It’s been an incredibly strong year for New Zealand Basketball’s 3×3 programme in 2024, so we’re here to recap and re-live some of the achievements and key tournaments from the past season.
3×3 Tall Ferns take home silver at the FIBA Asia Cup
We kick things off with celebrating what was perhaps the biggest achievement of any Kiwi 3×3 team in 2024.
The 3×3 Tall Ferns comprising of Ella Fotu, Lauryn Hippolite, Esra McGoldrick and Sharne Robati travelled to Singapore to compete in the 3×3 Asia Cup.
Traditionally, New Zealand does quite well at FIBA Asia Cup’s across both formats of Hoops, and this particular tournament was no different.
After splitting the group stage in Pool C with an opening loss against Australia (9-22) and a convincing win against India (17-10), the 3×3 Ferns advanced to a quarter final match up against Japan.
After trailing the 4-8 in the early stages of the quarter final the Tall Ferns staged a magnificent comeback to lead 13-10 heading into the dying minutes of the game. Japan surged back into the game but it was too late, with the 3×3 Tall Ferns moving onto the semi-finals courtesy of a 15-14 victory.
A tight semi-final against Chinese Taipei ensued. After going back and forth through the early stages of the game, the two sides were deadlocked at 10-a-piece.
Step up Sharne Robati with back-to-back buckets, and Ella Fotu with a bomb from outside the arc to bury Chinese Taipei and confirm their place in the final.
A Trans-Tasman gold & silver loomed as the 3×3 Tall Ferns met up with their Australian counterparts in the final.
Yet again, the game started tightly before the Gangurrus went on a 5-0 run to get ahead of the Kiwi’s.
Sharne Robati kept the 3×3 Tall Ferns in the game, but Australia would surge again late to claim gold.
A fantastic tournament for the 3×3 Tall Ferns, highlighted by Sharne Robati’s selection to the All-Tournament team.
Here’s all the highlights and moments you needed to see, all in one!
U23 New Zealand teams dominate Asia-1 Conference
It was a dominant tour for both of New Zealand’s U23 teams in the Asia-1 Conference in 2024.
Across the week in Kuala Lumpur, the U23 Women consisting of Kate Herman, Anika Hyland, Maia Jones, Dominique Stephens and Maddy Timms won all six stops, without dropping a single game.
The U23 men of Daniel Dobson, Zach McKenzie, Campbell Scott and Aidan Tonge were also dominant throughout the week, winning five out of the six stops and being bested in the final of stop two by Qatar.
Here’s both finals of Stop 6 in case you missed it:
U23 Men finish in 3×3 World Cup Top Eight
A successful stint at the Asia-1 Conference must’ve given the U23 Men just the confidence they needed to make a big splash at the U23 3×3 World Cup in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Competing in Pool C alongside Germany, Argentina, Israel and Italy – the U23 Men got off to a rocky start.
Being beaten in their first pool game against eventual U23 World Champions, Germany – they bounced back in a big way against Italy.
Campbell Scott was on fire, nailing four from the land of plenty on his way to a mammoth 9 point performance to lead the Kiwi’s to a 21-12 victory.
The U23 Men continued through pool play going unbeaten with victories over Argentina (22-12) and Israel (20-17). Josh Book stepping up in both games, leading the way with eight points in each outing.
That would set up a quarter-final match up with perennial European powerhouses, Spain.
Whilst the early stages of the game were tight, Spain would go on a 5-2 run to strengthen their early lead. With the scores at 12-7 in favour of the Spaniards, Campbell Scott went on a five point tear to bring the U23’s closer.
Unfortunately his efforts would be in vain, as looks from the foul line gave Spain the opportunity to put the game out of reach, the U23 Men falling short 12-20.
Relive their entire World Cup run by checking out the game replays below.
Pool Play
Quarter-Final
Team-Christchurch hit Top 40 teams on 3X3 World Tour
Aidan Tonge, Campbell Scott, Daniel Dobson, Zach McKenzie and Zach Hannen went to work on the World Tour this year.
For the first time we saw a New Zealand team enter the Top 40 team rankings.
Two of the aforementioned 3×3 athletes have also entered into the Top 250 player rankings.
Campbell Scott currently sits in 203rd with 95,681 points – and Aidan Tonge is just six spots behind him in 209th with 92,749.
Basketball New Zealand’s High Performance Programme Manager for 3X3, Nikolay Mikhalchuk is incredibly proud of what he’s seen from the programme in 2024.
“This year has seen incredible growth for 3×3 basketball in New Zealand. Our U23 National Teams dominated the Youth Nations League Asian Conference-1, the 3×3 Tall Ferns were excellent at the 3×3 Asia Cup, and we’ve successfully transitioned several talented young players from 5×5 into international 3×3.
All of those positive moves resulted in a significant boost to our national FIBA3x3 rankings points.
And the cherry on top? Team Christchurch’s entry into the Top 40 global 3×3 teams highlights our recognition as a rising nation in the international 3×3 game.
I’m incredibly proud of how our teams represented New Zealand internationally, and I am excited to see what success 2025 will bring for New Zealand’s 3×3 basketball!”
Basketball New Zealand’s 3X3 National Lead, Piet Van Hasselt echoes these sentiments.
“2024 has been a thrilling year as we continue to expand New Zealand 3X3 at a high performance level. Strategic targeting of opportunities, activities and events have helped develop our player base and systems, with the 2026 Commonwealth Games and 2028 Olympics in mind.
We have installed an aggressive approach to our 3X3 style of play to help us move up the rankings on both the men’s and women’s ladders. We have grown our successful hub structure which brings together our 3X3 whānau including players, coaches, referees and scorebench crew to develop the sport together and showcase our values.
Growing through the FIBA U23 Youth Nations League over the last two years has borne fruit with the Men’s team finishing in the top 8 at the U23 World Cup. Members of that squad also came within an overtime loss of making the top 4 at the Chinese-Taipei Challenger on the Pro Tour. 2025 will see an expansion of teams in the Youth Nations League with U21 teams joining the U23s.
Qualifying for the Commonwealth Games is at the top of the agenda, as well as an expanded hub structure and other opportunities.”
Basketball New Zealand would like to thank our coaches and staff for an incredible year of 3X3 Basketball. We’re very proud of the way the National 3X3 programme has strengthened, and we cannot wait to see the greater heights that the sport will reach in 2025!
