Basketball New Zealand

BBNZ U21 men's champions West Auckland

West Auckland may have lost to Porirua by two points in their pool game on Thursday but coach Tubs O’Riley picked up a key piece of information during a late-fourth quarter run.

And he used it late in the second quarter as the Westies made a decisive run to win the men’s final 79-67 at the BBNZ U21 National Championships in Tauranga on Saturday.

Pressing Porirua’s guards in the back-court, West Auckland forced turnovers and were able to capitalise with a pair of three-point plays and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions.

From 37-35 up with two minutes remaining before halftime, West Auckland sprung a 13-0 run, including three-point plays from Paaka Hakaraia and men’s tournament MVP Houston O’Riley and a triple from O’Riley, to lead 50-37 at halftime.

“It was just our pressure D,” West Auckland coach Tubs O’Riley said. “We put a lot on them but they put a lot on us too. We didn’t do a lot of that the first time we played them until the fourth quarter when we managed to come from 10 points down.”

As the star-studded Porirua side, featuring Junior Tall Blacks Brook Ruscoe and Matt Aird, went scoreless for the first three minutes of the third period, West Auckland extended their led to 18 points, 55-37.

That lead grew to 23 points with 4:24 remaining in the quarter, following another 13-3 run.

Porirua eventually made a run, closing the third period with 11 straight points, started by back-to-back threes from Aird and Jordan Mills, to get within 10 points with a quarter to run.

But the P-Town boys were their own momentum killers.

Whenever the defending champs made a run – twice closing with eight points in the fourth quarter – they missed close-range shots and lay-ups that could have put West Auckland under extra pressure. Porirua shot a poor percentage from the field and free-throw line all game.

Ruscoe made the first basket of the final quarter, closing the gap to 65-57 but West Auckland were able to keep Porirua at arm’s length for much of the fourth. A Ruscoe basket again closed the gap to eight points with 1:58 remaining but Hakaraia and Curtis Stewart made baskets to close it out.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Tubs O’Riley said. “I’m really happy for the boys. For a lot of them it’s their last time at this tournament, their last chance to win a championship.”

Guard Josh Tuaiti led West Auckland with 22 points, the majority coming in the second and fourth quarters, while captain Zach Makavilitogia, a tournament selection along with O’Riley and Hakaraia, finished with 20 points.

Ruscoe was held to 16 points by West Auckland, while Mills added 14 points and Aird 12. Ruscoe, Mills and sixth man Jake Ashby were all named to the men’s tournament team.

Men’s Final
West Auckland 79 (Josh Tuaiti 22, Zach Makavilitogia 20) Porirua 67 (Brook Ruscoe 16, Jordan Mills 14, Matt Aird 12)

BBNZ U21 National Championships Finals Day Results