Basketball: Ballantyne aims for US scholarship

Kelcy Ballantyne in action against China at the Fiba 3x3 World Championships in Hungary.

Kelcy Ballantyne, 17, is hoping a top performance at the Fiba 3x3 World Championships in Hungary will help her secure a US basketball scholarship.

While all the media attention fell on the all-conquering world champion men's team, New Zealand U-18 women's team featuring Ballantyne performed far better than expected with four wins.

The last New Zealand women's team at the championship did not win a game.

"Playing on the world stage is pretty unbelievable, with the step up. I have obviously played in conference series against Australia but that doesn't compare to being in that environment. It was just crazy," Ballantyne said. "Before we went to Hungary we went to Colorado Springs and played the US squad at the Olympic training centre there and that really set us up. We only lost by three or four which gave us confidence."

On day one, the team beat Estonia and China to sit top of their pool.

"Estonia was a nervous start to the tournament but we got the win which was the big goal of the day. In the afternoon, we went up against China who were on average 10cm taller than our line-up. They were big and very athletic but we beat them 15-11 as we were so much more mobile. Offensive rebounds were huge, crashing the boards and setting good screens and just being aggressive.

"That was probably the highlight of the tournament."

Ballantyne said they were close to doing better than their 12th-place finish.

"Day two we lost by three to France, who won the championship, and we lost the game in the last minute. We beat Poland in a must-win game and then beat Guam the next day to put us in a three-way tie. We played Italy and lost 9-11 which put us out.

"We proved to ourselves and our coaches we can compete on the world stage at that level. It was a privilege to represent not only New Zealand, but Tauranga City Basketball, Otumoetai College and my family at the world championships.

"Playing at a world championship motivates you to work harder than you ever have before. Over the next six to 12 months, I will be back in the gym working on strength, agility and speed as well as continuing to train with the teams I am involved with and, of course, individual on-court sessions."

Ballantyne is off to the US on an official tour to visit schools in California in August. The 183cm tall power forward has attracted a great deal of interest but is yet to decide which school to attend.

"I'm really excited. It has taken four-and-a-half years to decide this is what I want to do. Now I have lots of school work to catch up on.

"The good thing is I passed my American (SAT) exams and got good results."

Kelcy Ballantyne
NZ representation
2012: NZ under-16 basketball
2013: NZ under-17 basketball, NZ under-19 volleyball
2014: NZ under-18 basketball, NZ under-19 volleyball
2015: NZ under-18 3X3 basketball