Basketball New Zealand

Daniel Green (Dave Litnott)

Porirua guard Daniel Green went berserk from beyond the arc, but his 28-point outburst could not inspire the NZ men to an upset in the quarterfinals of the Australian U20 state championships in Gawler, South Australia.

Green, who came into the game shooting just 6/30 (20%) from afar, connected on 10/19 FG, 8/14 3pt, the best individual performance from the Kiwis so far this week as his team were eliminated 69-89 by unbeaten New South Wales.

The Kiwis fell 10 points behind in the opening quarter, but really lost their chances of victory with a 30-15 third period.

They were very competitive in the possession stakes and actually had more opportunities from the field, albeit conceding almost three times as many free throws.

But NSW converted 52.9% FG and their rivals just 38.4%.

Meanwhile, the NZ women suffered a 39-89 loss to Victoria and fell to 1-4 in their round robin competition.

Nelson guard Jelena Vucinic continued to carry her team with 17 points (5/13 FG, 3/5 3pt, 4/4 FT), six rebounds and two assists, but was the only Kiwi to score in double figures.

Simply, they could not finish off their opportunities, shooting just 19.7% (14/71) FG.
The NZ women face New South Wales (1-4) on Friday in their final preliminary outing before playoffs.

Australian U20 State Championships

Gawler, South Australia
Thursday, February 25
Men (Quarterfinal)
New South Wales 89 (Jason Cadee 35, Like Devlin 17, Sam Rowley 15) New Zealand 69 (Daniel Green 28, Hayden Miller 14)
Q1 23-13
HT 43-33 (20-20)
Q3 73-48 (30-15)
FT 89-69 (21-16)

Women
Victoria 89 (Alice Kunek 21, Morgan Pink 19, Ashleigh Stonehouse 11) New Zealand 39 (Jelena Vucinic 17)
Q1 18-7
HT 44-18 (26-11)
Q3 63-26 (19-8)
FT 89-39 (26-13)