U-13s excel at premiership

The Marlborough under-13 boys and girls basketball teams defied their pre-tournament seedings to pick up top eight finishes at the South Island premierships held in Dunedin last weekend.

The boys team, seeded 14th out of 14 teams, finished with a four-win two-loss record and came agonisingly close to making the semifinals and qualifying for the national final.

Pooled up against Buller, North Canterbury and Otago A, Marlborough started their campaign with a 14-point loss to a strong Otago A side. Down by 15 at half time, Marlborough fought back, executing on the fast break and bringing some great side defence to help reduce the deficit to eight with two minutes remaining. Point guard Matt Mackay top scored for Marlborough with 16, while Anton Horton provided good support with 13.

In the afternoon, Marlborough showed cool heads to hold on for a tense 72-71 win over North Canterbury, in a must-win clash. Up 31-17 at the half, Marlborough led by just three at three-quarter time, but fouled well in the final stanza as North Canterbury missed four consecutive late free throws. Isaiah Miller and Tawhiri Campbell both had 18-point games while Ma'ara Ave picked up 14.

Marlborough easily dispatched Buller 86-39 in their final pool game to set up a quarterfinal match with North Otago. After leading by five at halftime, Marlborough could not hold off a bigger North Otago side as Miller (18), Campbell (13) and Ave (11) were again top scorers.

This put Marlborough into the playoffs for fifth to eighth places on the final day. Marlborough easily accounted for Southland 149-55, before a comfortable 71-43 win over Canterbury B secured them a well-deserved fifth placing. Sam Cootes (22) and Josh Winter (12) were Marlborough's top scorers against Southland, while Mackay (22) and Campbell (10) shone against Canterbury B.

Coach Chris Morris was delighted with his charges, saying they all made significant contributions and different players stepped up when required. He said they were certainly the fittest team at the tournament and pointed to the defence as a feature of their performances.

Meanwhile, the 12th-seeded girls team also performed above expectations to finish eighth.

Marlborough started the tournament in superb fashion with a 44-37 win over fifth seeds Southland, centre forward Rachel Vis with 14 points and Annaliese Raemaki with nine. Up against eventual tournament winners Mid-Canterbury in their next game, Marlborough found the going tough in a 12-75 loss. They fought back in their final pool match though picking up a 41-22 victory over Buller, Olivia Hodson strong driving to the basket for her 17 points, while Taylah Weaver excelled on defence and Kiriana Andrews showed impressive speed on the fast break.

This earned Marlborough a spot in the top eight where they first came up against arch-rivals Nelson. Although they eventually went down 33-70, coach Farishta Peterson-Ihaka said the final score was not an indication of how her team played. Guard Emma Trolove was Marlborough's leading scorer with 10 and put in an outstanding defensive effort, while Harriet Greenslade was also impressive.

On the final day's play Marlborough had two hard-fought losses against eventual third-place getters Central Otago (50-55) and then South Canterbury (31-48). Raemaki top scored with 14 for Marlborough, finding support from Trolove, 11, and Oriana Houra, 7, as Central Otago managed to edge Marlborough out in a tight final quarter. In their final game against South Canterbury, Marlborough had to battle hard with three players out injured. They managed to stay with South Canterbury in a gutsy first-half performance, before their opponents pulled away in the second half. Houra was the standout performer in the match for Marlborough with 13 points, while Greenslade added 8.

Coach Peterson-Ihaka described the tournament as "very successful", adding that although many of her players were competing in their first tournament, they responded well and gained invaluable experience from some tough competition.

- The Marlborough Express