Gisborne Boys’ High Basketball Team Honors Taika in Rotorua Tournament

The name written in marker on Ollie Tong’s arm said as much about Gisborne Boys’ High’s week in Rotorua as any box score.

Taika.

A teammate. A guard. A surfer. A friend who never made it back from his own journey, but who travelled every minute of this tournament with them.

Playing for Taika

Tong still remembers the first time they shared a court. Taika ran the point for the Gisborne Under-13s B team in 2022 and later for the Boys’ High junior development side. He was slight but sharp, a guard who could handle the ball, see the floor, and punish defenders from mid-range or beyond the arc.

“Taika was a good guard, ball-handler, passer, could shoot mid-range jumpers and three-pointers. More importantly he was a great person, always happy and smiling,” Tong said.

The memories stretch well beyond the hardwood. In 2024, Tong stayed with Taika and his family for a week. They surfed, explored, lived like kids who thought they had all the time in the world.

“The last time I saw him was in January of this year at his house in Wainui. We surfed at Makorori and hung out the day before he left. He was just a week older than me. I just gave him a hug and said I’ll see you soon.”

There was no “soon.”

So in Rotorua last week, at the Basketball NZ AA Zone 2 secondary schoolboys tournament, Tong and his teammates carried Taika with them. Literally.

“Santy, Sam Crosby, Aidan O’Brien, Ryland Bright and I dedicated our tournament effort to Taika,” Tong said. “I had his name on my arm and my shoes every game. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than this; it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through.

“Taika was one of my best mates. I’ve got very happy memories of him.”

A historic swing in Rotorua

On paper, Gisborne’s 14th-place finish out of 20 teams looks modest. The story on court was anything but.

Day 1 at Unison Arena opened with a hammer blow. Defending champions Mount Maunganui College, stacked with two first-division players and Junior Tall Blacks, tore through Gisborne 94-34. A 60-point defeat. The kind that can break a team before a tournament even starts.

It didn’t.

The response came in Game 2, and it came with fury. Tong exploded for 39 points, Bright poured in 34, and Kelly-Morehu Paenga-Rangihuna added 15 in a wild 95-93 win over Ōtūmoetai College.

No Gisborne Boys’ High Senior A side had ever been beaten by 60 at a regional tournament and then won their next game. This one did.

The belief followed. Coached by Felix Sparks and his father Adrian, Gisborne backed it up with an 87-66 win over Pāpāmoa, their offence humming, their confidence restored.

The run stalled against St Paul’s Collegiate School. One bad quarter, one lapse, and the tournament’s momentum shifted. Gisborne were outscored 22-9 in the second period and never recovered, losing 68-46. That defeat dropped them to third in their pool and into a preliminary quarter-final against John Paul College (Rotorua).

Again they fought. Again they fell just short. John Paul College won 87-78, nudging Gisborne into the ninth-to-16th play-offs.

From there, it became a grind. A 91-80 loss to Te Awamutu College sent them into a 13th–16th match-up with Whakatāne High. This time Gisborne cut loose, crushing Whakatāne 95-20, with Paenga-Rangihuna leading the way on 24 points.

Their final outing, a playoff for 13th–14th against Taupō-nui-a-Tia, ended in an 82-76 defeat despite 17 points from Bright. The margins were small. The effort, constant.

Through it all, Tong kept scoring and leading. He averaged 20.6 points per game, finished as the tournament’s eighth-highest scorer, and was the only Gisborne player to hit double figures in every contest.

A message for those who follow

For Tong, this season has been a personal peak wrapped in grief.

“Definitely this year has been my highlight for my performances and tournaments, but I went on some great trips in my junior years and as a senior,” he said.

The numbers back him. The context defines him. He played for his school, for his teammates, and for a friend whose name he carried into every jump ball.

His parting words weren’t about points or rankings, but about time.

“Don’t leave it too late. Work hard from as early as you can on your game, while you’re at school, whatever the sport, it makes a huge difference.

“It’s been a great run, just with a bittersweet ending.”

For Gisborne Boys’ High, the question now is simple: who picks up that message, and where will it take them next?