Basketball

The Junior Boys’ A team had a great season in Division 2. They started with a bang and went through to the semi-finals at the end of the season. With the season came a range of injuries and that meant the semi-final was played with no bench. They went all the way with a fully loaded St Johns bench (the eventual winners) but ended up short with a minute to go. Great leadership from Jacob Matthews and the rest of the team. Mr Hollands the coach enjoyed the season and looks forward to seeing them as Seniors in 2020. The Junior B Team, under the guidance of Mr Wardrope, had a great season with some wins and losses and they had a very close few games. This was also the pattern in the Senior Boys B and C teams who gave it their best every week and ended up in the mix at the end of the season. The Senior A Boys’ team played well, and they continue to develop as a young team. Most of the players will be returning to Karamu in 2020 and we look forward to them being joined by the Junior players moving up to the next level. Brock Coulbeck was the high scorer for the season, and this would not have been possible without the support of his team. The Senior Girls’ team under the leadership of Max Taiapa-Powell and coached by Lilly Bartlett, continued to develop over the season, while they did not have a great success on the score sheet, they all played well and enjoyed what was for many their last year at school. Congratulations to Max who went on to play for the Hawke’s Bay U18 team and represented the school in the women’s league.

The Junior Girls’ basketball team was led by our two returning Year 10 students Briar

McGrail-Timms and Leilani Williams. Added to this was an exciting mix of athletes, some of whom had only taken up basketball in Year 9 but were successful in other sports. The season started well with the team entered into Division 2 of the Hawke’s Bay Secondary Schools Basketball Championship. As we progressed through the first five weeks of games you could see the girls’ communication and basketball skills improving. This helped with the girls’ confidence to play hard and shoot the ball. Moving into Term 3, the girls’ ultimate goal was to go through the regular season unbeaten. Having achieved this, we knew we had some tough games coming up to reach the play-offs.

The girls managed to win our quarter final, and semi-final games and this gave us the right to compete in the finals, a first for this young team.

The final game was against Taradale High School, who had played really well against us earlier in the year. The girls’, however, were determined to finish on top and, with a huge defensive effort, really put the pressure on Taradale. The game was close at the half but we lifted our intensity in the 3rd and 4th quarters, and came away with a great team win. All the team played well and, again, were led by Briar and Leilani. The girls and coaching staff were over the moon with the win as it represented the hard work we had put in all year. It was a special year with this team of girls going unbeaten, winning 14 straight games. Also a special mention to our Bench officials - Shayleah Pritchard and William Wepa-Hazel for their commitment and great help in running the bench each Monday. It was really appreciated. Congratulations girls – Mr Crawford

Basketball Junior Boys A Back row:

Connor McAneney, Mr D Hollands, Jared Anderson Front row: Sebastian Theobald, Jakob Mathews, Keerat Singh, Jack Goodley, Corey Sullivan Absent: Kingston Mahia, Kamau de Thierry

Basketball Boys Junior B

Back row: Riley Tane, Daniel Mansell, Mr B Wardrope Front row: Journey Bell, Uzmine Alam, Jackson Young Absent: Dean Te Huna, Wyatt Taiapa-Powell, Samuel Talagi

Basketball Boys Senior A

Back row: Mr J Haronga, Jakob Mathews, Corbyn Te Whaiti, Brock Coulbeck Front row: Alexander Rabanal, Mahara NathanPene, Gabriel Fa’alele, Zac Brooker, Jonzy Benipayo Absent: Thomas Phillips, Nazareth Fa’alele, Steven Fungsoongnern, Boston Walsh

Basketball Boys Senior B

Back row: Mr J Haronga, Joel Tawera, Malachi Taiapa, Riley Gough, George Christieson, Mr D Hollands Front row: Josh Clifton, Boston Walsh, Traylan Hansen, Oliver Christieson, Lachie Carter, Aiden Arnott, Jacob Tollison Absent: Dazzler MulliganJohnstone, Jobe Ngamotu, Izaiah Te Wiata

Basketball Boys Senior C

Back row: Ben Randle, Elijah Casson, Rhys Tamanui, Andre Carter, Tyler Boyes, Mr D Hollands Front row: Riley Walton-Sexton, Flynn Mercer, Isaac Hinton, Adam Brookes, Tadhg Stephens, Michael Garland

Basketball Junior Girls

Back row: Mr B Crawford, Ella Willacy-Kaka, Dante Taylor, Harmony Kautai, Ariel Henderson-Ereatara, Max Taiapa-Powell Front row: Phimwaree Toanchalee, Ranche Honotapu, Briah McGrail-Timms, Lena Ormsby, Shayleah Pritchard

Basketball Senior Girls

Back row: Ms L Bartlett, Jemma Green, Raegan Robinson, Kahurangi Stevens, Boston Wynyard, Max Taiapa-Powell, Mrs A Price Front row: Kerinza Benjamin, Cherish Maui, Tia Ward, Michelle Sikupa, Briah McGrail-Timms