Dunedin sides to fore in basketball

The Kavanagh College senior girls side of (back, from left) Liz Cameron (manager), Anita Samasoni, Piata Rapata-Hanning, Libby Renwick, Annabelle Ring, Keisha Su'a, Faith Elisara, Helene Elisara, coach Gerard Mullin, (front) Kyra McEntrye, Madi Sutherland, Emily Kerr-Bell, Dre Whaanga, with assistant manager John Ronaldson, won the single A South Island qualifying tournament in Westport.

With 82 tournaments being played from Whangarei to Bluff, involving upwards of 25,000 school children, there was plenty of travel logged by pupils in the South.

With so many tournaments, at different age groups and different levels, it is hard to highlight who has done well, who has over-achieved and who has slipped a little.

Two basketball teams from Dunedin went to South Island tournaments and came away the victors.

The Kavanagh College senior girls team went to Westport for the single A South Island qualifying tournament.

Basketball ranks schools on size, with the bigger schools playing in a different tournament.

The single A tournament is restricted to schools with a co-educational roll of up to 600 pupils or a single sex school of 300 pupils or fewer.

The Kavanagh College team is a talented side and had competed in the Dunedin women's A grade competition throughout the year.

It played five games at the tournament in Westport and won the lot as the tournament was played in a round robin format.

The side will head to Palmerston North for the national single A tournament next month. The Kavanagh boys side won that tournament four years ago and the girls team, which is still quite young, will be aiming to be among the top next month.

The Otago Girls' High School junior basketball side of (back, from left) Jamie Ruddenklau, Penny Temple, Isabella Henderson, Abby Harris, Charlotte Underwood-Nicol, coach Gavin Briggs and (front) Jeseka Sebelin, Natalie Newstead, Oceana Campbell, Libby Briggs, Emma Moses celebrates winning the South Island tournament in Timaru. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

The Otago Girls' High School junior basketball side went to Timaru to play in the South Island junior premiership tournament. This is restricted to year 9 and year 10 pupils.

The competition was split into two pools of six. Otago Girls' won all its pool games by wide margins, beating teams such as Cashmere High School 79-23 and Rangiora High School 71-45.

In the semifinal, St Andrew's College, of Christchurch was the opponent and Otago Girls' had a good 68-39 win.

In the final, Otago Girls' played James Hargest College, of Invercargill, and won 87-77. Libby Briggs and Abby Harris played well for the junior side.

It was a good climax for the season for the team which had won the Dunedin junior competition.

Five of the team then travelled to Invercargill at the end of last week to play for the school's senior side.

St Kevin's College boys made it to the final of the single A South Island qualifying tournament, while Otago Boys' High School and Otago Girls' have qualified for the national tournament next month.