Tall order for 16-year-old player
HB teen on verge of making history with Tall Ferns
Ateenaged basketballer from Hawke’s Bay has the chance to become the youngest ever to play for the New Zealand women’s basketball side at this week’s Olympic Qualifier Tournament in Xi’an, China.
One of a group of young national team prospects from Hawke’s Bay, with a core in Bridge Pa¯, Pahlyss Hokianga, who turned 16 only on October 9 last year, was called into the squad after star guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, 22, was forced out injured while playing for Washington State University side the Cougars in the US at the start of last week.
Leger-Walker, who now needs ACL reconstructive surgery, is also the youngest to date to play for the Tall Ferns, having made her debut at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, when aged 16 years and 202 days.
The injury rocked the New Zealand camp, tasked with being the first New Zealand women’s team to qualify for the Olympic since 2008.
Daughter of Colin and Ngavero Hokianga, the Hawke’s Bay teen has grown up in Bridge Pa¯ and Flaxmere in a family steeped in rugby and rugby league.
With her dad having captained league side the Hawke’s Bay Unicorns, sport was always going to feature in her life.
Even the name Pahlyss (pronounced Palace), because they thought she was going to be a boy,
her mum says, was a take on the name of Australian rugby league star Gordon Tallis.
But at age 8, while a pupil at Peterhead School, she veered towards basketball and the Bridge Pa¯ club, and at 9 was in the Hawke’s Bay under-13 girls’ team.
Mentored by Tinaka Taito, who started the Ngati Poporo Academy, and by Dustine Sadler, she progressed through Hastings Girls’ High School to represent New Zealand in the 2022 Under 15 Oceania championships in Guam, and last year, after being picked-up by Tauihi national women’s basketball league side Whai and moving to Tauranga Girls’ College, she played for New Zealand in
the under-16 Asian championships.
New Zealand were third in the Asian tournament last July in Jordan, where a crucial game-high 31 by 1.66m-tall guard Hokianga in a 95-73 win over China in the last group match propelled the Kiwis into the 2024 under-17 women’s world championships in Mexico, to be held in July.
It was during this match that she came to the notice of such people as Basketball New Zealand age-group coaching leadership group member Mel Bennett, who suggested she step up to WNBL despite her young age of 15.
Her mum said the dream was to play in the US, but she had to take
the opportunity when it was offered to play the national league, and while in Melbourne she was aware of the chance of a Tall Ferns call if her presence was needed.
When she learned of the call-up she was on the HoopNation X-posure tour in Melbourne, and travelling via Hastings — with a frantic effort to get the visa sorted — she had joined the squad in China by the end of the week.
She was quoted by Basketball New Zealand as saying she was entering the Tall Ferns camp without “too much pressure”, seeing it as a “huge” opportunity to improve her game.
“It’s an honour and I’m excited to be selected,” she said, ahead of her arrival in Xi’an. “I was confident that I’d be chosen [at some stage of her career] and I can’t wait to join the team in China. I feel like being in a high-level environment and playing some of the best teams and players from around the world, is only going to make me better.”
Hokianga said the squad and the staff had been incredibly supportive of her selection, and a couple had “reached out and congratulated me”.
“I know they’ll look after me in China. I’ve played with — and against — a lot of them in the past.
“Their advice is that I don’t have anything to lose by being here, not to put pressure on myself and to just give it my all when I get on the court,” she said.
“It’ll be an amazing experience.” Dustine Sadler said Hokianga’s elevation to the top levels isn’t a surprise, because she’s been showing the talent for some years.
She’s one of at least four who’ve been coming through the grades together “from the ages of 6 or 7” who are now “in the mix” for the under17 world tournament this year, joined by his daughter (Storey Sadler), Grayson Parahi and Keija Miringaorangi.
He text-messaged Hokianga to congratulate her on “making history”, reminded her of the time when she was about 12 and they talked about what she would have to do if she were playing China.
“Now she’s there,” he said. “And it’s a whole village behind her.”
No 23-ranked NZ play No 2-ranked China in the opening game, shown on TVNZ+ from 11.50pm Thursday, and then play Puerto Rico on Saturday (11.50pm) and France Sunday (9.20pm). It’s one of four Olympics qualifying tournaments being held globally over the weekend.