Team ‘NP Ballers’ were crowned victors of the New Plymouth leg of the Rebel Sport 3X3 Tour after outdoing ‘Waitara’s Finest’ in the stop’s last game.
The victors won their knockout clashes 19-14 (semi-final with ‘Opz’) and 18-11 (final). As sweet as their win was, they are ineligible to represent New Plymouth down the line, so ‘Waitara’s Finest’ take the title and will advance to the final on 1 May.
Captain of ‘Waitara’s Finest’ Aaron Bailey-Nowell says it was great to have the Tour return to Taranaki and it gives entrants a chance to express themselves in the shortened game.
“It was great to have the Quest Tour back up and running in our region, it hasn’t been here for a while and it gives guys in the area an opportunity to work on their game and get a taste of the 3X3 game at another level.
“The games are a fast-paced exciting style of basketball and there’s a level of physicality that I enjoy, so I’ve made sure to get the boys that I’m coaching in the mix and would encourage anyone else looking to work on their game to get along to these events in the future.
Two Youthtown sponsored grades accompanied the open men’s – Senior and Junior Mixed. ‘Nigel’s’ defeated ‘Halfcourt Hotties’ 16-13 to take home the senior silverware, while ‘Munanyo’ edged out ‘Hustle’ 16-15 in the showdown of the youngsters.
Carlin Davidson (TechTime Nomads) wowed the crowd en route to the dunk contest title, Latrell Teka showed off his marksmanship after taking out the shootout and Peyton Nelson (High Hoops) was the last one standing in the game of knockout.
The Auckland south leg of the Tour has been rescheduled for Sunday 28 March ahead of the Final in the City of Sails on Saturday 1 May. The stop will be the last chance for a team to qualify for the big dance. For those interested in entering a team, create a player profile, reply to the confirmation email and you’re then eligible to register a team.
Results of New Plymouth leg of the Rebel Sport 3×3 Quest Tour (week seven):
Open Men’s Winners – NP Ballers
- Baxter Fenwick
- Mitchell Langton
- Richard Russell
Open Men’s Runner-up – Waitara’s Finest
- Aaron Bailey-Nowell
- Connor Cummins
- Eli Morresey
- Kaya Kupe
Youthtown Senior Mixed – Nigels
- Flyn Murray-Taingahue
- Kaya Acero
- Kody Carter
- Tayte Wilkins
Youthtown Junior Mixed – Munanyo
- Anaru Snowden-Green
- Darcy Crawford
- Keanu Williamson
3X3 Quest Tour Schedule, 2021
- Auckland South, MONC Netball courts, Saturday 28th March
- Final (Auckland), Eventfinda Stadium, Saturday 1 May
* This final event is the World Tour Qualifier Final and is only open to the Open Men’s Grade teams that qualified at one of the above regional events. No other grades will play at this event.
More info:
- More details on the tour here
- Sign up for the tour via play.fiba3x3.com
- Follow the event on Basketball New Zealand’s Social media accounts on @BasketballNZ via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
