CBA Winter Club Basketball Results 2013      Week ending Sunday 4^th Aug

By Club Basketball Correspondent: Bruce Martin, with the aid of Dan Chan, Sarah Waldron and stats extraordinaire Sharon Erwood.

Other contributions from clubs with stats and copy would be appreciated and used whenever possible. Email: bruceymartin@hotmail.com

 Welcome back to basketball, hope you had a good break or did you miss it??

Most players where pleased to be back on the courts after a two week break during the holidays and came out with renewed determination with chances to secure a play-off spot starting to become more vital.

Bruce played his 51st season game towards the bottom of this report read on to see how he got on.

Men’s Premier Championship

 University O so close off tumbling the mighty Atami

University succumbed to Atami by 41 points (40-81) at their last meeting but came out strongly to catch Atami by surprise, taking a handy 19-14 lead by the first break and still ahead 31-28 by half-time. A feature of Universities efforts was its immense defensive rebounding and the determination of its leader Marty Davison who popped up everywhere and running the ball back against Atami at speed. Willem Tolhoek responded in the second quarter to boost the student’s confidence.

Slowly Atami used the depth in its team to wear down University. Ritch Howell took on the University defence to break through to score some solid baskets while Sam Dobbs used a strong array of ball skills to slot 17 points as Atami began to re-establish control. Davison splashed a couple of three’s for University to get the students back in the game but tension rose with Dobbs coolly sinking two free throws for Atami after a Tech was given to the University coach Piet Van Hasselt. Howell’s late basket secured victory for Atami.

 Gators rebuff Wolverines late challenge 72-70

Jordan Duggan gave Gators a huge platform to build on, hitting four three pointers as Gators raced to a 26-21 lead while Wolverines were sluggish to get inside the Gators defence. While Duggan was rested, Gators attacked strongly through the effforts of Chris Duthie, Jozef Knottenebelt and Kaye McKee to take a handy 47-33 at half-time. Shortly after Gators extended the lead to 18 points before Wolverines launched a spirited comeback. With Lionel Hopgood being under close attention by the Gators defence, Joel Stratford (19) opened up holes to run in numerous baskets as Wolverines slowly clawed its way back in the game. Wolverines still trailed 49-58 at the final break. Wolverines closed to within a point on several occasions in the last quarter but Duggan slipped his marker for another three and two more baskets to bring his tally to 23, forcing Wolverines to the outside shot to keep the margin close. Michael Kinley ran and ran all game slotting 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and contributed five assists but passes went astray and vital shots in the hectic final two minutes failed to drop with Gators escaping to a narrow win.

 Checkers hungry for victory over Lincoln

Ben Van Oosten set Checkers on an early charge against Lincoln while fellow former NBL team-mate Nat Connell set up many strong attacking moves. Checkers maintained a tight defence, limiting Lincoln to 28-67 field goals at a low 36% while Checkers slotted 36-83 attempts at a higher 43%. Connell slotted a skilfull 33 points with off-balanced shots but worked equally as hard around the boards, grabbing 13 rebounds and five assists. Van Oosten added 10 rebounds to his 23 points with other pressure coming from Pip Johnston and Ben Teale.

Aled Jones led Lincoln by example with a skilfull 24 points while the hard working Nick Erwood managed 19 points. Checkers led 50-36 at half-time while its biggest lead was 24 points at 63-87.

Checkers was without its NBL player Ethan Rusbatch while Lincoln was missing James Cawthorn, both away for the weekend trying out for the Breakers Development trials.

 Scorers were:

Atami 66 (Sam Dobbs 17, Ritchie Howell 14, Paul McFarlin 10) University 64 (Marty Davison 18, Brent Fisher 13, Willem Tolhoek 12). HT: University 31-28. Gators 72 (Jordan Duggan 23, Chris Duthie 17, Alex Jellie 10) Wolverines 70 (Joel Stratford 19, Michael Kinley 18, 9R, 5A). HT: 47-33. Checkers 90 (Nat Connell 33, 13R, 5A, Ben Van Oosten 23, 10R, Ben Teale 11, 5R, Pip Johnston 10, 9R, 5A) Lincoln University 75 (Aled Jones 24, 6R, Nick Erwood 19). HT: 50-36.

 Women’s Premier Championship

Women’s Premier defending champion University produced one of its best efforts this season with a powerful 87-34 thumping of Pioneer. Minties and Gators battled closely but some more accurate shooting in the closing moments saw Minties finally prevail 53-48 while Lincoln University lifted its recent poor efforts to give Patron’s trophy winner Halswell a tight run with Halswell coming from behind to win the encounter 54-49.

Halswell and Minties share the lead in the championship round with 11 points and University slips into third place a point behind. Pioneer and gators will need a break through to stop Lincoln being the fourth team for the semi’s on September 14^th.

 Minties scraps home over Gators 53-48

Gators challenged a lack-lutre Minties strongly with the game levelled on all of the three breaks. With Rachel Harrison setting the Gators moves, Sam Duggan and Marnie Block broke through slack Minties defence to keep in touch with Minties. Gemma Hazeldine (19) showed an advanced range of skills for Minties but after a two week break Minties shooters were in go-slow mode, enabling Gators to keep close. Sia Ah Tong kept Minties in the hunt while Wildcat Hayley Gray stepped up with pressure baskets late in the game to swing the match Minties way.

 Lincoln gives Halswell a hurry up

Halswell had a narrow 13-10 lead at the first break but opened out to lead 27-19 by the half-time break with eight different scorers giving Halswell the edge. Wildcats captain Shea Crotty led Lincoln with an energetic 19 points, running long and hard for Lincoln. Her efforts saw Lincoln close to trail Halswell 35-36 at the third break but Halswell sneaked home through the efforts of Cecillia Zambrini, Emily Baker and Bridget Salkeld.

Halswell’s Coach Dot Dixon adds some comments

The Halswell Prems are doing ok at present. Had a very close win over Lincoln yesterday. We had two players out and with the two week break it made life interesting. The competition is mixed this year as we don’t really know from week to week who will be in the opposing team.  It is certainly good to have Cecelia and Lori on board with us, which is enhancing the teams game and the knowledge they share with our players.

 University back on track thumping Pioneer 87-34

Lauren Kelly stepped up for University women’s team with a solid 20 points while Junior representative Laken Wairau impressed with her strong skills with 26 points. As the pace slowed Ashlee Fane kept the students momentum rolling, adding a handy 12 points. Gabby Edmondson led the Pioneer challenge but Pioneer lacked little in leadership in the absence of mainstay Connie Dick. Although trailing 5-49 at the turnaround, Pioneer stuck to the task to give the score some respectability by games end.

Varsity and Canty U19 Coach Sarah Waldron sent in this report

The University Women's team was struck with injury and sickness this week with seven regulars affected however the players easily accounted for Pioneer. Jaimee Campbell, a former Nelson rep, and Ashley Ritger dominated the keyhole at both ends and along with Margaret Smeaton, proved too strong on defence for Pioneer to penetrate. Laken Wairua, Ashlee Fane and Lauren Kelly proved unstoppable on the fast break and deadly from outside with their shooting which never allowed Pioneer to threaten. 

 Scorers were:

University 87 (Laken Wairau 26, Lauren Kelly 20, Jaime Campbell 15, Ashlee Fane 12) Pioneer 34 (Gabby Edmondson 15). HT: 49-5. Minties 53 (Jemma Hazeldene 19, Sia Ah Tong 11) Gators 48 (Sam Duggan 14, Marnie Block 12). HT: 26-26. Halswell 54 (Jess Baker 12, Anna Williams 12) Lincoln University 49 (Shea Crotty 19). HT: 27-19. Points table after Rnd 6: Minties 11, Halswell 11, University 10, Lincoln Uni 8, Pioneer 7, Gators 7.

 

Men’s Division One

A strong 77-45 win over arch-rival University saw Wolverines, the 2010 champion, enhance its chances of a semi-final berth on Sunday Sept 15^th. Atami too positioned itself well with a sound 69-51 win over High school Old Boys. Defending champion and winner four out of the last five years Placemakers Wolves continued to show it is the team to beat with a comfortable 89-64 win over Checkers.

 Scorers were:

Top six: Wolverines 77 (Paul Havill 17, Jamie Graham 13, Shaun Dournbusch 12) University 45 (Christ Grant 25), Atami 69 (Andy Baird 13, Andrew Woolley 10, Jamie Fitzsimons 10)  HSOB 51 (Martin Maunsell 17, John O´Leary 11), Placemakers Wolves 89 ( John McDonald 20, Cameron Costley 17) Checkers 64 ( Michael Young 15, Alex Kerr 14).

Bottom four: Pioneer Yellow 67 (Benjamin Magon 21, Mark Simmons 10) Gators 49 (Eamon King 14, Thornton Campbell 8), Pioneer Blue 20 North Canterbury 0 by forfeit.

 Men’s Under 23 Championship

 Gators took the outright lead in the Top four section while Lincoln’s surprise upset win over Wolverines puts it in second place while the short manned Atami are beginning to struggle.

North Canterbury ensured a place in the Bottom five elimination play-offs on August 31^st with a solid 80-44 win over Royals while Checkers, the defending champion opened its campaign with a solid 79-54 win over Pioneer. University which had the bye is unbeaten. A win in the two elimination play-off games would lead to a quarter-final berth the following week but against much stronger opposition ahead.

Lincoln University v Wolverines (69 – 67)

Lincoln ran out of the blocks early in a bid to cause an upset in the Top 4 of the U23 competition. With the recent departure of superstar Michael Karena and a season ending ankle injury to Kieran Ball, Lincoln were able to exploit the size weakness of the Wolves squad as seven foot Vinny George cantered along to a game high 31 points and 16 rebounds including a clutch coast-to-coast game winner. Lincoln got out to a handy lead early but it was extinguished by some hot shooting from Andrew Kellaway (19 points) and James Levings (13 points) kept Wolves in the game. However, as time wore on, the size advantage was telling as Lincoln pounded Wolves on the glass. Lincoln scholarship stars Aled Jones (12 points, 9 assists, 5 steals) and Nick ‘the Der’ Erwood (11 points) fouled out early in the fourth as the Wolverine press started to cause problems. In the end, Lincoln held on to win the match, 69 – 67, to cause somewhat of an upset.

 North Canterbury v Royals (80 – 44)

Missing their quality leader, Simon Hodgson, Royals wilted under the pressure from the North Canterbury boys as they fell 44 – 80 in a lopsided affair. Royals struggled to gain any momentum from the get go as they only mustered up 9 points in the opening stanza thanks to the stifling ball pressure from the pesky North Canterbury defense. Liam Connelly led the way with an impressive 28 points, including 6 from deep to cap off a Steve Novak-esque shooting display, and was supported ably by Chris Pugh (16 points), Scott Edwards (10 points) and Sam Haigh-Ward (10 points). There was no way back as Royals had no answers despite a valiant effort from part time MMA fighter, Hugh Munro (15 points).

 Checkers v Pioneer (79 – 54)

Checkers trolled with Pioneer for the first quarter before finally getting out of first gear and running them off the floor taking a commanding lead 42 – 25 at half time. This was largely due to some pinpoint shooting by Aidan Ryan who led Checkers with 21 points, and help from supporting cast Mitch Eder, Tyson Silberry and ex-Junior Tall Black Elliot Noble, who all scored 10 points. However, Pioneer’s Tyla Harrison-Hunt led all scorers with 25 points.

Gators v Atami (82 – 51)

Gators comfortably held off Atami to remain the only unbeaten team in the U23 competition, winning 82 – 51. Gators ran out to a handy lead, 21-14 at the end of the first and never looked back thanks to the work of former Nelson Giant Chris Duthie (14 points), USA-bound Jordan Duggan (13 points) and lefty Tom Mulvihill (11). Atami, under the tutelage of inventive coaches Sam Dobbs and Rusty Thomson, weren’t able to close the gap despite the efforts of the scoring machine Cam Chalmers (14 points), nippy point guard Bryn McLennan (13) and newly signed free agent Kyle Tikao (13 points).

Scorers were:

Top four: Gators 82 (Chris Duthie 14, Jordan Duggan 13, Thomas Mulvihill 11) Atami 5 (Cam Chalmers 14, Bryn McLennan 13, Kyle Tikao 13), Lincoln University 69 (Vincent George 31, 16R, Aled Jones 12, 9A, Nick Erwood 11, 5R) Wolverines 67 (Andrew Kellaway 19, James Levings 13, 6R, Oli Davies 13, 10R).

Bottom five: Checkers 79 (Aidan Ryan 21, Tyson Silberry 10, Elliot Noble 10, Mitchell Eder 10) Pioneer 54 (Tyla Hunt 25), North Canterbury 80 (Liam Connelly 28, Chris Pugh 16, Scott Edwards 10, Sam Haigh-Ward 10) Royals 44 (Hugh Munro 15). Bye: University.

 Men’s Under 20

Middleton Grange gators remains firmly in control of the Under 20 grade and is unbeaten, the defending champion Burnside High in in second place with two losses and has some work to do to make up for those two recent setbacks. No doubt coach Supremo Joe Hammond will have been doing some extra practices over the holiday breaks.

 Christchurch Boys High, North Canterbury and Lincoln High are sitting comfortably sharing third place after having dropped three games each to date. Lincoln and North Canterbury have picked up their intensity in recent weeks and Boys High have the ability to do so as well.

Wolverines and Cashmere pull up sixth placing and Cashmere could be threatened by the next three trailing teams, St Andrews College, Gators and Rangiora High as Cashmere has all tough games ahead, including the fired up Stac side, over the remaining three weeks of pool play. Rangiora has a lot of ground to make up after it lost heavily to Stac and will need three wins to try and make the Top eight.

 Middleton Grange Gators remain in control of the Under 20 grade

Middleton Grange Gators beat off a strong challenge from Christchurch Boys high, escaping to a 73-59 victory but not before it had to use strong defence to thwart a strong Boys High comeback.

Middleton forged a narrow led 19-17 at quarter-time through the efforts of U19 rep Regan Burnett while the Boys High captain, Nathan Campbell, a tournament team selection at the U19’s, marshalled his team well against much pressure from Middleton. Josh Campbell stepped up his presence for Boys high in the second spell but the added poer of Peter Mclean, Zach Lilburne and Jaden Janssen enabled Middleton to continue to slowly increase the lead.

 Lincoln High show classey teamwork beating Aranui 89-38

Lincoln was a little slow out of the blocks while Aranui ran the ball at speed but failed to convert a number of their shots..After leading 16-4 at the first break, Stu Erskine opened up holes in the Aranui defence and when he wasn’t driving all the way was dishing off to a team-mate in a better position.

Sam Riley, recently returned from OZ State championships, kept the momentum rolling for Lincoln in the absence of key player James Cawthorn who was away with a Breakers trial. Although well beaten, Jarvis Ataera kept the Aranui team plugging away and used some useful skills to try an penetrate Lincoln’s strong defence.

 Burnside High outplayed Christs College 91-57

Burnside ran its moves with good precision and the points began to flow, leading 23-11 by the first break and 45-23 at half-time. Shou Nisbett made some strong penetrating baskets in the early stages while Logan Woodill and Toby Gillooly took their chances from the outside. After a quiet first half, Josh Coard got among the action for Burnside, setting the moves and sharing the action with Jahmin Campbell who was virtually unstoppable has to drove the lanes..

Vinura Karunasakera and Oliver Jones-Allen made small inroads in the Burnside defence to keep the score ticking over for Christs College against the enormous odds of the defending champion Burnside.

 Gators fightback to edge Cashmere 62-57

Gators gave their chances of a Top 8 chances a boost with an upset 62-57 win over a lack-lustre Cashmere High. In the absence of George Love, Alex Irvine and Joemer Altabano took charge of the cashmere attack and pulled out to a 17-11 first-quarter lead. Better teamwork from Gators saw them outpoint Cashmere in the second quarter to sneak ahead 30-28 by half-time. Sam Oldroyd led Cashmere’s efforts in the third-quarter with support from Jesse Campbell to edge back in to the lead 42-39 by three-quarter break. Cyrus Eade fired up a strong last-quarter challenge from Gators while Tarapi Neilson got among the boards to slip in most of his 16 points. Tim Jesson came off the bench to re-vitalise the Cashmere comeback but ran out of time.

Wolverines masters St Bedes 71-57

Quiet determination saw StBedes throw out a strong challenge against Wolverines, taking a narrow 14-13 lead at the first break. Hayden Murphy lifted his efforts to run in another four baskets while Jacob fairhall pushed on hard from all points of the compass to take Wolverines to a 37-23 half-time lead. St Bedes came back strongly in the third quarter through the efforts of Connor McCrossin and Cole Wilson while U15 Tournament selection Jaiden Manera came of the bench for a small cameo appearance. Aaron Gunstone added the final touches to a 71-57 by Wolverines to boost its chances of retaining a Top 8 placing.

Shirley Pacers edge Pioneer 63-53 with a strong last-quarter.

In a battle between two teams in the bottom section of the table tight defence mad e it difficult for either side to penetrate. Kyle Spriggs and Nick Kwant led the early challenges for Pioneer while Shirley edged ahead 15-12 at quarter-time through the efforts of Oscar Dando and Reece Bonner. Pioneer closed the gap in the second quarter to a single point but tight Shirley defence had Karesse Lavery and Jamie Wright potting triple pointers from the outside. A point for point battle raged in the third quarter with solid play from Jeffrey Jackson for Pioneer while Connor Page replied for Shirley. Better shooting from Patrick Roger and Page in the final quarter saw Shirley escape to a 10 point win.

 North Canterbury thumps Papanui 95-47

North Canterbury had another comfortably victory in the Under 20 grade, this time at the expense of Papanui High in the Bishopdale YMCA, racing away in the second half to a mammoth 95-47 victory. Lawson Morris-Whyte continued his high scoring, dominating the boards with 48 points which included five successful dunks, bring his tally to 33 this season. Daniel Mills toiled hard for his 11 points, Jordan De Winter mopped up the loose ball while Liam Connelly added 19 points, leading his team by example. North Canterbury now shares third placing with Boys High and Lincoln High.  The elusive Taylor Britt was closely marked and kept to a miserly 15 points while Carl Isitt stepped up his efforts with 16 for Papanui.

 A determined St Andrews too strong for Rangiora High 72-51

Rangioras top 8 berth received a heavy blow as it was outplayed by a fiercely determined St Andrews College and beaten 72-51. St Andrews led marginally 17-13 by the first break, teams where point for point in the second quarter with Stac’s tallman Nick Symon getting inside the Rangiora defence a little too easily. Rangiora only trailed 30-26 at half-time with Riley Block continuing his masterly display for Canterbury Country at the U19 nationals, setting up many promising moves for Rangiora high. Block slotted an eagre 22 points but, too many of Rangiora’s passes and shots went astray and St Andrews punished the errors heavily as it pulled away through the efforts of Jayden Chan and Zak De Roo. Rangiora’s cause was not helped by the tall Will Morris-Whyte forced to watch from the bench with a knee injury.

 Scorers were: Week 12 - only three remaining

Burnside HS 91 (Josh Coard 29, Shou Nisbett 16, Jahnim Campbell 14) Christ’s College 57 (Olliver Jones-Allen 14, Louis Mann 10), North Canterbury 95 (Lawson Morris-Whyte 48, Liam Connelly 19, Daniel Mills 11) Papanui HS 47 (Carl Isitt 16, Taylor Britt 15), Wolverines 71 (Hayden Murphy 21, Aaron Gunstone 18, Jacob Fairhall 17) St Bedes Coll 57 (Connor McCrossin 20, Cole Wilson 16, Jaiden Manera 10), St Andrews Coll 72 (Nick Symon 21, Zac De Roo 12, Jayden Chan 13, Ben Cushing 12, Ben Collerton 10) Rangiora HS 51 (Riley Block 22, Barclay Miller 10), Gators 62 (Tarapi Neilson 16, Cyrus Eade 13, Oliver Carran 12) Cashmere HS 57 (Alex Irvine 15, Sam Oldroyd 12), Lincoln HS 89 (Stu Erskine 35, Sam Riley 16) Aranui Academy 38 (Jarvis Ataera 12, Hayden Lee 12, Floyd McNabb 10), Middleton Grange Gators 73 (Zach Lilburne 12, Jaden Janssen 12, Regan Burnett 11, Peter McLean 11) Christchurch Boys HS 59 (Nathan Campbell 19, Joshua Campbell 14), Shirley Spartens 63 (Connor Page 12) Pioneer Pacers 53 (Karesse Lavery 9, Jeffrey Jackson 9). Points table after twelve rounds: MGG 24, Burnside 22, CBHS 21, North Canty 21, Lincoln 21, Cashmere HS 20, Wolverines 20, Stac 18, Gators 18, Rangiora 17.

 Boy’s Under 17

With just four semi-final spots up for grabs defending champion Burnside (White) gave no favours to the Burnside Green team, hammering it 114-41 with Oliver Fairbrother in devastating form, slotting 38 points. Others to show improvement and get among the scoring were Han Gil Jeong (25), Blake Alps (19) and Kazuki Tsukiji (16). Lewis Baker-McMillen (12) and Toby Gillooly (11) carried the workload for Burnside Green.

Burnside’s closest opposition in Round robin play was Cashmere Gold (80-74) and Shirley (68-60) while most other victories where in the 40-50 point range. Burnside’s main opposition is likely to be Middleton Grange Greeen which Burnside thumped 82-53 with both teams favoured to make the finals. Their likely Semi-finals opponents are possibly Shirley Spartens and Ch Ch Boys High with both St Andrews and Burnside Green a little bit of the pace in the Top six.

 

St Andrews challenged Middleton green strongly with the game tied 10-10 at the first break and Middleton narrowly in front 31-28 at half-time. Sam Lees made the early running for Middleton while Jayden Chan and Ben Collerton shared the work load for St Andrews. Barclay Miller and Sam Riley round off a strong game slotting 17 and 22 points respectively as Middleton eased away to a comfortable 75-39 win.

 

In the other top six encounter Shirley and Boys High battled away with the lead changing with each quarter, Boys High ahead 18-12, then trailing 33-35 at the turnaround. Boys High sneaked back in front 49-47 at the third break but a blistering finish, led by Patrick Roger with 25 points, Shirley outpaced Boys High to win 71-62.

 

Scorers were:

Top 6: Burnside White 114 (Oliver Fairbrother 38, Han Gil Jeong 25, Blake Alps 19, Kazuki Tsukiji 16) Burnside Green 41 (Lewis Baker-McMillen 12, Toby Gillooly 11), Middleton Grange Green 75 (Sam Riley 22, Sam Lees 20, Barcaly Miller 17) St Andrews Coll 39 (Jayden Chan 17, Ben Collerton 13), Shirley Spartens 71 (Patrick Rogers 25) Ch Ch BHS 62 (Quinn Clinton 19, Jack Ansell 13, Cameron Butler 12, Ben Harris 11).

 

Bottom 6: St Bedes Coll 88 (Jaiden-Lee Manera 17, Ollie Weston 15, Reid Gibbens 16, Brodie Fransen 10,) Christ’s Coll 52 (Conner Heap 13), Papanui HS 51 (Alem Gebrekirstos 16, Carl Isitt 12) Middleton Grange White 47 (Jayzin Cleghorn 9), Cashmere Gold 65 (Jesse Campbell 26, Taine Tikao 12) Lincoln 60 (Ben Bowie 31, Tyler Burnett 15).

 

Women’s Division One  

Royals had a comfortable 73-45 win over Gators on Sunday to maintain their unbeaten record this season. Jo Casey showed a quick turn of speed and determination about the boards to slot 29 points.

Two arch-rivals Checkers and Minties went head to head with Checkers edging clear to win 36-30 and now share second place in the competition with points earned in the first combined round against teams in the same grade carrying over to the second round.

 

Scorers were:

Royals 73 (Jo Casey 29, Pina Lissaman 12) Gators 45 (Lori Haisty 24, Holly Costley 12), Checkers 36 (Leah McMaster 12) Minties 30 (Claudette Smith 15). Bye: Halswell.

 

Women’s Under 20

Defending champion University, with many of its line-up fresh from Canterbury representative duties at National championships where Esra McGoldrick made the tournament team piling in 26 points with ease overran Cashmere High team.

Halswell powered away from Pioneer Pacers to win 66-47 through the efforts of Tyler Rogers on 26 points while Pioneer Red made up primarily Girls High players took sweet revenge over Rangi Ruru, winning 67-54 in the days upset.

Halswell 66 (Tyler Rodgers 26, Jessica Ling 15) Pioneer Pacers 47 (Chrystal Pal 26), University 104 (Esra McGoldrick 26, Tsubasa Nisbet 19) Cashmere 14 (Lauren Dunlay 6), Pioneer Red 67 (Shannon Stockdale 14, Sophie Radonovich 12, Grace Ritchie 12) Rangi Ruru 54 (Tessa Peck 11).

 Mid-week Men

checkers White and Burnham sit comfortably at the top of the ladder in the Top six leaving the other four to fight out the remaining places in the semi-finals on September 4^th. Grand-Final night is September 11^th.

 

Burnham pounced on University to win 49-43

While Universities skilled David Baird was away in Italy helping out “The Bishops” at the World Golden Oldies, then Burnham which has been going from strength to strength this season pounced an inflicted the first loss on the defending champion 49-43. With the tall Vince Van Dorn grabbing rebound after rebound then Burnham would run hard and strong against the University defence, taking a 24-11 lead against a stunned University. Brad Fraser set Burnham’s fast breaking moves while Vince Lawford and Shea Bentley penetrated the students defence.

James Grant, Wayne Eddington and Jason Rivett organised a student fight-back in the second half outpointing Burnham 31-25 but ran out of time.

 

The Bishops stops the Bandits 55-51 in extra-time

Competition was strong with The Bishops putting together a make-shift team in the absence of Richard Floyd, Deiderick Van Heyningen and Murray Kennedy sunning it on Italian beaches before joining former organiser and Former Canterbury Ram Anthony Romano, Ralph Lattimore, Dave Decker and Alan Stenhouse at the World Masters. Craig Wilson, a former Atami stalwart towered over the field, dominating the rebounds for The Bishops. It was a close battle most of the way with The Bishops sneaking ahead 25-24 at the break. The dimunitive Nelson Santos showed strong ball skills as he manouvered the ball to set up his fellow Bandits team-mates. Bandits levelled the match 51-51 sending the game into a two minute Golden point extra-time but Dave Wilson skipped through tiring Bandits defence to slot two baskets and the Golden point wasn’t needed.

 

Checkers White 59 Raiders 36

Checkers White, three times champion in 2009-2011 came up against long standing rivals Raiders, also three times champion in 2005-2007 with no love lost on the court and a fierce competition followed. Paul Isitt used his height to slot early baskets for Checkers while Terry Brunel took the pressure off with several triples. Checkers shut out Raiders dangerman Matt Havill and while a number of Raiders players found the hoop, missed shots proved costly and Checkers grabbed a 34-21 lead at the break.

Gordan Hayward got inside the Raiders defences while the agile Nigel Buchanan fired up to extend the lead for Checkers.

 

Bottom six action

In the bottom six encounters saw Lincoln slowly get the edge over Royals before winning 81-61 through the efforts of Cam Shearer and Fabian Kupe while Matty Risi showed a quick turn of speed. Sam Sloane rebound to led Royals’ efforts, backed up with strong ball skills from Scott Nugent. Spinx had too much teamwork and ball control skills as it raced away to win 94-43.

Gouald had a little too much skill for the hard working Special Olympics team to run out winners 63-47. Daniel Williams top scored for the Goauld, a deaf club team while teenager Bradley Garner showed strong dribbling and shooting skills to pick up 12 points for Special O. Former Roving reporter Bruce Martin made his yearly appearance completing 51 seasons of Club Basketball and scored at will slotting a neat 4 points in 5mins of action. No Triple pointers this year though for Brucey. Maybe 2014

Bruce sent this comment: Your friendly roving reporter (that’s me) reffed the first three-quarters of the game as usual before handing my whistle over to Checker’s Nigel Buchanan and in a short five minute blitz managed to score two baskets for the Special O team, fouled a player and missed a three pointer before having to rest to bring up my 51^st season game.

 Scorers were:

Top six: Burnham 49 (Shea Bentley 15, Vince Lawford 13) University 43 (Wayne Eddington 10, James Grant 10), The Bishops 55 Bandits 51 in extra-time, Checkers White 59 (Paul Isitt 14, Nigel Buchanan 12, Gordon Hawyard 12) Raiders 36 (Julian Thompson 7).

Bottom Six: Goauld 63 (Daniel Williams 12) Special Olympics 47 (Bradley Garner 12, Bruce Martin 4), Lincoln University 81 (Cam Shearer 25, Fabian Kulpe 18, David Crooymans 12, Matty Risi 12) Royals 61 (Sam Sloane 16, Scott Nugent 14), Sphinx 94 (James Taylor 32, Jilong Zhang 18, Peng Hou 17, Zibin Li 12) Pioneer 43 (Alex Kelliher18).

Mid- Week Women Championship

Halswell Red challenged by CYA.

CYA started out very strongly in the top-of-the-table clash against the defending champion Halswell Red last Wednesday, jumping to a surprise 19-19 first half lead through the efforts of Sarah Graham and Rachel Hill. Sue Bennie and Gina Papahadjis soon got Haslwell back into gear in the second spell as the pace of the game quickened and Halswell tightened up its defence with Halswell Red keeping its unbeaten record intact, pulling away to win 46-31.

 In other games, Hi-Rollers turn on its best efforts this season to down Halswell Green 64-28 through the efforts of Arai Café, Olly Nicholas and Hana Mauafu. With several people away, Halswell had to call upon the services of Dot Dixon who manage 10 points in between a few puffs. University had a strong 46-17 win over Pioneer and Checkers had too much speed and control defeating the Royals lineup 52-27.

 Scorers were:

Halswell Red 46 (Sue Bennie 19, Gina Papahadjis 14 CYA 31 (Carmel Gunn 9), Checkers 52 (Katelin Russ 13) Royals 27 (Denise Ryan 6, Tina Cronshaw 6), Hi-Rollers 64 (Aria Café 18, Olly Nicholas 17, Hana Mauafu 14) Halswell Green 28 (Dot Dixon 10), University 46 (Chrissy Bell 10) Pioneer 17 (Julia Thomson 5, Jasmin Stanley 5). Points table: Halswell Red 10, CYA 9, Checkers 8.