The Easter Basketball Championship came to an exciting end at the Vodafone Arena in Suva yesterday, And the final selection for the Fiji women’s team to the Pacific Games in July has started.

Two Fiji teams were fielded for the men and women’s categories and they played against each other as a last trial for selectors to pick the final squad. Fiji Women’s basketball team assistant coach Elenoa Buliruarua said all the players have an equal chance of getting picked to join the squad as they have put on a spectacular performance.

“Performance was good and we’ve improved, credit goes to both of the teams (Fiji White and Fiji Black) and we have seen they have improved their defence,” she said. “We’ve  a lot of young girls with three still in secondary school and a couple of them attending tertiary institutions and to see these young players absorb the pressure is a really positive thing for us as selectors.

One of the promising players for Buliruarua was Vilisi Tavuli who, if picked for the team, will add some height.

“Vilisi has stood out for me personally, she is young and she has the height and height is something that we lack,”she said.

“So to have someone with height in the team is definitely an advantage for us.”

Along with those who competed for the final trials, selectors have been keeping an eye on local players who are based overseas such as Mikaela and Letava Whippy (USA), Miliakere Koyamainavure (USA), Leba Korovou (NZ) and Valerie Nainima (USA).

Source: The Fiji Sun Newspaper on 5th April 2015