Gisborne Boys’ High: Playing for Taika
The hug was meant to be a see-you-later.
In January, at a house in Wainui, two teenage guards did what teenage guards do. They surfed at Makorori, they hung out, they talked about the next games, the next season, the next thing. When Ollie Tong left that day, he wrapped his arms around his mate, Taika, a boy just a week older than him, and said, “I’ll see you soon.”
Soon never came.
So when Gisborne Boys’ High ran out at the Basketball NZ AA Zone 2 secondary schoolboys tournament in Rotorua last week, they carried more than a game plan. They carried a name.
On Tong’s arm. On his shoes. In every huddle.
Playing for Taika
Before tragedy cut his life short, Taika had been a familiar face in Gisborne basketball circles. He ran the point for the Gisborne Under-13s B team in 2022 and turned out for the Boys’ High junior development side. He was a guard with a neat handle, a sharp eye for a pass and a jumper that stretched to the three-point line.
“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 bond went well beyond the court. In 2024, Tong stayed with Taika and his family for a week.
“It was the best time of my life, surfing and exploring,” he said.
Those memories came flooding back in Rotorua. This wasn’t just another tournament. For Tong, and for teammates Santy, Sam Crosby, Aidan O’Brien and Ryland Bright, every possession doubled as a tribute.
“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.”
From a 60-point hammering to history
The basketball itself told its own wild story.
Day one at Unison Arena started in brutal fashion. Defending champions Mount Maunganui College, loaded with two first-division players and Junior Tall Blacks, tore through Gisborne 94-34. A 60-point loss. A statement from the champions. A gut punch for a team already playing with heavy hearts.
For most schools, that kind of defeat lingers. It seeps into the next game, the next quarter, the next timeout.
Gisborne refused to let it.
Game 2 turned into one of the most remarkable form reversals in the school’s history. Tong exploded for 39 points, Bright poured in 34 and Kelly-Morehu Paenga-Rangihuna added 15 in a breathless 95-93 win over Ōtūmoetai College.
No Gisborne Boys’ High Senior A team had ever been beaten by 60 at a regional tournament and then come back to win the very next game. This group did.
The response didn’t stop there. Coached by Felix Sparks and his father Adrian, Gisborne backed it up with an 87-66 win over Pāpāmoa, their offence humming, their belief rebuilt.
The pressure finally told in Game 4. Against St Paul’s Collegiate School, a poor second quarter wrecked their momentum. Outscored 22-9 in that period, Gisborne never quite recovered and went down 68-46. That result dropped them to third in their pool and into a preliminary quarter-final against John Paul College (Rotorua).
Again they swung. Again they fell just short.
John Paul College edged them 87-78, sending Gisborne into the 9th–16th play-offs. A 91-80 defeat to Te Awamutu College nudged them further down the ladder, into a 13th–16th playoff against Whakatāne High.
This time, Gisborne ran riot. They crushed Whakatāne 95-20, with Paenga-Rangihuna leading the way with 24 points, a statement win that spoke to their depth and their refusal to drift through the back end of the tournament.
Their final outing came in the playoff for 13th–14th against Taupō-nui-a-Tia. Bright hit 17, but Gisborne slipped to an 82-76 loss and closed the week in 14th place out of 20.
It was a middling finish on paper. It didn’t feel like one.
A scorer carrying more than numbers
Through the highs and lows, Tong’s production never wavered. He averaged 20.6 points per game, finished as the eighth-highest scorer overall and was the only Gisborne player to hit double figures in every game.
Those are big numbers for a secondary school guard. In this context, they meant even more. Every drive, every jumper, every trip to the line carried the weight of a promise made on a beach and in a family home in Wainui.
“Definitely this year has been my highlight for my performances and tournaments,” Tong said. “But I went on some great trips in my junior years and as a senior.
“It’s been a great run, just with a bittersweet ending.”
A message for those coming through
Tong’s own journey with Gisborne Boys’ High basketball is closing. The next wave is already lacing up.
He had a blunt message for them.
“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.”
For a team that has just lived through a 60-point humiliation, a history-making comeback and the grief of losing a teammate, those words land heavily.
The results sheet will say Gisborne finished 14th. The story behind it will live longer — in the way they fought back, in the way they played for a friend, and in the way a name on an arm and a pair of shoes turned a school tournament into something far bigger than basketball.
