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Kavinda Herath / Things
Alonzo Burton in action for the Southland Sharks in the quarter-final victory over the Otago Nuggets in the 3×3 Schick Cup at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
The scrpit couldn’t have been better written, if you’re at least a Southerner.
It all boiled down to a tense 70th and final match of the New Zealand National Basketball League three-on-three inaugural competition at ILT Stadium Southland.
Hometown heroes the Southland Sharks drew 19-19 with Hawke’s Bay in the men’s 3×3 Schick Cup final on Saturday night.
Given that it is the first with 21 points to win in the shortened format, Saturday’s final was up for grabs at 19-19 before Alonzo Burton delivered the decisive moment.
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Kavinda Herath / Things
Dom Kelman-Poto in action for the Southland Sharks in the quarter-final victory over the Otago Nuggets in the 3X3 Schick Cup at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
Burton drained a two-point shot from beyond the arc to secure the 21-19 victory and sow some joy on the faces of the Southland Sharks fans who have had to endure a challenging 2020 year.
It came after the Sharks pulled out of traditional NBL competition earlier this year riding the Covid-19.
The Sharks were erratic in the 3×3 Schick Cup pool game losing two pool games.
However, on Saturday, they first beat their neighboring Otago Nuggets in the quarterfinals, before taking down the Auckland Huskies in semi-final action, and then set their sights on Hawke’s Bay in the final.
Earlier in the evening, Auckland Dream beat Harbor Breeze to win the women’s title.
The inaugural NBL three-on-three competition took place over three days in Invercargill after ILT Stadium Southland secured host rights for three years.
The event brought 10 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams to Invercargill.
Kavinda Herath / Things
Hyrum Harris in action for the Southland Sharks in the qaurter-final win over the Otago Nuggets in the 3×3 Schick Cup at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
Invercargill’s stadium setup and hospitality in general received a lot of praise from visiting teams and NBL general manager Justin Nelson.
ILT Stadium Southland General Manager Nigel Skelt said the event provided fantastic exposure for Invercargill and community sponsors with Sky Sport broadcasting 22 hours of live basketball over the three days.
Skelt believes that the shortened basketball concept, where games are played in half court, with three players on each team, and it only takes 10 minutes, had great potential.
He added that the stadium and Southland in general had the opportunity to be front and center of that growth.
“I am firm in the belief that it will be the basketball of the future and I believe that now we have the opportunity to develop it particularly at the local level with Basketball Southland, to lead our own leagues.
“Personally I would like to see if we can get a [Southland] women’s team in the league for 3×3 next year, which would be great as a role model for our young athletes to have a women’s team, so that’s a challenge for all of us. “
The ILT Stadium Southland management team went to great lengths to block the event for three years.
While Skelt admitted that the number of viewers was below what they expected over the three days, he was confident that it would increase in the future.
“We did a kick, it was a huge risk. We haven’t done the final numbers financially, but it’s a three-year investment for us and that’s the key.
“We had around 700 or 800 people there [on Saturday night] as well as the corporate tables … and they really enjoyed it. “
The event took 18 months to take place as it had to be postponed twice due to Covid-19.
It was initially scheduled to take place during a break from the traditional NBL season earlier in the year. The management of NBL and ILT Stadium Southland is already working on plans for next year.
Skelt said that 2021 had become even more important as the Southland Sharks will attempt to defend the title.
