Junior B Junior North Island Tournament 2023 Wrap Up
It has been a busy four days for Junior B at the Junior North Island Tournament. Our team had relatively easy games on the first two days of the tournament with wins against Long Bay College (17-2), Northcote College (17-3), and St Mary’s College (12-0).
Our toughest competitor, Bethlehem College, also went unbeaten into their final game of pool play. So the match up against Bethlehem College and our boys was going to be a huge challenge for a place in the top 4 for the tournament. Unfortunately the boys went down 3-5, despite putting on a massive defensive effort, and were unable to penetrate Bethlehem’s defense at the other end of the pool leaving them in a play off for 5th - 8th overall.
Two more tough crossover games on the final days against Sacred Heart B (2-9 loss) and Hamilton Boys High School B (3-7 loss) leaving us 8th overall for the tournament, but finishing the best of the Harbour teams in our regular North Harbour league. Overall a great result for the team and we think all the boys have gained a lot of experience and mental toughness for their upcoming Gold Final this Thursday night at North Harbour.
Huge thanks to Liz Markovina for getting our boys to the tournament on Thursday and Friday courtesy of their mini bus! Also a big thanks to our very patient and hard working coaches George Parker and Rosmini Old Boy, Ethan D’Souza, for giving up their time to be pool side with the team these last four days.
Patricia Khan
Photos by Vin Ho and Sara Prendergast