Canterbury Club Basketball by Bruce Martin                                          

Week Seven - Sunday 18^th June 2017

 

The unbeaten Pioner Pacers Men’s Premier club basketball team will meet last year’s beaten championship finalist Lincoln University in this Saturday’s Hoben trophy final in Cowles stadium.

This is Lincoln’s first Hoben trophy final and has had to do it the hard way.The Men ended up with a four-way tie for second place between Lincoln, Atami, University and Wolverines all on nine points. LU took the tiebreaker due to a 2-1 record, and the head to head win over Atami, so will face the unbeaten Pioneer Pacers team.

On Saturday in Cowles stadium, Lincoln, without Ben Williams on Rams duty, were edged 70-77 by the steadily improving Wolverines, led by an immaculate 49 points by teenager Taylor Britt home from his American college while Ben Bowie (21) and Jayden Chan contributed 20 for Lincoln. Wolverines led 44-36 by half time but the lead changed hands numerous times in the second half. Lincoln led 57-56 at the third break and again 68-67 with a few minutes remaining but Britt carried Wolverines home.

Pioneer remained undefeated with a resounding 89-50 over the defending champion Gators with Elliot Noble and Harley Campbell contributing 16 apiece. Gators used its bench with Matt Mischewski scoring 12 points.

 

In a crucial matchup which help decide Lincoln’s final placing, Atami edged Checkers 67-64 in a tight match. Atami led by Zacc Dwan with 21 and Dan Pau’u with 18 took an early first quarter lead 27-12 but Checkers fought back to lead 40-39 by half-time. It was basket for basket with Atami ahead 54-53 by three-quarter time, Checkers closed to trail 57-58 but couldn’t quite put Atami away. Justin Kent (18) and Nat Connell (14) stood out for Checkers. Had the result gone the other way here, then bye team University of Canterbury would have been in the final ahead of Wolverines with the 2-1 record and University ahead head to head.

The North Canterbury Women’s Premier basketball team completed the round robin play to finish undefeated at the top of the Patron’s trophy table, comfortably defeating bottom placed Minties 90-48 in Cowles Stadium on Saturday. The team will meet defending champion Lincoln University in the Patron’s trophy this Saturday after Lincoln had a strong 91-54 win over Pioneer.

Both sides will be without key players for the final with the Wildcats travelling to Dunedin for a WBC encounter. North Canterbury had to repulse a strong fightback to edge Lincoln 58-57 in round robin play earlier. Wildcat Terina Wanoa led North Canterbury early, producing a strong 19 points while other steady efforts came from Gemma Hazeldine and Junior Tall-Fern Esra McGoldrich both with 16 points. The team’s other Junior Tall-Fern Charlotte Whittaker was rested prior to going to Guam in mid-July with the NZ U18 Women’s team.

Lincoln demolished Pioneer 91-54 with Wildcats Connie Poletti (24), Fran Edmonson (14) and Courtney Hamblin (13) while Olivia Clark featured for Pioneer with 22. Gators overwhelmed Halswell 67-38 and University edged Wolverines 67-54.

 

MEN’S PREMIER Grade Hoben Trophy Round Seven:

Pioneer Pacers 89 (Elliot Noble 16, Harley Campbell 19, Dan Mulder 14, Marty Davison 12) Gators 59 (Matt Mischewski 12, Adrian Taylor 11, Blair Kircher 10). HT: 53-30.

Atami 67 (Zac Dwan 21, Dan Pau’u 18) Checkers 64 (Justin Kent 18, Nat Connell 14, Bede Marsters 13). HT: Checkers 40-39.

Wolverines 77 (Taylor Britt 49, Sam Smith 12) Lincoln University 70 (Ben Bowie 21, Jayden Chan 20, James Cawthorne 13). HT 44-36.

Bye: University of Canterbury.

Final points table: Pioneer 12, Lincoln Univ 9, Atami 9, UC 9, Wolverines 9, Checkers 8, Gators 7.

 

Women’s Premier Patron’s Trophy Round Seven:

North Canterbury 90 (Terina Wanoa 19, Gemma Hazeldine 16, Esra McGoldrick 16) Minties 48 (Sarah Mason 12, Jess Ling 10). HT: 46-23.

Lincoln University 91 (Connie Poletti 24, Fran Edmonson 14, Courtney Hamblin 13) Pioneer 54 (Olivia Clark 22, Caoimhe Colgan 10). HT:47-25.

Gators 67 (Tsubasa Nisbett 19, Paige Willman 14, Megan Ellis 12) Halswell 38 (Jess Baker 14). HT: 35-19. 

University of Canterbury 67 (Kaitlyn Stringer 20, Sapphire Wairau 12, Lily Nicol 11) Wolverines 54 (Letitia Mullaly 22, Rosie Still 12). HT: 30-20.

Final points table: North Canterbury 14, Lincoln Univ 13, Gators 12, Pioneer 11, Halswell 10, UC 9, Minties 7.