HBS Bank Hawks 90 Southland Sharks 81
Hawks 90 Sharks 81
PG Arena, Napier
As Kareem Johnson furiously scribbled autographs for a legion of fans, two youngsters admirably reached out to wipe the sweat flowing down the frame of the burly centre.
In many ways the two spectators' efforts personified the American import's outlook on the night's satisfying result.
"It was awesome. It's all about working hard in training with my teammates and tonight they fed me the ball," the 31-year-old said after the HBS Bank Hawks' 90-81 victory in their opening National Basketball League (NBL) match in Napier last night.
The Paora Winitana-captained Hawks out-hustled and, for the want of a better word, "out-passioned" the Southland Sharks to whet the appetite of the 60 per cent-filled Pettigrew-Green Arena crowd.
It wasn't exactly an effort that reduced the visitors to fish-and-chip performance, something coach Richard Dickel perhaps took heart from.
Johnson, returning to roost with the Hawks again after migrating to other franchises for a few winters, nailed a double-double - 22 points and 12 rebounds.
"I'm just playing off my teammates with Paora and the guys hitting the boards and defending all night," he said, although Southland's ANBL import Kevin Braswell stole the individual thunder with a game-high 28 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
"Twenty-two of those points he had to earn. He took six to eight dribbles to get a shot so that's good D," Johnson said.
Fellow burly US import Galen Young contributed 17 points, with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Winitana added 15 points, five assists and two rebounds, with forward Morgan Natanahira offering 10 points.
For the Sharks, Craig Bradshaw backed Braswell with 15 points.
Henare's first-half summary was encouraging but it is fair to say he could have extended his sentiments to the final buzzer.
"That's a good first half, boys. It's not bad for the first half of the season," Henare summed up as the Hawks led 47-39.
The game started with intent as Johnson threw his body over a sponsor's table to keep the ball in after a missed attempt.
He got back on to score the first two points before shooting guard Damion Davies nailed a three-pointer.
The police detective was like a silent assassin, starting in the front line five before coming off the bench towards the end for three out of four three-pointers in 21 minutes of court time.
The Hawks shot to a 17-8 lead after point guard Jarrod Kenny intercepted at his base line and threw the ball back into play before hitting the deck.
Winitana didn't waste Kenny's effort when he gave Johnson a gimme basket under the board.
Southland guard Dion Prewster and US import captain Larry Abney hustled as the Hawks committed a few unforced errors to hand back possession.
However, the hosts muscled up to maintain a nine-point buffer into the second quarter.
On resumption guard Dan Peck and Braswell got the visitors to within one point, 29-28, within 2 minutes into the second quarter.
Stung into action the Hawks retaliated with Young showing Braswell some love as Johnson dunked to bump the lead back up to 35-30.
Epitomising Johnson's assertion of a team effort, the Hawks won a lolly scramble on their D before Winitana scored two quick baskets after failing to find traction with the rim from a three-pointer.
But the Sharks continued circling, refusing to lie down and bridging the gap to 39-35 to pip the Hawks 23-22 in the quarter.
In the changing sheds at halftime, between snake lollies and jargonistic exchanges, Winitana urged his men to keep hustling.
"If you see them shoot just box up."
Johnson at that stage led the points race with 42 while Young was one point behind him.
Braswell was setting set the pace with 10 for the Sharks.
"When the ball is in Braswell's hands I want everyone's alert systems to be switched on," Henare emphasised.
Willie Burton urged them to let the ball do the movement and fellow co-assistant coach Kirstin Taylor revealed Southland only got four points on transition.
Winitana agreed they needed to make the opposition work for from half court.
"He [Braswell] asked me is this how it's going to be all night?" the ex-Tall Black guard said, adding he replied: "Far out, that's right".
Sharks coach Dickel tried to pump up his troops who flirted with the shot clock in the third quarter but the Hawks were defiant.
Veteran Ben Hill, who got a standing ovation before the start of the game for his 200th NBL match, came off the bench at pivotal times.
Only captain Winitana (237) and bench point guard Aidan Daly (233) have achieved that milestone in the squad.
The Hawks won the third quarter 25-23.
Rookies Ezra Nikora and Alonzo Burton made the most of their court time, too, with the latter eventually sinking his first NBL points off the board early in the final quarter after both of them missed a few speculators from outside the D.
Almost half way through the final quarter a pumped-up Henare jumped off the bench like a yo-yo and exchanged a low five with Davies who had sunk a three-pointer from end of the D as Dickel called timeout for an 84-75 lead.
In the fin al spell, it almost seemed the Hawks had things under control. They were satisfied to apply just enough pressure to ensure the Sharks didn't creep up on them.
It made perfect sense for a team that has no intentions of peaking early while in the hunt of a second NBL title.
Result: Hawks 90 (Kareem Johnson 22, Galen Young 17, Paora Winitana 15, Morgan Nanathira 10) Sharks 81 (Kevin Braswell 28, Craig Bradshaw 15, Dab Peck 10).
First (Hawks first): 25-16. 2nd : 47-39 (22-23). 3rd : 72-62 (25-23). Final : 90-81 (18-19).
Auckland Pirates 84 (Lindsay Tait 30, Ismail Muhammad 13, Hayden Allen 12, Houston O’Riley 10) OceanaGold Nuggets 74 (Mark Dickel 19, Akeem Wright 14, Sam King 12, Antoine Tisby 12), Final
Referees – Gavin Whiu, Miguel Gallardo, Oceen Reed
1Q: 23-19
HT: 48-27 (25-8)
3Q: 62-53 (14-26)
FT: 84-74 (22-21)
Pirates v Nuggets Box Score
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