Tasman teams finish down field
Tasman have finished 12th at the national under-19 boys’ basketball tournament after a 70-59 loss to Taranaki at Nelson’s Saxton Stadium on Saturday.
It left Tasman with a one win, four loss record for their week’s efforts, still a better showing than last year’s bottom place finish when they failed to win a game, also in Nelson.
Despite Saturday’s loss, Tasman finished ahead of Southland and Te Tai Tokerau – the team they beat during pool play on day two.
Tasman were behind at each of the quarter breaks, trailing 22-13 after the first period and 41-25 at halftime.
And despite a solid third quarter in which they outscored Taranaki 21-12 to trail just 53-46 heading into the final period, the early damage proved too costly as Taranaki held on for an 11-point win.
Jordan Lindbom, the only Tasman player returning from last year’s campaign, again led the scoring with 20 points while Riley Bensemann contributed 17.
Meanwhile, Auckland Counties 1 beat Canterbury A 82-73 in the boys’ final, while Harbour took out the girls’ title with a 61-53 win over Waikato.
Tasman’s under-15 teams both ended their respective national tournaments in Wellington on winning notes.
The Tasman boys beating Canterbury B 58-52 to finish 11th and the Tasman girls comfortably beating Hawke’s Bay 71-51 to finish 15th.
Harbour A also won the girls’ title with a tight 76-73 win over Waikato, with Wellington beating Harbour A 95-83 in the boys’ final.