NZ Secondary Schools Zonal Basketball Tournament
This tournament was held in Maukau City from 30th August to 4th September. It was for Schools from Zone 2 (central North Island), with the top six teams qualifying for the National Tournament. It is the first time we have attended this tournament in several years and our team was relatively young and inexperienced (with some Senior players unavailable).
Pool Play
The team played four pool matches over the first two days. We were competitive in all these matches and despite losing all four games we weren’t outclassed by any opposition. The boys played really well in patches and Dillon Dolman-Tuhoe and Trey Crawford lead from the front. However good work was undone with lapses in concentration and intensity, allowing opposition to gradually get on top and wear us down.
Results
Vs St Kentigens (Auckland) lost 53-76
Vs Melville H.S (Hamilton) lost 51-72
Vs Pakuranga H.S (Auckland) lost 67-101
Vs Tauranga Boys College lost 66-97
Play-off Games
These results meant we finished bottom of our pool, and played off against the other bottom placed teams from the other four pools for places 21st – 25th. We gained valuable confidence in a big win against Bethlehem, with all players contributing on offence and defence. The game against Cambridge was a see-saw battle, we came from ten points down in the last quarter to tie the score up with three seconds to go. We had two free-throws to win the game but missed both (the player will remain nameless!), which meant we played five minutes overtime. We had a chance to win again on the buzzer but the shot narrowly missed, frustrating to lose a game that was there to win but another improved performance.
Results
Vs Bethlehem College (Tauranga) won 110-68
Vs Papakura H.S (Auckland) won 64-56
Vs Cambridge H.S lost 84-86 (in over-time)
Vs Hauraki Plains H.S (Ngatea) won 81-68
It was disappointing to finish 22nd of the 25 teams, however the team steadily improved during the tournament and the final two games were our best performances. The less experienced players learnt a lot and showed they have plenty of potential that can be developed with practice and perseverance. Dillon and Trey were outstanding, showing skills and composure to match any opposition we faced. Dillon’s fitness was impressive as he played virtually every minute of the tournament.
Thanks to coach Dwayne Tamatea for all his hard work this season, he is positive about improving the standard of Basketball at GBHS over the next few years. Thanks also to the boys for making this an enjoyable trip.