August 22 Cowles Report

CBA Winter Club Basketball 2015 by Bruce Martin

 

!!NEWSFLASH!! - CBA 2015 Awards Night will be Thursday 24th September, 6pm -8pm at the Hornby Working Men's Club. Tickets will be on sale later, but are only $10 each (which gives you yoru first drink free, as well as complimentary nibbles)

 

Defending champion Checkers held out a desperate fight back from Pioneer in the closing stages of the Men’s Premier basketball championship final round robin encounter winning 72-67. Pioneer’s loss would, later in the day, see them relegated out of the quarter-final play-offs after Atami contained a valiant fight back from Lincoln University, before winning another close encounter 78-71.

Gators, reinforced by four Canterbury Rams, outplayed University 98-76 after teenager Sam Timmins slotted an impressive 26 points, including four triples, thus securing a play-off berth for Gators.

Once University lost, Hoben Trophy winner Wolverines, which had the bye, was assured of top qualifying spot on 10 points along with Checkers for this Saturdays quarter-finals. This left Gators, University and Atami sharing nine points in third place, and Lincoln and Pioneer both eight points, one of the closest finishes in the championship round robin in many years. In the count back Gators had two wins so Gators take third, University 4th and Atami 5th, while Lincoln captured the final play-off spot by beating Pioneer earlier in the round, thus eliminating Pioneer.

Gators Women caused the upset of the day by downing championship leader North Canterbury in the Women’s Premier encounter 84-62 after the game was tied 36 all at the break. North Canterbury maintained top qualifying spot on 11 points. Defending champion Lincoln University and Halswell share second place in the championship placing after both had comfortable wins on Saturday. Lincoln had too much teamwork and depth as it overwhelmed Minties 73-39, while Halswell comfortably beat cellar-dwellers Pioneer 79-44.

Gators Women’s coach Helen Williamson was stunned by the magnitude of the win and took moments to relish the team effort of her young charges. Strong early efforts by Harriet Fenwick (19) were complimented by forceful play in the second spell by Paige Willman who grabbed useful rebounds and slotted 28 points. Four three pointers from Rachel Tauamiti (nee Harrison) kept Gators in the hunt when North Canterbury started to take control. Busy efforts from Sam Duggan kept the Gators momentum rolling, especially in the second half as Gators pulled clear. Gemma Hazeldine worked hard for her 22 points but North Canterbury tired in the second spell after its Rangiora High players had had a huge win on Friday night to claim the Secondary school crown over arch-rival Christchurch Girls High.

Patron’s trophy winner University and Gators shared fourth spot, while Minties will face North Canterbury in the quarters this Saturday after finishing in sixth place.

In the Men’s Premier, University maintained a tight defence against the strong Gators line-up, forcing Gators to employ the outside shot with Cam Chalmers four triple pointers, bringing Gators to 14 for the match. Marques Whippy was the man of deception, frustrating the students at both ends of the court while playing a huge defensive role. Five triples in a telling second quarter saw Gators shoot 25-11 to take a commanding 47-30 lead at the half-time break and never relinquished it. Brent Fisher (19) and Jeremy Hancock (16) fought hard for the students but Gators defence was too strong.

A strong second quarter saw Pioneer take a handy 38-29 going into the turnaround, but Checkers frustrated Pioneer's shooting efforts in the second half limiting Pioneer to a low 30% (21-69) with the energetic Marty Davison managing 15 points. Dan Pau’u worked very hard grabbing 21 mainly defensive rebounds in the battle for the ball, while  Dave Langrel was restricted to just 11 points for Pioneer. Canterbury Ram Ethan Rusbatch showed his immense range of ball control skills as he slotted a valuable 34 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as he took Checkers through a 24-9 run in the third quarter to regain the ascendancy. In the absence of a sick Nat Connell, Sam Bailey added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Checkers. The difference in the game came from Checkers making better use of its second chance efforts, slotting 21 against Pioneers eight. Checkers made limited use of its bench while Pioneer slotted 25-13 from its bench players.

Rusty Thompson  with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists helped carry the long term champion Atami to a must win over Lincoln University. Canterbury Ram’s bench player Josh Peterman showed a good range of ball control skills with 21 points and was backed up by the ageless Rich Howell with 17 points. Aled Jones set the pace for the Lincoln challenge, setting up James Cawthorn who slotted a strong 28 points,hitting an excellent 6-13 triple point attempts. Tight Checkers defence limited Jones to 13 points and James Levings to 12.

Maja Burry, Shea Crotty and Tessa Morrison shared 15 points apiece in Lincoln’s win over  Minties, while former Wildcat Bridget Salkeld splashed five three pointers in her 26 points in Halswell’s win over Pioneer.

In the Men’s Under 23 championship Lincoln Bulls remained unbeaten and favourites to retain its title after thumping North Canterbury 110-50. In this week’s semi’s Lincoln Bulls will face Gators Green and University will match up against Wolverines.

 

Results were:

MEN

PREMIER Grade Championship Final Round:

Gators 98 (Sam Timmins 26, Cam Chalmers 16, Marques Whippy 11, Jeremy Kench 10)

University 76 (Brent Fisher 19, Jeremy Hancock 16). HT: 47-30, Atami 78 (Rusty Thomson 22, 7R, 5A, Josh Peterman 21, 8R, Ritchie Howell 17, 10R) Lincoln University 71 (James Cawthorn 28, Aled Jones 13, 6R, 5A, James Levings 12). HT: 37-35, Checkers 72 (Ethan Rusbatch 34, 14R, 4A, Sam Bailey 15, 11R) Pioneer Pacers 67 (Marty Davison 15, 6R, 5A, Joe Cook-Green 12, Dan Pau’u 11, 21R, Dave Langrel 11, 8R, 6A). HT: Pioneer 38-29. Bye: Wolverines. Final points table and placings: Wolverines 10, 1st, Checkers 10, 2nd, Gators 9, 3rd, University 9, 4th, Atami 9, 5th, Lincoln Uni 8, 6th, Pioneer 8, 7th. Quarter-finals this Saturday: 1 v 6 Wolverines v Lincoln University, 2 v 5 Checkers v Atami, 3 v 4 Gators v University.

 

Under 23 final round robin:

Lincoln University Bulls 110 (Ben Williams 30, 7R, James Cawthorn 18, 7R, 6A, James Levings 16, 8R, 10A, Ben Bowie 15, Aled Jones 13, 9R, 8A, Nick Erwood 12, 7R)

North Canterbury 50 (Gus Janssen 12, Lauchie Weston 12, Alex Ross 11, 7R). HT: 59-25,

Gators Green 20 Checkers 0 by default, University 95 (Karl Magon 19, Finbar Argus 15, Paul Stephenson 11) Atami 75 (Elijah Hapi 17, Patrick Roger 17, Riley Block 12). HT: 45-36,

Wolverines 78 (Keiran Ball 20, Aaron Gunstone 13, Carl Isitt 11, George Love 11)

Pioneer Pacers 73 (Oli Davies 21, Jahnim Campbell 14, Harley Campbell 11, Elliot Noble 11). HT: Pioneer 38-35, Gators White 103 (Tom Cooper 30, Ollie Carran 30, Karl Farrar de Wagt 15) Lincoln Longhorns 77 (Jayden Chan 23, Tyler Burnett 22). HT: 56-35. Final placings: Lincoln Bulls 32pts, 1st, University 2nd, Wolverines 3rd, Gators Green 4th, Pioneer 5th, Atami 6th. This Saturday’s semi finals are:  1st: Lincoln Bulls v 4th Gators Green, 2nd University plays  3rd Wolverines.

 

WOMEN

PREMIER Grade Championship Final Round:

Gators 84 (Paige Williams 28, Harriet Fenwick 19, Sam Duggan 14, Rachel Tavamiti 14)

North Canterbury 62 (Gemma Hazeldine 22). HT: 36-36, Lincoln University 73 (Maja Burry 15, Tessa Morrison 15, Shea Crotty 15, Fran Edmondson 12, Courtney Hamblin 10) Minties 39 (Jess Rathgen 14, Sally-Ann Tull 10, Natasha Van Vuuren 10). HT: 35-19, Halswell 79                 (Bridgett 26, Terai Sadler 15, Marinda Van Vuuren 10) Pioneer Pacers 44 (Moli Daily 13, Victoria King 12, Poly Hill 11). HT: 40-27. Bye: University. Final points table and placings: North Canterbury 11, 1st, Lincoln Uni 10, 2nd, Halswell 10, 3rd, University 9, 4th, Gators 9, 5th, Minties 8, 6th. Quarter-finals this Saturday: 1st: North Canterbury v 6th Minties, 2nd Lincoln Uni v 5th Gators, 3rd Halswell v 4th University.  




Comments

Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.

Create A Team App Account.

Stack Team App is a platform that allows teams and social groups to improve communication by creating their own smartphone app.

Create A Team/Club