – Friday, October 10

BOYS

Final: Waikato 88 Nelson 83

3rd/4th: North Harbour 58 Hutt Valley 40
5th/6th: Counties Manukau 82 Massey 80
7th/8th: Wellington 93 Whangarei 81
9th/10th: Hawke’s Bay 77 Porirua 60
11th/12th: Auckland 94 Otago 67
13th/14th: Canterbury 67 Western BOP 38
15th/16th: Rotorua 70 Mid Canterbury 57

GIRLS

Final: Waikato 63 Waitakere City 62

3rd/4th: North Harbour 92 North Canterbury 59
5th/6th: Nelson 66 Canterbury 59
7th/8th: Massey 84 Wellington 73
9th/10th: Hutt Valley 66 New Plymouth 50
11th/12th: Southland 65 Counties Manukau 63
13th/14th: Hawke’s Bay 50 Rotorua 42
15th/16th: Western BOP 68 Thames Valley 38

Oreo Under-13 National Championships

Rotorua Events Centre, Rotorua

Day Five – Friday, October 10

BOYS

Final: Canterbury 60 North Harbour 58

3rd/4th: Waikato Black 68 Wellington 62
5th/6th: Waitakere City 71 Massey 65
7th/8th: Hibiscus Coast 84 Hutt Valley 72
9th/10th: Nelson 59 Otago 52
11th/12th: Hawke’s Bay 76 New Plymouth 71
13th/14th: Rotorua 85 North Canterbury 71
15th/16th: Counties Manukau 80 Waikato Gold 41

GIRLS

Final: Canterbury 61 North Harbour 60

3rd/4th: Counties Manukau 44 Hawke’s Bay 43
5th/6th: Waikato 61 Nelson 40
7th/8th: Waitakere City 60 Rotorua 14
9th/10th: Auckland 57 North Canterbury 47
11th/12th: Mid Canterbury 80 Wellington 58
13th/14th: Hutt Valley 55 Porirua 41
15th/16th: Hibiscus Coast 95 Thames Valley 37

Pushed through by 35 points from guard Veshae Wilkinson and 16 points from forward Kalani Purcell and captain Rhaiah Spooner-Knight, Waikato romped to a 40-point semifinal win, 100-60, over North Harbour to reach under-15 girls final at the Oreo Under-13 & Under-15 National Championships in Rotorua.

Between Waikato and the title remains fellow unbeaten squad Waitakere City, who survived a late scare before putting away North Canterbury 67-52 in the other semi.

With Wilkinson dropping 16 points in the opening period, Waikato bounced out to a 23-11 lead at the first break and never let up on Harbour.

A 22-13 second and 33-16 third period, saw the Mooloo girls up 38 points with a quarter to play, allowing coach Charleena Hawea to get her bench quality minutes in the fourth quarter, with Shermaiah Pardi coming on to score eight points.

“We played that game like they were going to come out and give us a good run. We respect Harbour basketball, so we weren’t going to take them lightly,” Waikato assistant coach Parlayne Hawea said.

With identical 5-0 records, similar athletes and playing styles, the Waikato-Waitakere final showdown shapes to be much closer.

“Waitakere have got some quality guards and they’ve got Penina Davidson on the inside, who has been playing well. This is the Cinderella story. We were hoping some of the other teams were going to give them a run but they’re showing that they’re up there. We knew we were going to play them in the final.

“It’s the two best teams here and I’m hoping it’s going to be a great final.”

Revenge may be a motivating factor for Waitakere, with the bulk of both squads facing each other in last year’s under-13 girls final.

“There’s a far few girls that played against Waikato last year,” said Waitakere coach Greg Davidson. “I know they’re very very hungry to get out there and compete against them again. Waikato won that game, quite a big margin, and there’s a few girls who would like to reverse that.

“Waikato are a very tough, physical team and we have to be ready for that. We have to do well against their press and make sure we look after the ball. We need to be smart about our defensive match-ups and not get into foul trouble.”

Waitakere gave Coach Davidson more heart palpitations in their semi.

After leading by 15 points with a quarter to play and cruising to the final, Waitakere let the feisty North Cantabs pressure them into turnovers and poor shots, watching their lead shrink to five points with three minutes remaining.

In a low-scoring fourth, North Canterbury captain Anita Snowdon scored eight points to help them close the gap. Davidson, who scored a game-high 21 points, had 11 points in the third period to push Waitakere clear.

Both under-13 girls finalists, Canterbury and North Harbour, were impressive in their semifinals on Thursday.

Behind 20 points from Annabelle Jenkins, Harbour made quick work of Hawke’s Bay, winning 73-42 after leading by 27 points at halftime. Canterbury captain Laken Wairau scored a game-high 21 points as the South Islanders overcame Counties Manukau late, 60-50.

Eunice San-Luis added 13 points for Harbour, who ran out to a 20-7 lead at the first intermission and put the game away by halftime, up 42-15. Tessa Boagni and Gabriela Edmondson were Canterbury’s other double-digit scorers, with Boagni scoring a dozen and Edmondson 10 points.

The Taipans poured in 70 points in the second half to complement a mighty defensive effort, the visitors shrugging off their miserable scoring woes against the Tigers with a 35 and 35 split in the third and fourth quarters.

Despite contributing a respectable 23 points for the home side Kirk Penney struggled to find his usual metronomic accuracy from the field for New Zealand and was dispossessed four times in the first half. It was characteristic of the Taipans effort over the four quarters. Centre Rick Rickert contributed yet another double-double with 25 points and 10 boards.

The Taipans’ scoring was led by Darnell Mee with 26 points (7 assists), 16 of which came in the second half. He had plentiful support from Dave Thomas with 22 (6 boards), Ian Crosswhite threw in 21 points and Larry Abney had a double-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds.

Taipans’ coach Alan Black was delighted with the over-all discipline and tactical execution his team showed in Auckland.

“I thought we lost our way a little bit late in the second quarter – we had a game plan to get out at their three point shooters – but I thought we did a tremendous job for the rest of the game,” Black said.

“We put their main shooters under pressure and made other people beat us and we did that pretty well. Offensive, where we’ve struggled a fair bit this season we had a huge effort,”

Black said that despite last Saturday’s miserable shooting performance against the Melbourne Tigers, he’d always had confidence his players would turn it around.

“I went over the tape after the Tigers game and I thought we took the right shots in that game… We just missed them.”

“I looked at every shot we took in that game and decided we could turn that performance around pretty quickly. We know we have plenty of good shooters and I thought the big fella (Ian Crosswhite) was really good getting us some tough inside baskets.”

Indeed Cairns looked sharp from the get-go with big man Crosswhite racing to eight points in just over four minutes and Stephen Black sticking to the Breakers guards like glue.

The home sides’ chief scoring threat Kirk Penney immediately found himself under very close attention, robbed twice inside four minutes by Darnell Mee and Black. A Tony Ronaldson turnover was then punished with a three by Dave Thomas and Cairns was out to a 15-7 after five minutes.

Breakers’ coach Andrej Lemanis reacted by pulling Penney and Ronaldson to the bench in favour of Boucher and Jones and a moment later Rickert brought his teams’, and his own, tally to 11 points.

Cairns’ big men Crosswhite and Matt Smith were proving a handful forcing the hosts into foul trouble with six fouls on the board halfway through the period.

Dave Thomas hit a long field goal to follow a Black triple and the Taipans’ lead was out to 14 at 25-11.

Penney opened his account nine minutes into the match with a triple and Phill Jones and CJ Bruton followed suit. When Darnell Mee gave up a traveling violation Bruton ensured the hosts carried some momentum into the second quarter: driving through three Cairns’ defenders to lay-up, draw a foul and add the extra point, the first quarter closing 27-28.

With six minutes remaining in the second period both teams were racing into bonus foul territory on five each. Point guard Paul Henare then gave the hosts their first lead 39-37 with another intercept and breakaway.

With 3.45 left in the second Breakers big man Rick Rickert went to the bench for his second breather taking 19 points and 8 boards with him.

Bruton and Aaron Grabau shared a colourful difference on opinions after a Breakers foul and on the next possession the Breaker let his hands do the talking - nailing his second triple and then adding another for a seven point lead. Centre Tim Behrendorff then made it three triples in three possessions and with just over a minute left remaining Jones slotted his second three – the half ending 60-52, New Zealand ahead.

An Oscar Forman field goal three minutes into the third brought up his first points of the game but Dave Thomas then went on a seven point scoring run to tie-up the hosts lead complemented by Mee’s first triple. Black ensured Cairns were winning the long range battle with his third for the quarter and Cairns’ lead was back out to four. With five remaining in the third, the Taipans were riding 27-14 scoring blitz.

Compounding New Zealand’s concerns Penney picked up his fourth personal soon after and Boucher went to the bench with his fifth. Rickert raised the crowd with a flying put-back dunk for his 23rd point in the dying seconds before Dave Thomas rimmed out a long range buzzer beater. Cairns taking an 87-83 three quarter lead.

Mee drove a dagger with smooth second triple after some smart team ball movement six minutes into the final term.

With eight minutes left, the Breakers had Dillon Boucher and Forman on five personals and Penney and Rickert sitting on four while Crosswhite and Abney looked increasingly dominant inside the key. With six minutes on the clock an Abney lay-up saw the lead out to 14 at 100-86. The writing was on the wall as Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis called his fourth time out.

Jones kept blazing away for the locals with four triples for the period. But Cairns’ were now being superbly marshalled by Mee while Abney was heavily involved at both ends.

The Breakers gave up strategic fouls over the last minute and a half as they tried to chip away at the 10-point plus lead but Cairns were nerveless down the stretch, Darnell Mee slotting eight consecutive free throws on four fouled possessions.

Forman and Penney then fouled out as Cairns ran down the clock for a deserved upset win.

Cairns Taipans 122 (Darnell Mee 26, Dave Thomas 22, Ian Crosswhite 21) NZ Breakers 111 (Rick Rickert 25, Phill Jones 24, Kirk Penney 23, C J Bruton 23)

With their offence able to effectively avoid the pressure for the first three quarters, Waikato held on for a 93-77 semifinal win over Hutt Valley on Thursday to get a shot at the under-15 boys title at the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships in Rotorua.

Guard Aaron Keppler top-scored with 25 points as Waikato used a 28-14 second quarter to pull away, setting up a final match-up with Nelson, who accounted for North Harbour 69-64 in the other semifinal.

Hutt Valley, not blessed with height but blessed with a team of hustlers, closed within nine points in the final quarter as their all-court pressure finally caused Waikato problems, forcing turnovers and turning up the heat.

“Even we struggled at times,” Waikato coach Albie Ellis said.

“We had a simple plan, it was to keep it away from their press and reverse the ball a lot. We have a lot of skilled players who can handle it. We just wanted to slow it down and run our stuff because they wanted to run.”

Waikato had little trouble beating the press in the first half, scoring freely and drawing fouls on Hutt Valley’s leading scorers Kurt Robinson and Tyler Tane in the opening quarter as they opened a six-point lead.

The Mooloos stretched it out to 20 points by halftime, thanks largely to Keppler and Kurt Heatherly, who went for 14 points, while Jershon Hereaka finished with 16 points for Waikato and Tane top-scored for Hutt with 16 points.

Guard Scott Cameron scored 26 points and Ollie Shallcrass 16 points, including three big threes, as Nelson held off a fourth quarter challenge from Harbour.

Nelson led by seven points after the second and third quarters but lost the lead early in the fourth on a three from Anamata Haku, before Shallcrass hit the first of his two fourth quarter bombs and Cameron scored seven points to close out the win.

The South Islanders dominated Harbour on the boards but still had to sweat out a missed Matt Lacey three with the clock winding down to avoid going to overtime.

“Nelson have got a great point guard, great bigs, great team, nothing fancy, just good team offence. I haven’t really seen them that much but we’ve got good guards and good wings but we’ve just got to box out and play good D,” Ellis said.

Nelson coach Tony Shallcrass made no secret his team would try to slow the game down to avoid getting in a running match with the physical and athletic Waikato boys.

“Waikato are a not too dissimilar team to us,” Shallcrass said. “They’re tall and play big inside and play good defence. They’re a well organised team.

“We’re probably going to struggle to match-up against them. They’re bigger than us and they’ve got a deep bench. Hopefully we can match-up well in the half-court. We need to rebound well and get the three going, shooting well from the outside.”

Meanwhile, Canterbury’s Brandon Gleaves dropped 33 points on Wellington to advance to an under-13 boys final against North Harbour, who beat Waikato Black 79-58.

Wellington gave the tall Canterbury line-up their biggest challenge of the tournament, leading by seven points at halftime and still by two points with a quarter to play.

But Canterbury flicked the switch in the fourth, out-scoring Wellington 22-6, with Gleaves scoring 10 points, to turn the game into a rout.

For Harbour, a 22-10 first quarter sent them on their way to a comfortable win over Waikato in the other semi. Niko Morales top-scored for Harbour, who held a double-digit lead for the majority of the game, while Jack Salt put in 15 points.

Oreo Under-15 National Championships

Rotorua Events Centre, Rotorua

Day Four – Thursday, October 9

BOYS

Semifinals
Nelson 69 North Harbour 64
Waikato 93 Hutt Valley 77

5th-8th
Counties Manukau 90 Wellington 63
Massey 97 Whangarei 82

9th-12th
Hawke’s Bay 101 Otago 96
Porirua 67 Auckland 56

13th-16th
Western BOP 73 Mid Canterbury 58
Canterbury 78 Rotorua 35

GIRLS

Semifinals
Waikato 100 North Harbour 60
Waitakere City 67 North Canterbury 52

5th-8th
Nelson 70 Massey 54
Canterbury 65 Wellington 60

9th-12th
Hutt Valley 84 Counties 63
New Plymouth 68 Southland 49

13th-16th
Rotorua 61 Western BOP 56
Hawke’s Bay 76 Thames Valley 45

Oreo Under-13 National Championships

Rotorua Events Centre, Rotorua

Day Four – Thursday, October 9

BOYS

Semifinals
Canterbury 67 Wellington 53
North Harbour 79 Waikato Black 58

5th-8th
Waitakere City 59 Hutt Valley 41
Massey 77 Hibiscus Coast 57

9th-12th
Nelson 72 Hawke’s Bay 67
Otago 59 New Plymouth 58

13th-16th
Rotorua 89 Counties Manukau 43
North Canterbury 74 Waikato Gold 41

GIRLS

Semifinals
Canterbury 60 Counties Manukau 50
North Harbour 73 Hawke’s Bay 42

5th-8th
Waikato 79 Rotorua 20
Nelson 78 Waitakere City 73

9th-12th
Auckland 60 Wellington 53
North Canterbury 48 Mid Canterbury 28

13th-16th
Porirua 58 Hibiscus Coast 56
Hutt Valley 70 Thames Valley 27

With sixth man Reeunne Pinono top-scoring with 19 points, Faustina Maria adding 17 points and Penina Davidson chipping in with 13, Waitakere rolled to a 90-60 win over Nelson in the quarterfinals at the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships.

Waitakere fell behind early as Nelson moved out to an 11-point lead at the first intermission.

But it was a different story the rest of the way, Waitakere outscoring their South Island rivals 21-7 in the second quarter to take a three-point halftime lead, then piling on with a 28-6 third period to seal a semifinal berth against North Canterbury.

“They’re playing some great basketball,” Waitakere coach Greg Davidson said, following the win on Wednesday.

“They gave me a scare last night against a very good Canterbury team. They had a big lead and then fell asleep and let them back in.

“We didn’t do the business defensively early today but they really picked it up. They’re a pretty motivated and experienced group and they’re playing well as a unit.

“I was really happy with how they picked up on the things we talked about last night. Some of the stuff we didn’t do last night, especially at the end of the game, we learned from and did today.”

Waitakere face another unbeaten team, North Canterbury, in Thursday’s semifinals. The Cantabs got 25 points from Alex Svoboda and 22 points from Anita Snowdon as they over-ran Massey 87-56 in the late quarter.

“We’re up against a pretty feisty North Canterbury team,” Davidson said. “I saw them execute against Harbour last night and they look pretty good.”

Waikato and North Harbour also looked impressive in their quarterfinal wins ahead of their semifinal showdown.

Waikato, featuring most of the Hamilton’s Fraser High squad that finished sixth at last week’s AA Secondary Schools National Championships, rolled to a 58-38 win over Canterbury, getting 22 points from guard Veshae Wilkinson and 19 points from forward Kalani Purcell.

Waikato locked-down on Canterbury in the second half, allowing them only 13 points in the third and fourth quarters as they pulled away.

Harbour used strong opening and third quarter performances and 20 points from Brooke Adams to repel previously unbeaten Wellington 68-55, handing the shocked Capital side their first loss all season.

Harbour got out to an eight-point lead in the first quarter, with Adams and Deena Franklin combining for 14 points, then absorbed Wellington’s second quarter surge, closing within six points at halftime, before stretching out by 14 points with a quarter to run.

“We’re fortunate because we have a really good bench,” Harbour coach Kevin Renwick said.

“We go down to eight or nine. I coached these girls two years ago and they won the inaugural under-13 national title and last year North Harbour finished 14th at this tournament.

“We’ll have to defend really well to beat Waikato, they’re such a good team.”

The under-13 girls quarterfinals were where the high drama was on day three, with two results on adjacent courts simultaneously decided in the final seconds.

On court seven, North Harbour missed four straight free throws in the final minute but held on for an 81-80 win when Waitakere City missed two free-throws with time already expired and moments later on court six Counties Manukau upset Waikato 68-66 after Waikato had missed several close-range shots and free throw in the last minute.

Waitakere’s Keretina Hakaraia went off for 54 points in her team’s loss, while Annabelle Jenkins had 27 points for Harbour. Kendall Hawea top-scored for Waikato in a losing effort with 26 points while Breeze Leonard had 17 points for Counties.

The later girls quarters were more clear cut, although Hawke’s Bay did their best to throw away a 19-point three-quarter lead. After outscoring Nelson 18-3 in the third, Hawke’s Bay scored only six points in the fourth period, holding on 54-47, with Aaliyah Smiler-Ah Kiong leading the way with 15 points.

Canterbury proved too strong for the last remaining hometown hope Rotorua 77-32, with Tessa Boagni top-scoring with 18 points.

Porirua’s Pene Paenga scored 45 of her team’s 47 points in a bottom eight under-13 girls quarter but could not prevent her team falling 79-47 to neighbours Wellington.

Game On - Daily News (109KB pdf)