Dunstan High School boys' Senior A basketball team is celebrating after becoming the only South Island team to secure a place in the top eight at nationals.

The team travelled to Palmerston North at the end of September for the national competition where they gained 8th place, the only team in the South Island to make the top eight.

The team advanced to Nationals after coming second in the South Island Secondary Schools (SISS) tournament in Nelson in August.

Dunstan High School player Nikora Thomas-Kavanagh was also selected for the New Zealand tournament team, the only player from the South Island to be selected.

Nikora (4th from left) and the NZ tournament team. PHOTO: supplied

Nikora led the team in scoring and was fourth overall for point scoring in the competition. 

Coach Darrin Mills has been involved with basketball at Dunstan High School for four years, the last two years being coach of the Senior A team. 

The tournament featured many highlights, but for Darrin, getting a win against Central Southland College after losing to them at the South Island Secondary Schools tournament stood out. 

Dunstan’s success was “certainly the benchmark for the Central Otago region,” Darrin said. 

“Having a school-based competition in Central Otago will help grow the game as the competition itself is refined and fortunately we have some extremely passionate people involved in the sport in the community that will help shape the future of the sport in the region.” 

The Dunstan Senior A team will look to rebuild next year with most of the current players leaving high school. 

“This year’s team will always be very special to me," Darrin said.

"I will always remember this experience at nationals and I could not have wished for a better group of lads to have coached for these last few years, I genuinely can’t express how proud I am of what they have achieved together.”