Weeks 3 & 4
Some teams only have one game due to another event being held at Walter Nash Stadium. The teams are really gelling and demonstrating some great teamwork and skill out on the court. I was lucky enough to get down to the courts yesterday and saw two of our Year 5/6 teams play (sorry to the team I just missed!). It was fantastic to see their hard work and enthusiasm, and the way they supported each other as a team. Keep it up, everyone!
Here are the write-ups from Weeks 3 and 4, including the nominated Player of the Days:
Maungaraki Hornets (Yr 3/4)
Game 3 - 17/5: We had a loss of 8-4. The team played their hearts out. Player of the day was Ruby for her amazing defence and marking her colour.Game 4: 24/5 - draw of 6-6. Player of the day was Mikaere for his great intercepts. All players really listened to Maddie's training and you could see it coming through in their game.
Maungaraki Knicks (Yr 3/4)
Game 3 - Monday 17th May: vs St PnP MarcoThe Knicks played really well this week. On defence, they marked their opposite colour with lots of determination. It was awesome hearing them talk and sorting out their defence line, saying who was marking who on the other team. They also had plenty of attempts to shoot and different people having a go, which is great to see. Final score: 8-6 to the Knicks. Our MVP this week is Jagger for his relentless defence, putting his hands up and over the ball as well as scoring a great bucket within the keyhole.
Game 4 - Monday 24th May: vs Belmont FlameThe Knicks faced some tough opposition this week. It showed they were the younger team and we are really proud of the way they never gave up. Chasing the player with the ball, strong dribbling and passing and trying hard to get into the keyhole to shoot. In the end, the Flames were too strong, winning 16-8. MVP this week is Brody for being really strong on defence and trying really hard to win back the ball. Game 5: This week Maungaraki Knicks played Muritai. A very close game that saw both teams hustling for the ball & putting up lots of shots. Knicks went down by 2 points & could've gone either way. Our MVP this week is Sanchit as he doesn't give up & is such a strong passer & team player!
Maungaraki Warriors (Yr 5/6)
Game 3: The result was 4 points to 2 if you are keeping track. A big welcome to the team for Zac Fiddis as well. Great to have another body to put out on the court. Player of the game went to Sophie last week. Her great tenacity and determination nearly got us there with all the rebounding and steals.Game 4: Great game for us yesterday against Waterloo. We won 14-0, which will be a great confidence boost for us after last game's result where we took a bit of a hit despite the closeness. It was also a great result in terms of the fact we hadn’t played or practised for 2 whole weeks!
This week I asked the team to really go out there and have some fun, and I think they achieved that big time Great contributions again from everyone, which made it really hard to pick a Player of the Day. But after looking back I have chosen Mackenzie. I asked her to make an effort to make sure her passes were getting to the intended recipient, and rebounds. She did both really well yesterday, and it was so pleasing to see that improvement from a coaches point of view.
Big thanks to Ollie who filled in for us, it meant I could get a few of our team a couple minutes of well needed rest due to the amount of running that was being done.
Maungaraki Mavericks (Yr 5/6)
The Maungaraki Mavericks played a great game against EHS Magic, although we couldn’t quite close it out in the final minutes, with EHS scoring a buzzer beater to get the draw 6-all. It is great to see our team improving on everything we are working on, particularly passing and defence. Player of the day was Henry, who really stepped up with some great blocks and defensive plays.
Maungaraki Timberwolves (Yr 7/8)
The Timberwolves had a great win over Korokoro on Wednesday, 38-6. All of the team played super well and picking a player of the day was so difficult, but Kolbe got the nod for his unselfish play and general way he controlled the game.