Persistence pays off for 3X3 title contender

After playing bridesmaids on two occasions, Team Briggs have finally secured their place in the Quest Tour Finals to be held in Auckland at The Cloud in early March. The runners up from Takapuna and South Auckland were on a mission to go one better down in Hamilton and claim the fourth leg of the Tour.

Traditionally not one of the big stops on the Tour, the locals came out and provided a real mixture of competition. 25 teams competed in three different categories, but it was the story of perseverance that stole the show, as Briggs determined effort to claim an event title proved successful. After a close semi-final encounter, Briggs ran away with the final against Team IDK, 17 to 10. The top four was rounded out by NLBNZ and Triple B. NLBNZ were no match for Team IDK in their semi-final, going down 4 - 11. Briggs had a much tighter encounter in their semi-final against Triple B, scrapping through 18 - 17.

The event was played outdoors and at times, the temperature rose up to around 30 degrees, testing the players on the baking bricks.

Team Briggs, made up of 3X3 New Zealand age group player Thabo Manyere, talented youngster James Moors as well Scott Telfer and Reuben Fitzgerald won the endurance battle and can go home knowing they can now focus on the final weekend at The Cloud.

Basketball New Zealands, David Huxford has noticed a steady increase in local team turnout and feels it really adds to the Tour atmosphere.

"Its great that weve got teams from all over who are keen to come out and compete. Keeping that street feel and local atmosphere is important so the more local teams involved the better."

Huxford was also impressed with the endurance of the teams under the hot Hamilton sun.

"It got really hot out there and some teams had no subs so to push through the day and keep the level up was awesome."

The Tour returns after Waitangi weekend, where Wellington will have its chance to showcase its best 3x3 ball. Wellington represents the halfway point in the Tour with only four events following before the finals weekend up in Auckland on March 10th.

The 3x3 Quest Tour is also open to all different ages, grades and genders. It is free to enter. Go HERE for more information.

Players must register on play.fiba3x3.com, where they can enter events, track their results and compare their ranking to their friends and other 3x3 players internationally. Its essential that all players have an official play.fiba3x3.com profile when they play in the Tour. Creating a profile is easy and only takes about three minutes. Once youve created a play.fiba3x3.com account, respond to the confirmation email, register for an event, and youre ready to play.

Final Results of the Hamilton leg of the 3x3 Quest Tour:

Open Mens Winners - Briggs:

- James Moors

- Reuben Fitzgerald

- Scott Telfer

- Thabo Manyere

- Junior Mixed Winners - SJC:

- Cullen Marsters

- Maxim Stephens

- Ronald Blakey

- U19 Male Winners - Anything:

- Max Pearce

- Paneere Waitai

- Kobe Olsen-Matara

- Akiva Mcbirney-Griffin

3X3 Quest Tour Schedule:

Date | Region | Venue

- Sat 9 Dec 2017 | Tauranga | Mount Maunganui Netball centre

- Sat 16 Dec 2017 | Auckland - Takapuna | North Shore Events Centre

- Sat 20 Jan 2018 | Auckland - Mangere | Mangere Otahuhu Netball Centre

- Sun 28 Jan 2018 | Hamilton | Garden Place and Civic Square

- Sat 10 Feb 2018 | Wellington | Odlins Plaza

- Sat 17 Feb 2018 | Invercargill | Stadium Southland

- Sun 18 Feb 2018 | Dunedin | The Octagon

- Sat 24 Feb 2018 | Christchurch | Hagley Park Netball Courts

- Sat 3 Mar 2018 | Auckland - Henderson | Trusts Arena

- Sat 10 Mar 2018 | Auckland - CBD | The Cloud-

- This event will be both a normal 3x3 Quest Tour event, except for the Open Men's grade - only Open Mens grade teams that have qualified through previous tour events can play in the World Tour Qualifier Final at The Cloud on 10 March.

More information:

- www.basketball.org.nz/3X3

- play.fiba3x3.com

- Follow the event on Basketball New Zealands Social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Basketball New Zealand