Hannah Matehaere

Much of New Zealand's top young basketball talent will be on display in Dunedin this weekend.

The under-19 national championships begin at the Edgar Centre this morning and continue through to Tuesday evening.

Otago will feature in both the men's and women's competitions, while North Otago has also qualified in the men's.

North Otago beat Otago at qualifiers, although the two will face off again after being drawn in the same pool.

They are joined by perennial contenders Canterbury and Hutt Valley.

Big man Jack Andrews shapes as a key inside presence for North Otago, while guard Jack Souness has a nice shot and is an intelligent operator.

The team also has an intelligent point guard in Sam Senior, as well as an athletic slasher in Toby Johnson.

For Otago, side guard Mitchell Hughan is another top shooter and is tidy in the rest of his game.

He joins Dallas Hartmann and Michael Ruske to spearhead a strong guard line-up.

In the Otago women's team, Gold Rush guard Hannah Matehaere will be the go-to player.

She has quality around her in fellow guard Dre Whaanga and centre Alex Bennett.

Of the other teams, Harbour A and Auckland look to be among the strongest in the men's draw.

Harbour is loaded with talent, its roster including 204cm forward Sam Mennenga, who attended the NBA's Basketball Without Borders camp last year.

Marvin Williams-Dunn and Taine Murray are also key names to look out for.

For Auckland, Shalom Broughton leads a line-up including Logan McIntosh, Jaga Mete-Smith and Robert Coman.

Waikato is gunning for a third consecutive women's title, although will be without ace guard Charlisse Leger-Walker, who will be representing New Zealand at 3x3.

However, it still has the core of the WBC team which beat the Gold Rush in Dunedin two weeks ago.

Notable among that group is Ella Bradley.

Harbour will also be strong and possesses a load of talent.

It will be without Tayla Dalton, also away at 3x3, but has five national age-grade players on its roster.

Among those is Jessica Moors and Jordyn Mannix.

The first games tip off at 9am today.

The women's final is scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday, while the men's will follow at 4.45pm.