Winning Start On Koru Tour
Tagged in: National Teams, NZ Koru
New Zealand Koru Tour development teams made a winning start at the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup in Albury, New South Wales, on Monday.
The Koru and Kea teams compiled a 7-4 record on day one, with wins coming in each grade, the most impressive an 85-52 win by the under-14 girls NZ Kea team against hosts Albury Wodonga.
In the under-18 grade, the Kea boys defeated the South Australia Sharks 93-90, while the Koru squad were downed 100-73 by the SA Magpies. The under-18 Koru girls outlasted the SA Magpies 47-43 in a low-scoring affair.
The under-14 division was the most successful for the Kiwis, with three wins from four games. The Kea boys rolled Albury Wodonga 76-51, the Koru boys held on 78-73 over the Victoria Bushrangers. The only loss came from the Koru girls, falling 66-39 to the Vic Bushrangers.
Both Kea squads in the under-16 grade enjoyed wins over Northern Territory, 79-54 for the boys and 69-50 for the girls, while the Koru teams fell to the Vic Bushrangers, the boys 70-66 and girls 62-45.
“That was pretty good,” Basketball New Zealand player development manager Sue Pene said. “We’re calling it 7-11. We won seven out of 11 games.
“We had some pretty convincing scores there and a couple of teams that did lose had chances to win. The overtime win by the under-18 Koru team was a great one to get.”
Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup
Monday, January 12
Under-14 Boys
NZ Kea 76 (Jayden Bezzant 13, Jaylen Gerrand 11) Albury Wodonga 51
NZ Koru 78 (Brandon Gleaves 25, Keanu Singsam 13) Vic Bushrangers 73
Under-14 Girls
NZ Kea 85 (Keretina Hakaraia 28, Gayle Broughton 12, Annabelle Jenkins 12) Albury Wodonga 52
Vic Bushrangers 66 NZ Koru 39 (Gabriela Edmondson 12)
Under-16 Boys
NZ Kea 79 (Joshua Young 17, Aaron Keppler 16) Northern Territory 54
Vic Bushrangers 70 NZ Koru 66 (Jordan Le Toa 16, Timothy Apisai 11)
Under-16 Girls
NZ Kea 69 (Te Oramae Solomon 12, Alex Svoboda 11, Morgan Roberts 10, Monique Hornby 10) Northern Territory 50
Vic Bushrangers 62 NZ Koru 45 (Hana Wilkinson 19, Shevaun Collier 10)
Under-18 Boys
NZ Kea 93 SA Sharks 90 OT
SA Magpies 100 NZ Koru 73 (Shaquille Hohipa-Wilson 25, Ben Fraser 11, Damon Cleverley 11)
Under-18 Girls
NZ Koru 47 (Josie Stockhill 11) SA Magpies 43
