The 2025 Winter Club Season for Junior Basketball Teams concluded with extremely well attended Finals
At Junior Finals, it was the last two remaining teams from all of our junior grades competing for their 2024 Championship. Photos from Junior Finals Day available here.
XCM Boys’ 17U A: Horomaka Gators Blue vs St. Bede’s Red (16 teams)
XCM Boys’ 17U Sub-Grades (24 Teams)
We again had 16 teams compete in the A grade, and a slight increase in the number of sub-grade teams, with an expectation that we’ll see a bump here in 2026 as players move up from our B15U competitions.
Horomaka Gators and St. Bede’s each had two teams in the A grade competition, and all four of these teams played in the semi-final round, with the two entities splitting wins there to set up an exciting Grand Final.
Only two points separated the teams at the end of three quarters, but an 11-0 Horomaka run was an offensive explosion that St. Bede’s could not respond to, dropping by a final score of 84-65. Finals MVP Finn Langrell had 32 points in the win.
The sub-grade had a final as well, with four teams selected to compete in the playoffs based on their resume. Shirley Boys’ Spartans Blue winning the sub-grade with an 85-76 win over the Christ’s College Black team.
Dynasty Girls’ 16U: St. Andrew’s College Junior Girls Blue vs Gators (9 Teams)
St. Andrew’s and Gators were the class of this grade, each owning a perfect record against the rest of the competition, and their only losses on their ledger being against each other.
The appreciative crowd saw a great game unfold, with twenty ties or lead-changes occurring in the game, before a sudden 9-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter was the boost St. Andrew’s needed to help win the competition.
Hayley Stowell (6) did a bit of everything in the game, as she helped her St. Andrew’s team to a 65-59 win.
Dynasty Boys’ 15U A: Shirley Boys’ Spartans Gold vs St. Andrew’s Blue (16 Teams)
Dynasty Boys’ 15U Sub-Grades (31 Teams)
Like the Boys’ 17U competition, this competition also had 16 teams in the A grade. The Shirley Boys’ Spartans were the class of the competition throughout, being unbeaten as they entered the final game. St. Andrew’s Blue was their Grand Final opponent, after they used their size advantage to upset Horomaka Blue in their semi-final.
As was the expectation of most people involved in the competition, the Spartan’s class was too much for St. Andrew’s – holding them to only eight points in the second half as Shirley built a comfortable lead of over twenty points.
A late fight back from StAC closed the Shirley Gold lead to nine points, but the Spartans had the answer every time, going wire-to-wire and winning 82-63.
Mataio Ifopo-Togia (31p) took home the Finals MVP Honours, helping illustrate the depth of the Shirley team, with Finn Kennett-Ditfort being named as the Grade MVP, and Noa Gathercole-Smith receiving the Finals MVP award in the Grocott Trophy Grand Final.
This grade also had a sub-grade final, with eight teams selected to compete in the playoffs based on their resume. Rolleston won the sub-grade with a tight 91-87 win over the North Canterbury Black team.
XCM Boys’ 13U A: Lions A vs Wharenui Gators Black (6 Teams)
XCM Boys’ 13U Sub-Grades (18 Teams)
Roster turnover is a feature of this grade, being the weekend grade where most club basketballers are now starting to play in. Great support from family and friends for players in this grade was evident throughout the season, which well and truly reached another level during the Grand Final, with a packed Cowles Stadium raising the atmosphere dramatically.
Wharenui Gators Black upset the #1 seeded team from Pioneer in their semi-final, but the Lions team waiting for them in the last game of the season had plenty of firepower, as shown by the 19-point lead Lions built just after half-time. The game was just about all Gators’ from here on out though, fighting all the way back to get to a one-possession game, but just missed the potential game-tying shot as Lions secured the 81-78 win
Jaeden Reboldad (24) was named as Finals MVP.
XCM Girls’ 13U A: Lions A vs Wharenui Gators Black (5 Teams)
XCM Girls’ 13U Sub-Grades (6 Teams)
The Girls 13U grade stayed above ten teams, with eleven teams entered in the competition for 2025.
North Canterbury Maroon only dropped one game the entire season, and had beaten Halswell both times they played them previously. The NC defense was too good for Halswell, holding them to two single-figure quarters, as they won systematically 61-36.
Mae Stringer (20p) was the offensive engine for North Canterbury, so was well-deserving of the Finals MVP award.
