Youngsters battling it out for basketball supremacy

By JACK AMI
Youngsters were battling it out at the Taurama Aquatic Indoor Centre yesterday for spots in the U15 national basketball championships.
The competition is much more challenging in the boys division, with Port Moresby and Lae dominating, while Alotau are also showing promising signs.
In the girls division, Lae thrashed Port Moresby Black 39- 19 to be unbeaten after round three with one match remaining before the major play off today.
Lae assistant coach and former PNG international Mary Elavo said her team was mostly made up of primary school students.
“We are hoping to do very well against team Port Moresby in the gold medal playoff,” she said.
The Port Moresby teams are favourites but Lae and Alotau will look to give them a good shake-up in the playoffs for the major honours.
Basketball Federation PNG president Nick Daroa and secretary Karo Lalei said after the championships, girls and boys would be selected into the train-on squads for the Fiba Oceania U15 Championships to be staged on Dec 2-9 in Port Moresby.
“The selection process for boys is much easier as they are very competitive,” Lelai said.
“But for the girls, there’s a lot of assessments to be done to select the right players.
“Port Moresby has two teams each for the boys and girls, while Lae and Alotau have one each.”