Taranaki Thunder miss out on top four

Will Johnston

 The Taranaki Thunder women’s basketball team missed out on a chance to compete for national honours in the new 3x3 competition.

Played in Invercargill last weekend, the Thunder finished fifth out of 10 teams, missing out on a semi-final berth because it only won three out of its eight matches.

The team of Jenna Kensington, Isabelle Margaret-Cook, Teghan Ngatai and Vanessa Weir, lost its first four matches against Harbour Breeze 18-9, Capital Swish 21-19, Waikato Wizards 20-13 and Otago Gold Rush 20-11.

Its first win was against Bay of Plenty Blaze 16-11 before it lost to Harbour again, this time in a much tighter match, 13-10.

The Thunder then beat Canterbury Wildcats 15-13 and Capital Swish 20-15 in the play-off for fifth position.

Margaret-Cook suffered an ankle injury on the first day of the tournament but had a solid tournament for the Thunder.

Auckland Dream beat Harbour Breeze 18-16 in the final.

Meanwhile, the Taranaki Mountainairs men’s team finished eighth out of ten teams.

Led by New Zealand 3x3 representatives Aaron Bailey-Nowell, he and Tom Allen and Karl Noyer and Tai Wynard, won only two games.

It was a disappointing return   for the team which was classed as one of the favourites heading into the tournament.

It started the campaign with a 19-21 loss to Hawkes Bay Hawks, before a 16-21 loss to Otago Nuggets, and another  to  the Tasman Suns 12-2,  but beat the Manawatu Jets 21-17 on Friday night.

With four games on Saturday, the Mountainairs beat the Canterbury Rams 21-19), but lost the last three games; to Auckland Huskies 20-21, Otago 10-21, and Tasman 13-21.

Coincidentally, in all games either the Mountainairs or its opponents scored 21 points.

Hosts Southland Sharks beat Hawke’s Bay Hawks 21-19 in the final.

In a new-look competition, all matches were live through Sky Sport Next. It attracted 7,104 views throughout its YouTube coverage during the event.