PNG Women Take out 7th Place

Source: FIBA Oceania

By Larissa Spano of The Reporters’ Academy

Competing in one of the first games of the day was the Samoa and Papua New Guinea (PNG) battling it out on the court, trying to win their last match of the Pacific Youth Basketball Championships.

Taking a quick lead into the game was Samoa, scoring themselves their first goal 10 seconds into the game.

Although playing a bigger side, PNG maintained great teamwork as their fellow players cheered them on along the sidelines.

Almost simultaneously Samoa’s Wilma Te’o scored herself a free throw as PNG’s Marrina Boino scored her team a free throw straight after.

Samoa’s Janice Moke was able to collect 7 of PNG’s rebounds helping her team by scoring 12 points.

With the tireless effort of the players from PNG, they were able to make an incredible comeback with the players from the PNG team grabbing themselves 24 of Samoa’s rebounds.

As both teams applied intense amounts of pressure on their opponents with the PNG coming out on top, taking the lead at halftime 28-30.

Coming back into the third quarter of the match was PNG, full of drive and energy.

Over the third quarter it was a push for points with the already fast paced game speeding up as both teams attempted getting the ball in the hoop.

Moke earned herself a ‘double double’ collecting a total of 10 rebounds and 16 points, making her Samoa’s number one scorer.

Even as the score rose for PNG, Samoa never gave up for one moment, they put in their hardest effort always played to the best of their abilities. 

With the hype of the game rising, PNG pushed their hardest rolling out points.

As the fatigued players from both teams tirelessly giving the game their all, Renagi Fred worked her absolute hardest on the court scoring herself a ‘double-double’ with 15 rebounds, 17 points as well as 5 steals.

PNG after just taking the lead in the first half were able to make a brilliant and exciting recovery on the court scoring 54 points in the paint and having a huge 21 point scoring run.

Taking the game at the end of the game was PNG defeating their opponent 74-43, capping off a huge improvement for the side throughout the championship.