Port Macquarie Basketball Association held the first round of the North Eastern Junior League basketball competition on April 23 and 24

The Dolphins held their nerve in overtime to register a first-up 43-37 win over Newcastle before they were outclassed by Central Coast Rebels 76-38 in game two.

They then handed out their own lesson with a 78-34 hammering of Maitland before they rounded out the weekend with a 47-42 loss to Tamworth.

Association secretary Nicole Galea said it was an important weekend for them to hold the tournament after two previous years of COVID-interrupted representative seasons.

"For us, this round was one of the biggest rounds we'll ever have in the sense that the format of the league has changed," she said.

"Previously, there was a Northern Junior League and an Eastern Junior League, but this year they have combined. Typically we would only have been hosting teams from Taree to Byron Bay, but this round we had Central Coast, Maitland, Newcastle, Inverell and Tamworth."

Galea said the under-14 boys had a mixed bag with two wins and two losses overall.

The association also fielded teams in the under-12 boys and girls along with two teams in the under-14 girls divisions.

"We haven't been able to field a division two under-14 women's team for years because we normally don't get a lot of girls so that's nice to see a growth in those numbers," she said.

The under-12 girls had three losses, the under-12 boys had two wins and a loss, the under-14 girls division one side had three wins and a loss.

Their division two side finished with one win and two losses.

Port Macquarie will also host the North East Junior League finals on July 16 and 17.

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