During the July holidays 20 boys and 20 girls basketball teams in the U15 age category competed for a national title at Bruce Pulman Arena in Takanini across four days.

Five teams from four regions had to qualify back in May to get to the Nationals. Westlake students Lily Fotu (Year 10), Emma-Kaye Schroeder (Year 10), Kaia Tuuta (Year 10) and Brennah Latoalevi-Nosa (Year 11) – who are part of the North Harbour representative team – competed in four pool games against Nelson (92:40 win), Porirua (86:20 win), Canterbury (86:35 win), Otago (96:46 win) before meeting Manawatu in the quarter finals (102:55 win).

The biggest test of the tournament was against old rival Hawke’s Bay in the semi finals on Friday evening. The North Harbour team lost to a very strong Hawke’s Bay team by over 20 points at an Easter tournament, but with three months of excellent preparation and a strong game plan, our girls came away with a convincing win of 89:69 when it counted.

The final match was against a strong Waikato team with many skilled girls but the North Harbour team dominated the game and finished to receive their Gold medal with a 87:60 win.

Pictured above from left are:  Lily Fotu,  Emma-Kaye Schroeder, Kaia Tuuta, Brennah Latoalevi-Nosa