Toro Atu opened the Elite League with a statement win over Hastings Old Boys. In the Division One final of the Hawke's Bay Basketball League in Summer 2018/19, a lot of the same players met under different banners: Akina vs Victory Royale. It was Akina that took the spoils though, so this was a bit of revenge for the Ravi Mani captained outfit.

Captain Ravi Mani explains the name change from Victory Royale to Toro Atu, "there is a few reasons behind this idea...we want to push a message, not just with basketball but also with mental health. Most of our team is Maori, and I feel like our people are always affected by this illness". While they were without their uniforms in Week 1, the Toro Atu uniform will feature a green stripe to symbolise mental health awareness.

Mani's respect for the players in Hastings Old Boys is clear. "They feature a great lineup of players from current Hawks like Geoff (Heather) & Jacob (Nahora) to ex-Hawks like Reece (Tuala-Fata), Mataeus (Marsh) and Kaleb (Edwards). The first week of the league was a good eye opener into seeing just how competitive it ill be! Heaps of great players are spread throughout the whole league!" exclaims Mani.

Hastings Old Boys took out the Summer League 18/19 under the Akina banner, while Toro Atu took out the Autumn League 2019 under the Victory Royale banner. The opening game didn't disappoint with Toro Atu showing their scoring prowess early with Joshua Anderson and Ravi Mani carrying the team in the first half. But nobody was about to forget about Alonzo Burton who turned in 35 points in his first outing for Toro Atu. Burton was the player of the week in the game of the week as his third quarter explosion allowed Toro Atu to pull away from Hastings Old Boys. A game they would end up winning 105-80.

Alonzo Burton heaped praise on the Elite League, and the work BBHB had done to keep it going: "In past years we haven't had this opportunity and I commend the work that Morgan Maskell and the staff at BBHB for pushing for a league like this in Hawke's Bay. For someone like myself, coming back from an NBL season, it allows me to continue playing at a competitive level, and a chance to continue to learn and develop my game." Burton is coming off a season where he put up near-career highs in the NZNBL while captaining the Taranaki Mountainairs.

This week Toro Atu will again participate in the game of the week against a Kings outfit coming off a big week one win themselves. Mani believe they will have a difficult time containing Kareem Johnson on the inside without a great amount of size themselves but knows that they can't afford to collapse on the post with sharpshooters like Dee Davies and Dom 'McLovin' McGovan on the outside.

Elite League Round Two is Wednesday 7th August. Due to PGA unavailability, this is the only round that will be at Centennial Hall. Games start from 6pm at Centennial Hall, culminating in the Toro Atu vs Kings blockbuster at 8.30pm on Court One.

TORO ATU ROSTER
 

Joshua Anderson (PF, 1.89m)

Nick Agnew (SG, 1.85m)

Alonzo Burton (SG, 1.93m)

Daniel Evans (PG, 1.70m)

Trey Fergusson (PG, 1.73m)

Ravi Mani, Captain (SG, 1.83m)

Johnny Ruhi (PF, 1.90m)

Ryan Ruhi (SF, 1.82m)

Tuaka Smallman (PF, 1.85m)

Jayden Winterburn (PF, 1.95m)