Northland Suns

The Northland Suns were a New Zealand professional basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). Northland basketball began in the early 1980s when the team played in the Conference Basketball League (CBL) under the names of Cable Price Whangarei, Abbey Mazda Northland and Mobil Marters Northland. Mobil Marters won the CBL title in 1991 with the help of Pero Cameron,^[1] and with a further CBL title in 1994, the team was promoted to the NBL for the 1995 season.

The team was renamed the Northland Suns for their NBL stint, which incidentally did not last long as the failed to make the playoffs in four seasons. After going winless in 1998,^[2] the Suns left the NBL and ceased operations until being resurrected in 2010. After a 12-year hiatus, Whangarei-based NBL player Travis McIlroy, who played for the Auckland Stars in 2009, began working alongside Tai Tokerau Basketball to resurrect the regional team. McIlroy was appointed chief executive and operations manager of the Northland Suns after Tai Tokerau agreed to the move.^[3] They subsequently re-joined the Conference Basketball League, now a Zone 1 league called the Supercity Basketball Competition, with a squad containing local talent such as Corey Te Tai and Ethan Penney.^[4][5] However, they finished the 2010 season in last place out of nine teams.^[6] The Suns continued to play in the Zone 1 league in 2011 and 2012,^[7][8] with their best season coming in 2012 when they finished runners-up after losing to Waitakere West in the grand final.^[9] Their 2012 squad contained local NBL players B. J. Anthony and Ray Cameron.^[10]

Notable past players

• B. J. Anthony
• Benny Anthony, Sr.
• Pero Cameron
• Ray Cameron
• Daryl Cartwright
• Mike Foster
• Carmen Hetaraka^[11]
• Ronnie Joyner^[12]
• Travis McIlroy

References

External links

• Northland Suns Basketball Development Trust website
• Suns history