Basketball: Hard lesson for Suns

Jennian Homes Northland Suns' player Manasseh Hetaraka-Sadler makes an attacking play to get past Tohi Smith-Millner. Photo/ John Stone.

Despite losing by 60 points in front of a large local crowd, the Jennian Homes Northland Suns side is hailing their match against the New Zealand Breakers development team a success.

Going into the season-ending match up, the purpose was to give Northland's top young basketballers experience against the trend-setters in New Zealand.

Northland Suns basketball development officer Aaron Sadler said Saturday's match lived up to expectations and everyone involved learnt from it.

"It was good for our team to see what you can do with some training and surround yourself with good friends. It was a success in regards to our boys and giving them exposure at that level. The Breakers are the best at what they do in the country - and they've got the best coaches - so for them to come up and give us the opportunity is great," Sadler said.

He noted that the Northlanders were out-sized and muscled by their Auckland-based opposition, adding that at one point Kamo's LJ Hetaraka-Sadler was marking Breaker Jack Salt and Hetaraka-Sadler was standing at his bellybutton.

"The Breakers team has the cream of all of the players around the country - most are from Auckland to be fair - and are pulled together.

"Even afterwards in our changing rooms [we were positive], the conversation we had about the skill and size of these boys shows what can be achieved."

Sadler said the entire team played well, which was seconded by the players themselves when debriefing after the match at ASB Stadium. However, Sadler added that at times the Suns returned to their safety zone when play broke down or the pressure came on.

"They all played well as individuals but as a team we didn't quite match up with strategies and pressure. They sort of shocked our boys back into relying on their individual skills."

Next up for Northland basketballers was the local club competition which starts this coming weekend.