Under-15 boys clinch third spot

Palmerston North’s under-15 boys basketball team finished third at the national championships at Wellington at the weekend.

Palmerston North beat Waikato 98-96 in the playoff for third spot on Saturday after they had been knocked out by Harbour 100-76 in the semifinal.

Palmerston North beat Waitakere West 84-83 in the quarterfinal and had three wins and a loss in pool play.

Wellington beat Harbour 95-83 in the final.

The Palmerston North girls finished seventh after they beat Canterbury Country 80-60 in their final playoff game.

The girls had earlier lost to Rotorua 62-60 and were knocked out in the quarterfinals by Canterbury 65-56. They had three wins and a loss in pool play.

Harbour beat Waikato 76-73 in the final.

The Palmerston North under-19 boys won the bottom-eight final at the national tournament in Nelson, beating Auckland Counties Manukau 2 72-56.

They beat Te Tai Tokerau 88-55 and Taranaki 77-69 in the other bottom-eight playoffs. They had two losses in pool play. Auckland Counties Manukau beat Canterbury in the final 82-73.

The Palmerston North under-19 girls finished 17th.

In the bottom-three round-robin, they beat Auckland Counties Manukau 2 62-60 and Gisborne 63-45.

Palmerston North had four losses in pool play. Harbour won the final, beating Waikato 61-53.