Aussie U16s - Day Three
Tagged in: Athletes, National Teams
It was all about the number three for the New Zealand teams on Monday at the Australia Under-16 National Championships in Kalamunda, West Australia.
The New Zealand boy’s team had their unbeaten streak to start the tournament reach, then halted at, three last night, while the Kiwi girl’s saw their losing streak hit three games on day three of the championship.
After a 84-55 win over winless Northern Territory in the morning, NZ dropped to their first loss, 91-79 to previous winless Queensland North, to sit level with Tuesday’s round five opponents Victoria Country at 3-1 for the pool B lead.
Elliot Noble top-scored with 17 points and five assists as NZ shot 41 percent from the field and fell to Queensland North (1-2), who converted 53 percent.
Kirk Rangiawha had 15 points and three assists, Alonzo Burton 13 points, Michael Karena 11 points and Chris McIntyre seven rebounds for the Kiwis, who closed with two points at halftime before a 22-13 third quarter saw them fall behind by 11 points after the third quarter.
Burton top-scored with 15 points and nine rebounds in the win over Northern Territory (0-3), as NZ took control early with a 23-9 first quarter and extended the lead to 21 points at halftime. They shot 50 percent from the field and won comfortably despite 36 turnovers.
Karena, Noble and Croydon Thompson all had 12 points, while Rangiawha added 10 points, James Ashby nine points and five rebounds, Tim Wyatt five rebounds and six assists.
Aleesha Coulter led the way with 16 points and six rebounds, while Moengaroa Subritzsky had 12 points and four assists, Georgia Agnew 11 points and Megan Craig eight rebounds for the Kiwi girls in their 85-70 loss to unbeaten New South Wales Metro.
NZ led 27-13 after a brilliant opening quarter but were quickly overhauled as NSW Metro (3-0) outscored the Kiwis 48-23 over the second and third periods to take control of the game, with NZ committing 26 turnovers.
The Kiwi girls meet another undefeated team, Victoria Country (2-0), in round four on Tuesday.
