Our Annual Primary School Competition wrapped up on the 8th of December at Otamatea High School. The competition is for our younger ballers aged Year 4-6. This year we had 13 teams across the breadth of the Kaipara, ranging from Te Kopuru to Wellsford. The competition is split between the East of Kaipara and the West, with the top three from each region meeting in crossovers at Otamatea High School. The final placings in each region were as follows.

East:

1st: Mangawhai Hoop Dreams

2nd: Maungaturoto Magic

3rd Wellsford School

4th: Kaiwaka Kraken

5th: Mangawhai Homeschool Hurricanes

6th: Ngaringa Ballers

7th: Mangawhai Beach School Sizzlers

West:

1st: Takiwira Whaia

2nd: Ruawai Kotiro

3rd: Ruawai Nuggets

4th: DPS Diamonds

5th: Selwyn Park School

6th: Te Kopuru Taniwha

The first game of the crossover finals (3rd West vs 3rd East) pitted Wellsford against the Ruawai Nuggets. It was an end-to-end affair with both teams demonstrating the immense growth in skills and game understanding they have developed over the competition. In the end the Nuggets snuck home 24-22 with a clutch bucket from Anthony Koloi sealing the win.

The 2nd Game had the Fast-paced Maungaturoto (2nd in the East) team against the All-Girls Kotiro team from Ruawai (2nd in the West). It was a close 1st half with u12 SAS Champions Ava Jenyns and Amani Worsfold trading buckets. In the 2nd half Maungaturoto surged ahead, with Saige Gordon supporting Worsfold ably. It was a shame that star forward Kiah-Grace Jackson was unavailable for the Ruawai Kotiro as they ran out of gas in the 2nd half. Final Score 24-14 to Maungaturoto Magic.

The last game and official final between the 1st Placed teams from the East and West placed the Dynamic Takiwira Whaia from Dargaville Primary School up against Mangawhai Hoop Dreams from MBS. This matchup had top billing with strong coaching pedigree from both teams in the form of James Hogan for MBS and Kim Te’o for DPS as well as a Star matchup between Kacey Barnes and Liam Kareko. Unfortunately, for the fans, Kacey was unavailable; however her team put up a valiant fight without her, battling the Takiwira team to a standstill.