Basketball New Zealand

BBNZ U19 & U17 National Championships

The North Harbour Basketball Association has the most teams competing and will be the hunted during the Basketball New Zealand U19 and U17 National Championships in Nelson and Palmerston North, starting Friday.

Harbour will have representative teams vying for all four championships on offer over the holiday weekend, with two teams contesting the U17 boys championship.

Palmerston North’s Arena Manawatu will host the BBNZ U17 National Championships while Nelson College, Nelson College for Girls and Jack Robins Stadium will accommodate games at the BBNZ U19 National Championships in Nelson.

Last Queen’s Birthday Weekend, Harbour emerged with a pair of titles and most valuable player awards, while the association’s other teams managed third and fifth-placed finishes.

Junior Tall Black Rob Loe earned the MVP honour as Harbour defeated Wellington for the U19 men’s trophy, while Brad Anderson was named his tournament’s best, leading Harbour to the U17 championship.

And expect the ‘ballers from the North Shore to again feature prominently come playoffs time.

Harbour teams won three of the four Zone 1 (Auckland north) premierships in March, with both the U19 and U17 male squads earning number one overall seedings for their tournaments.

Anderson has moved up an age-group in 2009, part of a strong Harbour U19 team that also includes national age-group reps Marko Alexander, David Garbett Ovens, Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson and Sonny Tuaputa.

Strong challenges could come from their pool A opponents Otago, featuring Junior Tall Black Tom Rowe and national teamers Hayden Miller, Chris Hood, Damon Cleverley and Ben Mackay; Zone 3 champions Porirua, including Jake Ashby, Daniel Green, Dyson King-Hawea and Hyrum Hippolite; Zone 3 winners Western BOP, led by Adam Dunstan; along with Zone 4 champs Canterbury and Wellington.

With a team featuring five players – Anna Lacey, Mikayla Blair, Natasha Hall, Petra Erceg and Milika Nathan – from the BBNZ U21 National Championship-winning side, Harbour are among the favourites for the U19 women.

Defending national champions and Zone 4 winners Canterbury, with Rebecca Lough, Hannah Mackay and Fran Edmondson will be strong, while Zone 1 winners Waitakere City, Waikato, New Plymouth and hosts Nelson, featuring Emerging Tall Fern Jelena Vucinic, could also contend.

The Harbour A U17 boys team, led by Magnus Holding and Tim Wyatt, cruised through their Zone 1 premiership, going 6-0 and eclipsing 100 points four times, but will not have a free run to back-to-back titles.

Premiership winners Waikato, Wellington and Nelson will be among the challengers, along with Waitakere City, West Auckland, Counties Manukau, Hawke’s Bay, Porirua and Canterbury.

A number of former or current national age-group players are sprinkled throughout the field in the U17 girls competition, where Harbour, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Nelson were zone winners.

Waikato feature two members of the Emerging Junior Tall Ferns, Rhaiah Spooner-Knight and Georgia Agnew, while Nelson has Hana Wilkinson, Counties Manukau Aleesha Coulter, Waitakere City Moengaroa Subritzky, Hawke’s Bay Josie Stockill and Wellington Kayla Kiriau.

Five other associations – Waitakere City, Waikato, Western Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Otago – will also have teams vying for each of the four trophies to be handed out, with Nelson’s two Zone 4-winning U17 squads likely to be contenders in Palmy.

Combined, 156 games – more than 6000 minutes of basketball action – will be played at the two tournaments over four days, with 96 games in Palmerston North and 60 games in Nelson.

Check Basketball New Zealand’s website, www.basketball.org.nz, for the latest tournament results and information.

The BBNZ U19 & U17 National Championships are supported by Road Safety Trust and Molten.