Aussie U18s - Day Three
Tagged in: Athletes, National Teams
The New Zealand men’s team fell narrowly short of their first win on day three of the Australian Under-18 National Championships in Ballarat, Victoria, on Monday.
Wellington’s Winston Li top-scored with 18 points and Canterbury’s Ethan Rusbatch added 16 points as New Zealand fell to their third loss of the tournament, 83-78 to Queensland South.
The Kiwis trailed throughout the game, by two points at quarter time and five points at halftime, which the Queensland side were able to hold through the second half.
Li added six assists and shot a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, Rusbatch had six rebounds, James Holland scored 14 points, Tom Rowe 10 points and six rebounds and Jacob Ashby seven points and eight rebounds.
The New Zealand women’s under-18 team also dropped to 0-3 in Ballarat with back-to-back losses on Monday.
Natasha Hall posted a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Kiwis went down 71-50 to New South Wales Metro in the morning, before a narrow 71-62 loss to Victoria Country in a much-improved performance last night, getting 19 points from Jasmine Davis.
Hall also had 16 points and seven rebounds in the second game as the Kiwis shot their best percentages of the tournament and turned the ball over fewer times against Vic Country. Hannah Mackay had 11 points and four assists, while Mesha Blair pulled down a monster 14 rebounds.
New Zealand fell behind on NSW Metro 22-10 after the first quarter but were unable to eat into the lead, other strong performances coming from Davis with 10 points and six rebounds and Mackay with seven points and eight boards.
