National U17 Basketball Championships this week

The New Zealand U17 National Basketball Championships start tomorrow in Wellington and run through to Saturday and will feature some of the country’s top young talent.
 
Three of the New Zealand U17 boys team are still young enough to play at this tournament, having only just stepped off the plane after the FIBA Under 17 World Cup in Argentina, which finished on Monday morning with the team placing 14th overall.
 
Ezrah Vaigafa will play for Wellington, while Waitaha Red have U17 World Cup representatives Mac Stodart and Samuel Jenkins.
 
Harbour are the defending champions. The Association is bringing three teams to the tournament including a B squad and an Under 16 team.
 
There are a number of talented newcomers to this age group to keep an eye on, although still rookies in this age-group and more likely to be forces in 2019. Paora Winitana Junior has just transferred from the Hawke’s Bay to Harbour. The now Westlake Boy’s student was MVP last year at the Under 15s where he help lead the Hawke’s Bay team to a National title. His rival from that tournament, Josh Book, will be back for Tasman. These two traded shot for shot in 2017 Under 15 Grand Final, when the game went into overtime and showed both young men thrive under pressure.
 
For the New Zealand U17 Girls’ team that will depart for the FIBA U17 World Cup in Minsk next Monday, only Jazzmyne Kailahi-Fulu will be on court at the Under 17 Nationals, representing Harbour.
She’ll be backed up by her younger sister Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu, who joins the age-group for the first time.
 
Another squad that traditionally makes the playoff rounds is the Waikato team. This year the U17 squad features Quaye Walker-Eketone and Jayze Lee Waihi, who both are fresh from the Waikato Wizards team were runners up in the Women’s Basketball Championships that finished last weekend. Interestingly, another player from that Wizards team, Alyssa Hirawani, is also part of the Under 17 Waikato squad, but as Assistant Coach.
 
Head Coach of the Tall Blacks, Paul Henare, will also attend the event to help Basketball New Zealand selectors and coaches identify talent for future high performance programmes.
 
The Girls and Boys finals are on Saturday at 4.00pm and 5.45pm respectively.
 
Rosters: A full list of squad members and representative teams can be found here: http://nz.basketball/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=5pSPlzd3v0k%3d&portalid=26
 
Draw: http://nz.basketball/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=CB1nFlWATTk%3d&portalid=26
 
Livestream: On the last two days of the Nationals, 12 games will be livestreamed, on 13-14 July.
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13 July Livestream
10:45am:              Girls QF2
12:30pm:             Boys QF1
2:15pm:                Girls SF1
4:00pm:                Girls SF2
5:45pm:                Boys SF1
7:30pm:                Boys SF2
 
14 July Livestream
8:00am:                Girls 5th/6th Playoff
9:45am:                Boys 5th/6th Playoff
11:30am:              Girls 3rd/4th Playoff
1:15pm:                Boys 3rd/4th Playoff
4:00pm:                Girls Grand Final
5:45pm:                Boys Grand Final

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