Hawks Fly High
Tagged in: Tournaments
From fourth to first, the Hibiscus Coast Hawks under-13 boys team have battled, and beaten, the odds in Rotorua this week.
With a tournament-high 50 points from forward Jaylen Gerrand and an 81-56 win over North Canterbury on day two of the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships at the Rotorua Events Centre, Hibiscus marched through to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, topping pool C at 3-0.
The Hawks, fourth qualifiers out of zone one behind Harbour, Massey and Waitakere, and seeded fourth in their pool, became one of only three fourth seeds to reach the last eight across all tournaments, with only two going through pool play unbeaten on Tuesday.
Gerrand, who has averaged 38.7 points per game in pool play, dominated the inside, posting 14 points in the first quarter and 33 points by halftime as Hibiscus made quick work of North Canterbury to set up a quarterfinal against Waikato.
“Now that we’ve achieved that, we’re happy and anything else on top of that is great. And I think now the goal is the semis,” said Hibiscus coach Jayson Johnson. “That won’t be an easy cross-over but it’s better than facing Waitakere, who we face five or six teams during the year.
“Back in Auckland we came fourth, however we have beat every team in the Auckland region that is here this week, just not at the regionals.
“We’ve been competitive and in the last two weeks we had a five-day camp and I think that’s really put us in the right frame of mind for this tournament.”
Hibiscus started the tournament with a 76-63 upset of Wellington, then got by Counties Manukau 68-58 on Tuesday morning to effectively seal a top-eight berth, Gerrand top-scoring with 35 points.
Romping out to a 37-point lead in the third quarter against Wellington, Johnson contends the Hawks best performance came in their opening game and could still produce better as the playoffs approach.
“If we can get another game like that, we might be pretty tough to beat.
“The only really dominant team that I’ve seen is Canterbury, with the size they have and the other team that I’ve seen that’s finals capable is Harbour and we’ve beat them once this season.”
Canterbury also completed a perfect pool play run to top pool D, while Waitakere City and North Harbour also went through unbeaten.
Hutt Valley and Whangarei in the under-15 boys division became the other fourth seeds from their pools to reach the elite eight and will meet in the quarters.
The Hutt closed out a perfect pool play with a 76-46 win over Western Bay of Plenty to top pool B, while Whangarei held out a relentless Otago 84-67 to claim the second place behind unbeaten Counties Manukau in pool D.
Counties Manukau is one of 16 undefeated teams after pool play, joining Nelson, Hutt Valley and Waikato in the under-15 boys, Wellington, Waitakere City, North Canterbury and Waikato in under-15 girls, and Counties Manukau, North Harbour, Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury in under-13 girls.
Defending under-15 boys champions Canterbury were denied a chance for back-to-back titles when North Harbour rolled them 75-56 in a must-win game for the second quarters spot from pool B.
The local hopes were reduced to one team as the Rotorua under-13 girls reached the last eight with a 42-21 win over Mid Canterbury on Tuesday and the host association’s remaining three teams went winless in pool play.
The under-13s, led by Moerangi Vercoe, Aneia Whakaari and point guard Tayla Ammunson, surprised Porirua in their opening game, which was enough to push them through behind North Harbour in pool B.
“They’re doing really well,” coach Sue Pene said. “It far exceeds our goal. Getting into the top eight is a bonus for us. Our goal coming into this was to not be playing for 15th and 16th.
“Earlier in the year, at Easter, we were get beat by lots. We were lucky to make double figures and we could hardly get the ball over half-court. The improvement has been huge.”
