POSTED BY: Eurobasket Center
Morning games
Sanma vs Malampa men and women
The Mens game was an interesting game characterised by many spectacular steals. The score for this game was 49- 28 in favour of Sanma. The game had very much a team spirit with many players contributing to the scores for each team. The game had a great deal of spectators.
The women's game was an even game except for the 3rd quarter which proved decisive in the win for Sanma. The score being 29- 17 in favour of Sanma. Finishing quite a good beginning to the day for the Sanma province, with the score being 2 from 2.
Luganvillle played the host province Tafea in both men's and women's matches also.
Luganville were the winners in the men's game with a score of 74- 48. This was a closer game than expected, based on previous years at Provincial Games. The Tafea team were obviously buoyed by the home ground advantage and the home crowd, who were quite vocal at times. Luganville were lead in the first half be Micky Tivakalo, who demonstrated the skills he had gained earlier this year representing Vanuatu in the South Pacific Games in Fiji. Jean Christophe was a standout performer for Luganvillle with a game high score of 30 points, which included 4 three point bombs. Tafea's points were scored by a number of people with no standout individual performances, a real team effort.
The Luganvillle- Tafea women's game was a very close encounter with two points separating the teams right until 1 minute before the finish. The inexperience of the Tafea team was the deciding factor in the final minutes. The height of Luganville was also a deciding factor with Noelline Stephen having an outstanding game with many strong rebounds and baskets. Loreta Bani was also strong for Luganville scoring a game high 14 points. The Tafea province women's team is expected to improve throughout the tournament with some experience of game play. It is hoped that with these new quality facilities that basketball in the Tafea Province will grow.
The Final game for the day was Tafea vs Sanma women. This was a close game until the telling third quarter. The first quarter , Manolita Kasten was a standout player with 10 points in a flawless display of shooting. Manolita is one of the players training in the squad of players working towards the Under 20 Oceania Youth Tournament to be held in Coffs Harbour, Australia next June. Rona Garez for Sanma then began to dominate the scoring with a game high 14 points. The game score was 36 -25 in favour of the Sanma Province in a very entertaining game.
