Kāpiti Basketball player Jacinta Beckley has been called up by top of the table Women’s 1st Division Basketball Team the Hutt Valley Flyers.
Jacinta was called up by the Hutt Valley Flyers for the recent Women’s 1st Division Tournament held at the Walter Nash Stadium in Taita.
Jacinta who was selected this year for the Hutt Valley Under 19 and Under 21 Women’s Basketball team at 17 years of age, has made a real mark on the National Women’s Basketball Tournament Competition.
Jacinta was called into the team as one player who is heading to America on a Basketball scholarship and one player is injured.
The Hutt Valley Flyers sit top of the table and head off to the Nationals being held in Dunedin from 23-26 August only having lost one out of 10 games.
Results from the Tournament held at Walter Nash Stadium:
The first game was against Taranaki. They lost 58-68, Jacinta Top scored 11 points equal with Stella Beck (Junior Tall Fern player)
2nd game Won 56-46 against Nelson, Jacinta scored 6 points
3rd game Won 54-37 against Southland, Jacinta scored 10 (second only to Stella Beck who scored 16 points)
4th game Won 75-48 against Canterbury, Jacinta scored 5 points
5th game Won 43-77 against Palmerston North, Jacinta scored 6 points.
This is the highest level of Womens Basketball in New Zealand and it was an amazing experience for Jacinta. The Hutt Valley Flyers Coach Denise Morgan said one of the hardest parts in coaching is choosing who to put on court as she has such good depth in the team. This was very apparent and all the players played hard to get court time.
There is a huge pool of talent in this team so Jacinta has done extremely well not only to be called into the team, but also to have a large amount of court time and also prove to the coach and players she can produce the results.
For Jacinta to be invited to travel with the team to Dunedin for the Nationals is testament to the effort she put in on court during the recent tournament. She worked hard on her defence and contributed to the score every game, top scoring in her first game alongside Stella Beck, Junior Tall Fern Player.
It is exciting for Jacinta to be amongst the best New Zealand players.
It is an opportunity she is really excited about and is working hard in the hope of making Basketball a big part of her future.
Report from Angelo Robinson, Director of Coaching, Kāpiti Basketball Association.
