APIA (Samoa) - Hoani Ifopo-Togia was named the Most Valuable Player at the FIBA U17 Oceania Cup 2025 after a historic tournament with first-time champions New Zealand.
The 1.95M (6'4") forward was unstoppable on his way to claiming the award, leading the charge for New Zealand.
In the Final, Ifopo-Togia scored 22 points on 9-13 shooting as the Junior Tall Blacks surged in the second half to a 20-point win.
Ifopo-Togia was impressive in all of the five games in Apia, scoring over 20 points in all games but the Semi-Finals where he still managed 15 points in 17 minutes. Opponents could not find a way to contain the forward as he shot 78.3 percent from the floor to average a tournament-high 21.0 points per game.
Ifopo-Togia joined an All-Star Five lineup that included teammate Cole Hopoi, Australia's Jai Fa'ale and Luke Paul, and Samoa's Micah Watson.
Hopoi was outstanding in the Final for New Zealand, putting up what was arguably his best game yet with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Throughout the competition, the 1.96M (6'5") forward averaged 11.8 points on 80.0 percent shooting and 3.0 rebounds per game.
Fa'ale was one of the best scorers in Apia and averaged 17.8 points per contest (second among all players) for the Crocs. He also averaged 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. His 29-points against New Zealand in the seeding game was the most points scored in a single game in this competition.
Paul stood out as the best facilitator in the competition with his tournament-leading 6.2 dimes per contest. He also set the high for assists in a single game with 15 in total to go with 18 points against New Zealand in the seeding game.
Hometown hero Micah Watson lit up the scoreboard on his way to being named to the All-Star Five while also getting another bronze for Samoa. He was top 5 in the competition in scoring, rebounds, assists, and steals with 16.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.6 steals per game. Watson flirted with a triple-double in just his first game, posting 25 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assist, and 6 steals against Cook Islands.
The FIBA U17 Oceania Cup and FIBA U17 Women’s Oceania Cup were hosted by the Samoa National Basketball Association in Apia from December 8 to 13. The event was supported by the Government of Samoa under the Ministry of Sport and Recreation, with the two teams qualifying for the FIBA U18 Asia Cup and FIBA U18 Women’s Asia Cup 2026.
All games were livestreamed via the FIBA YouTube Channel in collaboration with BluWave Media.
FIBA