FIBA basketball tournament tips off
Polynesian nations vie in Kaitaia arena
Kaitaia is the proud host of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first international Polynesian basketball competition this week. The FIBA Polynesian Cup 2022 officially started on Tuesday at Te Rangi A¯ niwaniwa’s Puna Ora basketball stadium and will run until Saturday.
The tournament, originally earmarked to be played in Samoa, was moved to Kaitaia after concerns about Samoa’s uncertain border policies because of Covid-19.
Cook Islands, Sāmoa, American Sāmoa, Tonga and Tahiti will all play against each other across10 teams (five men and five women) over the five-day tournament.
The top two teams will qualify for the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands, which serves as the official qualifier for the Oceania region to the FIBA Asia Cup prequalifiers.
The Cook Islands started the FIBA Polynesian Cup 2022 tournament with a win despite a gallant effort from American Samoa, while Tahiti took care of Tonga.
In the match of the day in the women’s competition, Cook Islands held out a determined American Samoa outfit, 87-75.
American Samoa’s Mahina Hannemann-Gago, Valerie Tanuvasa and Malia Nawahine were all strong performers with Nawahine finishing up with 25 points while HannemannGago dominated rebounds.
Zarya Poulava and Captain Keziah Lewis lifted their teams after cruising through the first half to be outscored in the third quarter.
Terai Sadler was prolific finishing the game as the leading performer on 19 points, with 10 rebounds.
“We are really happy with this win today, we have a lot of young players on our team, so it was nice to start the tournament this way,” Sadler said.
“They are a tough team, and we weren’t sure what to expect, but we have been training hard and are lucky to have such a good coach. I’m incredibly proud of how hard the girls worked today.”
FIBA Polynesian Cup runners-up from 2018, Tahiti were too strong for Tonga in a dominant start to their tournament with Herehau Teissier, Hereiti Viriamu and Captain Maea Lextreyt finishing up on double points.
After the game, Lextreyt said the team had fought hard to start the competition in a winning way.
“It was a good game,” she said. “We have a young team with lots of new players, so after a quarter, we got more confidence in the game, handled the pressure, and did what we had to do to win.”
Tonga fought back in the second half with Liesila Finau and Ana Enari leading from the front, but it wasn’t enough with the Tahitians coming away with a 46-point win, 83-37.
“Our message before the game was to have the best defence, and we tried to do this the whole game,” Lextreyt said.
“Even when we were tired, we were focused, and Tonga were tired too, so we stuck to our game plan, and it worked.”
A number of people travelled with the teams to support their countries, with the trip the first time for many players to visit New Zealand or even travel abroad.
Tahiti’s Tehei Teriierooiterai and Ingrid Hart are part of the Tahiti team committee and came to support their players.
Teriierooiterai said it was important for the players to have their fellow countrymen there to cheer them on and encourage them while away from home.
“I’ve already been here when I was younger and have family in Auckland, but it’s the first time for myself and the others to come to Kaitaia,” she said. “Everyone has been really nice and we’re staying at Roma Marae [Ahipara], so that’s been really beautiful.
“We really hope our teams can make it to next year’s games.”
“Go Tahiti!” Hart said.
Director for Sports as part of Tonga’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, Onetoto Anisi was at the game on Tuesday to support the Tongan teams.
Anisi said basketball had become a bit of a forgotten sport in Tonga, so was happy to see the teams getting involved in the tournament and to learn from the experience.
“This is not a big game in Tonga, so the government would like to invest in the development of this type of sport,” Anisi said.
“It’s important for the Tongan team to be here because it’s one of the ways they can go further in the sport.
“The purpose is really to try and
get into the Pacific Games, but to also to learn more about each other’s cultures.”
Sefesi Sofelae has lived in Kaitaia for four years after moving from Auckland and said it was nice to see his people playing in the Far North.
“It’s been nice to see our Pacific family and to see everyone coming here,” he said.
“I think it’s the first time is happening in Kaitaia which is great.”
The FIBA Polynesian Cup 2022 is being hosted by the Cook Island Basketball Association (CIBA) and supported by local organisations including ANT Trust, Far North REAP, Te Runanga o Te Rarawa, Te Rangi Aniwaniwa, Whakawhiti Ora Pai and Kaitaia Basketball Association and Te Hiku Pasifika.
The tournament continues this week at Puna Ora Stadium in Kaitaia, with all games live-streamed via Te Hiku Media to the FIBA YouTube channel.