The Mid South Canterbury team that finished 8th at the recent Under 17 National Championships in Wellington last week. Back row: Hayley Tallentire (from left), Roi Makutu, Taryn Douglas, Summer Anderson, Phoebe Trolove and Mark Douglas (coach). Front row: Milly Ford, Grace Adams, Sammy Arnold, Dani McArthur and Tessa Thompson. Photo suppliedThe Mid South Canterbury U 17 girls’ basketball side has returned home after a successful run at the national championships last week.

The side cracked the top eight at the tournament after starting the tournament with a bang.

Facing off against Hutt Valley in their first match, they ran away with the match 86-25.

Waitakere East presented a far tougher challenge in the second match of the day.

Needing the win to have any chance of making the top eight, Mid South were able to hold on in a tense final quarter to take out the win 70-66.

The side faced eventual runners-up Auckland Counties Manakau in their third pool game.

After trailing heavily for most of the game, a big late fourth quarter surge from Mid South closed the gap to 13, with the scoreboard reading 77-64 in favour of Auckland at the final whistle.

In the final pool match, Mid South put the scorers to the test, flying to a 97-74 win against Southland, securing second place in the pool.

In the quarter-finals, it was also going to be a challenge for Mid South coming up against basketballing powerhouses North Harbour.

Undersized but not lacking effort, Mid South were unable to keep up on the scoring charts, losing 97-41.

However, they did take the honour of being the first side to keep North Harbour under 100 points in a match.

In the first tournament crossover match for fifth through eighth, Waikato had too much for Mid South Canterbury to handle.

In the playoff for seventh and eighth, the side fought hard against Manawatu, but it was not enough, losing by six.

Coach Mark Douglas said despite the disappointment of missing out on the top four, the side were still happy to celebrate making the top eight, especially when looking at the size of the catchment areas of the other top eight teams, such as Canterbury, Waikato and Auckland.

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 20 July 2017