Manawatu¯ fall short
Basketball
Manawatu¯ fell at the final hurdle at the national under-23 basketball championships in Porirua.
Manawatu¯ lost 93-74 to Hutt Valleywellington in the final on Saturday, while Waikato won a fourth consecutive women’s title, beating Otago 72-62 in the final.
Hutt Valley-wellington were helped by tournament MVP Sione Helu’s 23 points and with Jordan Hunt (17 points), Thomas Gold (15 points) and Finn Mcclure (18 points) making telling contributions, they pulled away from Manawatu¯ in the second half.
Earlier, Hutt Valley-wellington opened up a 27-23 lead after an entertaining opening spell, which they increased to 45-37 by halftime, with Helu scoring 12 points.
Also in double figures at the break was Manawatu¯ ’s Tama Faamausili, on his way to a game-high 25 points. Just four points separated the teams after a Haize Walker (10 points and 12 rebounds) basket midway through the third quarter, but Hutt Valleywellington, on the back of a brace of threes from Tom Gold, finished the quarter with a 13-2 run to lead 70-53 with 10 minutes to play. Jordan Hunt and Faamausili exchanged threes to open the final period and Jake Mckinlay chipped in with a score. Mckinlay and Walker both played for the Manawatu¯ Jets in this year’s NBL.
But Manawatu¯ ran out of gas in the fourth and when Dion Yee knocked down a corner three, Hutt Valley-wellington’s lead was more than 20 points and the trophy was in the hands of the capital city team.
Faamausili and Mckinlay were both in the all-star five, along with Helu, Hunt and Counties Manukau’s Shem Ili.
The Manawatu¯ women’s team finished seventh.