Last week, South Canterbury Black went eight games undefeated at the EA Networks Centre in Ashburton to win the Basketball New Zealand Southern Regionals B grade.
The team defeated Nelson in the final to claim the win.
The four-day U14 tournament is one of three held across the country and is the only one in the South Island.
South Canterbury Basketball general manager Jacob Mulholland said it was a significant win.
"I can’t remember the last time South Canterbury would have won something in any of the grades.
"I think it has been quite a while or it could even be a first in any of the grades A, B or C, that a South Canterbury team has come first."
He said it was an outstanding achievement for the young team.
"They were a good team. They had been playing quite well in previous tournaments but over the course of the four days they played amazing team basketball.
"They really showed that they won that tournament by just playing well as a team.
"Everyone on that team gave something different and that was a big reason why they did so well."
He said in previous years winning the tournament would have qualified the team for a national tournament.
"It was sort of phased out by New Zealand Basketball and they regionalised it, meaning that more kids could get an opportunity to play at a Basketball New Zealand-endorsed tournament.
"So it’s really the tournament that all the teams across the country work towards wherever their locality is."
South Canterbury had nine teams competing at the tournament across the different grades in both the boys’ and girls’ sections.
Alongside Canterbury it had the most teams at the tournament.
Mulholland said the sport was still rapidly growing in the region.
"It’s pretty crazy the growth the sport is having.
"We had a similar numbers at trials this year — we had upwards of 100 girls and 100 boys attend.
"We’re looking at ways to keep those kids involved in basketball and making sure that there’s opportunities for everyone to participate."
