Manaia on basketball high
‘‘Mum, we’ve made history,’’ said an excited Tamati Horo.
Horo, 11, played in the Manaia Primary School basketball team that recently won the Top Schools’ Basketball Competition and his mother, Janine Horo, was the assistant coach.
The win was the first in the competition for Manaia Primary.
‘‘The shield started in 1996,’’ Janine said. ’’And Manaia have never won it before - ever.’’
The Top Schools’ Basketball Competition takes place over a couple of months and this year 10 teams entered.
Janine said Manaia entered a squad of 12 who were happy when they made the top four - let alone when they won the competition overall.
‘‘As soon as they counted down the last few seconds and they were just - it was more than excited they were ecstatic,’’ she said. ‘‘It was just amazing, they all cuddled each other. It was just awesome.’’
The final was played against Normanby School, which made the team anxious.
‘‘In the rounds Normanby thrashed us,’’ Janine said. ‘‘It was a really close game 17-16 to us.
‘‘It was a nail-biter for sure, I had a sore throat from yelling.’’
Normanby came second, and St Joseph’s School Ha¯ wera third. The most valuable players of the tournament were St Joseph’s School Ha¯ wera’s Reece Holmes, and Matapu¯ School’s Emily Wyllie.