The Mainland Pouākai are the Women’s Grand Final winners of the 2022 Schick 3×3 Cup, while the Southland Sharks have gone back-to-back claimed the Men’s Grand Final after a thrilling four days of action at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
In a game which saw sisters Chevannah Paalvast and Tessa Boagni face off against one another, the Pouākai came away with the 21-12 victory in a fast-paced game that was locked at 6 all early before Mainland was able to pull away. Jacinta Beckley led the Pouākai with 9 points – including a trio from behind the arc – while Ella Fotu scored 6, Boagni 5 and Rosalia Samia 1.
Casyn Buchman led the Kahu with 5 points in the loss, while Yume Negishi had 4 and Paalvast added 3.
In the women’s third-place game, the Auckland Dream narrowly defeated a valiant Whai squad 21-18. The Whai were playing with just three players for the last two days of the event after Missy Nuku went down with a knee injury but still managed to make a run for the cup.
Esra McGoldrick scored 8 and Tiarna Clarke dropped 7 for the Dream, while Dominique McBryde, Bulou Tuisue and Honey Cooney all scored 6 each.
On the men’s side, the Canterbury Rams jumped out to an early 6-1 lead before the Sharks stormed back to tie things up at 13 with less than two minutes left. Dru-Leo Leusogi-Ape got a layup giving the Sharks the lead with 21 seconds left and they would hold on to delight the hometown crowd.
Alonzo Burton led the scoring for the Sharks with 9 and Leusogi-Ape added 6. Joe Cook-Green tallied 7 points for the Rams in the defeat.
The Mid-City Magic went home with third place, taking down the Wellington Saints 21-18. Josh Aitcheson led the charge with 8 and Richie Rodger drilled three 2-pointers from beyond the arc. Taane Samuel finished with a team-high 9 points for the Saints.
For complete results and more information about the Schick 3×3 Cup, visit schick3x3.basketball.
Photos from the Schick 3×3 Cup 2022 can be found here: http://bbnz.link/c5l5r
