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Players from Mahurangi and Mangawhai travelled to Kingsway School for the tournament.
Northern basketball clubs decided to organise their own tournament this month, having struggled to field teams in North Harbour competitions.
Mahurangi Basketball Club travelled with Mangawhai’s Kaipara Basketball Club to a tournament hosted by Whangaparoa’s Rise Up Basketball.
Mahurangi coach Gavin Milligan described it as a “blitz tournament”, with each of the clubs’ teams playing a round robin with five matches in their age group.
“It was particularly intense with teams of three players playing on a full court. There was a lot of space and more time shooting the ball,” he says.
It was the first ever tournament for the burgeoning Mahurangi Basketball Club, and its team performed well, despite having the youngest players.
The under-12 team won three out of five of its matches. It was an achievement considering the team played without substitutes, as it had loaned players to Rise Up to help it field a team.
The Mahurangi under-14 blue team went undefeated until the final, when it lost by just two points.
It was a high note for the blue team players who have finished their final season as juniors, and will now progress to playing for Mahurangi College.
“It was an all-round fun tournament. For some of the children it was their first experience with a competitive tournament.”
Milligan says the club is hamstrung by a lack of facilities and needs the multisport facility planned by the Mahurangi Sport and Recreation Collective to be built (see page 38).
The club cuts off the number of its junior players at 30 children and has “no problem” filling up its ranks.
“I was nervous when we lost a lot of kids who grew out of the age group, but we had a massive influx to replace them.”
Milligan understands that Harbour Basketball is hiring a Rodney development officer to grow the game among northern communities, thanks to the club’s recent success.
The club trains at Mahurangi College basketball courts on Tuesdays at 5pm.
