Canterbury got away to a 11 point margin in the first quarter of their match against New Plymouth U19 Men in Tauranga at the BBNZ Nationals on Sunday. Trailing 13-24 at the end of the first quarter, New Plymouth needed to turn the momentum of the game during the second period to gain some sort of ascendency against their Southern cousins. Too many turnovers and missed opportunities cost them though and at the end of the half the score remained in Canterbury’s favour 23-38.

Pictured left: Matt Wallace attempts to lay it up but is cut short as the Canterbury defense do everything they can to keep New Plymouth out.

Coach Baxter must have said something at half time cause New Plymouth came out firing with Lachie Fenwick going on an 8-0 run. Canterbury maintained their composure for most of the quarter but still went down 9-13 bringing the score to 36-47 in their favour at the end of the third period.

The game had swung though and the fourth quarter proved to be a real nail biter. With 20 Seconds to go Canterbury were ahead 56-51. Lachie Fenwick drove baseline sinking the lay-up and drawing the foul for an and one. The free throw was made bringing the score to 56-54. Canterbury were sent to the free throw line with a foul and 13 seconds remaining. They made the second bringing the score to 57-54. New Plymouth pushed it up the court and got the ball to Fenwick for a buzzer beater but it rimmed out giving Canterbury the game. New Plymouth did everything but with a 21-7 fourth quarter score.

New Plymouth play North Canterbury 9:00am Monday morning to determine final positions in the 9^th to 12^th spots. Tauranga easily dealt with North Canterbury today indicating that New Plymouth should be able to take the game. This is Basketball though – anything can happen.