Two Whanganui basketballers in team that wins age group division at world junior event

Whanganui basketballers Naaman Andrews, left, and Carlos Hill can now count themselves among the best juniors in the world.

Two Whanganui lads are among the best junior basketballers on the planet after their team won the under-16 division of the Eltham Dandenong Junior Basketball Tournament in Melbourne on Monday.

Whanganui City College teenager Naaman Andrews and Cullinane's Carlos Hill part of the Ngamotu Hoopclub group under Taranaki-based tour director Josh Reeves that went seven games undefeated in the tournament.

The competition is regarded as the largest junior tournament in the world where more than 1300 teams from Australia, New Zealand, USA, England and Philippines among other countries participate.

It was Andrews' second time at the tournament, but Hill's debut.

The Kiwi touring teams, which were dubbed the New Zealand Select teams, featured representative players from Hutt Valley, Whanganui, Taupo, the South Island and members of Reeves' Ngamotu Hoop Club Academy. They played in the under-16 and under-14 grades at the event with the latter side making the semifinals before exiting the competition.

Tour director Reeves said the under-16 squad did an outstanding job impressing organisers both on and off-court. They won their final convincingly against the Australian-based Waverley team 50-23.

"The boys gelled really well given the side was a mix of players from all over New Zealand," Reeves said.

The Kiwi under-16 team featuring Whanganui players Naaman Andrews (5th from left) and Carlos Hill (8th from left) won at the Eltham Dandenong Junior Basketball Tournament in Melbourne on Monday.

"They won seven out of seven including their final and the under-14 team also did very ell reaching their semifinal. We have been invited back next year with the organisers saying how impressed they were with our behaviour on and off-court. This is a really big deal, the tournament is a truly international event and the largest junior one of its kind. The two Whanganui boys, Naaman and Carlos, played major roles in the success of the under-16 team.

"Much thanks must go to their families and supporters and to the boys themselves. They all put in a lot of hard work fundraising to get here through sausage sizzles and the likes," Reeves said.

"There were other Kiwi teams that won their grades, but these boys really deserved their trophies."