Senior Premier Basketball

The year started well with a 9th place finish at the 3x3 Nationals held in Auckland during summer tournament week. Team members: Te Tatau Strother, Hemi Neale, Jamie Sosa, and Tutanekai Kaipara-Morrison.

In the local WSS competition the team performed well, finishing runners-up in a tight final to St John's College.

The coach’s highlights for the competition were a comfortable 18-point win over a very skilled Fraser team while missing three starters, and a solid 20-point win over Nga Taiatea in the semi-final.

Three of the annual exchange games were all tightly contested losses (New Plymouth, Westlake, and Auckland Grammar), and the last, versus Tauranga Boys’ College was one of the team’s best performances of the year resulting in an 18-point win.

Super 8, held in Napier was a tournament of two halves. Initial losses in pool play to Napier and New Plymouth put the team into the bottom four. A change of defensive strategy energised the squad and provided two convincing wins to finish the tournament in fifth overall. Team captain Te Tatau Strother was named in the tournament team.

Zone 2 Regionals held in Rotorua allowed the team to qualify for Nationals on the back of a dominant semi-final performance against Mt Maunganui College, and a tough final loss to Rotorua Boys' High School.

The Nationals was a new experience for 8 of the 11 players who travelled to Palmerston North. The final tally for the tournament was four wins and five losses, with the highlight being an 18-point win over the eventual champions, Wellington College. A 14th place finish was well earned despite sickness and injury.

Many thanks to our parents and supporters who joined in with fundraising activities and food preparation after games.

Team members:

Te Tatau Strother (Captain), Hemi Neale (Vice Captain), Jamie Sosa, Tukorehe Jefferies, Mason Wiltshire, Tutanekai Kaipara-Morrison, Cole Viljoen-Thomson, Daniel Ormsby, Ethan Oetzel, Kyro Stevens, Tyrese Ngarangione-Wicks, Wakatiwai Parai, and Iotia Teokotai.

Coach: R Strother

Assistant Coach: K Strother

Manager: K Hellyer