Basketball New Zealand’s (BBNZ) NZ Pro 3×3 Quest made its last Auckland stop at Pulman Arena last weekend, where more fresh players got to show their skills against New Zealand’s best.
Day 1 Recap
In the Men’s, it was Te Kauri Ma – which features a roster of Joshua Leger, Liam Judd, Samuel Aruwa and William Leger – were the winners and progressed through the entire day undefeated. After beating all teams in their pool convincingly, they jumped straight through to the Quarterfinals. They finished off the day beating Waikato 13-8.
For the Women’s, Puriri Mā – with Azure Anderson, Darci Finnigan, Maya Taingahue and Olivia Berry – who won all but one match. Winning two of three pool games, progressing through to the Quarterfinals was definite. Puawai Tiati challenged them in the Final but came up short with Puriri Mā taking out the day convincingly with a 19-6 win.
Day 2 Recap
The Men’s division on Sunday saw Te Kauri Pango – who had a lineup of Dom Kelman-Poto, Pafe Momoisea and Zach Easthope – dropped their first game in a thriller against Kakariki, losing by just one point. They learned from that game and picked up wins in every other game, including the important Final against Tai Tokerau Taniwha. Final score 13-12 in another close encounter.
In the Women’s division, Kakano Kowhai came to play – featuring young 3×3 stars Amy Pateman, Isabel Pugh, Bailey Flavell and Rebecca Moors – remained undefeated for the entire second day and earning a well-deserved first place status. They managed to beat Puriri Mā 11-7 to take out the day’s play on top.
The MVPs from the weekend were
Dom Kelman-Poto (Men’s Division) and Amy Pateman (Women’s Division).
BBNZ 3×3 Programme Manager, Nikolay Mikhalchuk mentioned that he is excited about the growth of 3×3 basketball and the positive developments that have been taking place over the last few months.
“It is a pleasure to observe fresh participants emerging at the 3×3 stage, and it is equally delightful to witness young 3×3 talents achieve their goals and exhibit steady progression from event to event.
The promising outcomes of our newly designed approach to domestic High-Performance 3×3 competitions are becoming evident, not solely for our senior squad but also for younger age groups, with the U17 girls already displaying exceptional results(New Zealand currently number 14 in the U18 Women’s World Rankings).
I am grateful for the efforts of those involved in creating new approaches and strategies that are helping to bring out the best in our players, and I look forward to seeing the 3×3 game continue to evolve and prosper in the future.”
Next Stop
The last NZ Pro 3×3 Quest will take place at Cowles Stadium, Christchurch from the 25th February till the 26th February. It also takes place the day after the Tall Blacks play their qualifying match at Christchurch Arena. For details on NZ Pro 3×3 Quest events, visit the Basketball NZ Events page at https://nz.basketball/whats-on/
NZ Pro 3×3 Quest schedule (2023):
Feb 25-26 | Cowles Stadium, Christchurch
