The Super Six Basketball Competition is starting to heat up as the newly-formed teams begin to gel on court.
Round two of the inaugural competition was held at Whangarei Girls' High School at the weekend, and first up on Friday night was Kaikohe Cougars, who played Maunu Lights.
While the polished Kaikohe
side looked to be in control for most of the game, Maunu dug deep during the final two quarters, with a huge effort by Casey Namana, and they started to close the gap after trailing 44-31 at halftime.
The ever-consistent Atama O'Donnell put up 27 points for Kaikohe, while his brother Arahi scored 19 and Maunu struggled to get on top of the cohesive Cougars unit.
Kaikohe made it two wins from two games when they defeated Maunu 78-71.
Portland Blazers also claimed their second win in the competition, when they downed a battling Raumanga Royals, 78-68.
Raymond Cameron, a younger brother of Tall Black Pero Cameron, who was born and raised in Portland, was a big asset to the team on Saturday, achieving a double double (12 points, 12 assists). The younger Cameron is rostered with National Basketball League team the Waikato Pistons but will play for Portland when he is available. Portland's Corey Poa top-scored for his team, with 25 points, while Beau Mackey put up a credible 21 points for Raumanga.
In the final game of the round, City Hawks clumsily defeated Kamo Stars, 44-40.
The Hawks were lucky to win the match against the weakest side in the competition, giving away too many opportunities that Kamo capitalised on. The game was neck-and-neck at half-time, with City leading 17-16 but Joe Clarke helped to keep City in the game, shooting 15 points, while Travis McIlroy notched up a triple double (11 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds).
Round three of the competition starts on Friday night with City Hawks tipping off against Portland Blazers at 6.30pm, followed by the Kamo Stars game against Maunu Lights on Saturday at 2.30pm and Raumanga Royals against Kaikohe Cougars, at 3.30pm.
All games will be at Kensington Stadium.
