U19 Zone 3 Premierships to be held in Wellington this weekend

New Plymouth U19 Mens travel to the capital on Thursday with the goal of qualifying for the BBNZ National Tournament to be held in Tauranga Queens Birthday weekend June 3-6th. They are under no illusions on how tough it will be. Unlike the younger age group tournaments where the top four teams go through, the U19 structure only allows 3 teams from each zone to continue on and compete for a National title.

Zone 3 is tough with 2010 National Title holders, Wellington fielding another strong team this year led by talented NBA prospect, Stephen Adams. Adams has a New Plymouth connection with his brothers Ralph and Warren playing for the BP Bears in their hey day under the guidance of Coach McKean. At 7 foot tall with a similar wingspan, Adams is a daunting prospect for any National League player to come up against , let along budding age group players. The Wellington team must go in as favourites for Zone 3 this weekend as well as for the National Title repeat.

The U19 team, coached by Brendon Baxter and captained by Lachie Fenwick, have been training since January with their first real hit out last weekend at the Hawera Easter Tourney. Competing against Wanganui, Zone 2's Gisborne and a Taranaki Basketball Club (TBC) Development team which included Mountainair Xavier Shaw and NZ Rep Ben Crombie, they won the tourney in a thrilling overtime final against the TBC team.

Tip off is scheduled for 12:30pm Friday where they come up against, you guessed it, Wellington. In a round robin format they'll play everyone who's anyone in Zone 3 including Hutt Valley, Wanganui, Hawkes Bay, Porirua and Palmerston North. By 5:30pm Sunday they'll know if their journey still goes on. We wish the team all the very best for their goal of qualifying for the Nationals.

The team comprises:

Matthew Wallace

Lachlan Fenwick

Aled Jones

Matthew Crighton

Phillip Nicholas

Shea Bentley

Zack Taitoko

Casey Reihana

Travis Manu

Lewis Ormond

Derek Albertsen