Despite the finalists having already been found for the Hoben Trophy the matches played in the Men’s Premier club basketball competition at Cowles stadium on Saturday were anything but pedestrian.  Pioneer Pacers and University of Canterbury will play off for the trophy next Saturday but the race for the minor placings, were still up for grabs. The first match of the day saw Lincoln University up against Checkers, the winner going through for the play off for the third/fourth. Checkers were without Ethan Rusbatch who has been called into the Tall Blacks squad but still had the experienced duo of Nat Connell & Pip Johnston. Despite the two combining for 40 pts this wasn’t enough to stave off the students who had a 24-16 final quarter which took them to a 87-83 victory. Lincoln welcomed the return of Sam Smith (17 pts) who has been in the US on scholarship. Lincoln will now face Gators for third while Checkers drop down to play for fifth.

Gators had already clinched third spot and had been unlucky to miss the play offs so the game against Pioneer Pacers was always going to be close. In a tense game that handed out three technical fouls (two to Pioneer and one to Gators) and scores tied going into the final quarter it was the Gators big man Stephen Nosworthy (26pts) who stepped up with some crucial plays and free throws to give Gators the win over the league leaders and leaving them to rue their earlier round losses.

In a race to avoid bottom spot, Wolverines who have so far been winless in the competition faced Atami who had previously managed a win against Gators.  Wolverines had a two point lead going into the final quarter where the big George Love stepped up with a man of the match performance to put the game out of the reach of Atami.  That then put Atami into the wooden spoon position having lost the head to head.

Men’s Premier Grade Hoben Trophy:

Gators 83  (Stephen Nosworthy 26, Cam Chalmers 13, Jordan Duggan 11, Jeremy Kench 10) def Pioneer Pacers 79 ( Sam Costley 25, Marty Davison 19, Harley Campbell 12) HT: 44-40.

Wolverines 72 (Taylor Britt 12, Jahnim Campbell 10, George Love 10, 9R) def Atami 66 (Richie Howell 18, 11R, Derek Albertson 15, Patrick Rodger 11, 10R). HT: 37-38

Lincoln University 87 ( Ben Williams 21, 7R, James Cawthorn 19, Sam Smith 17, 9R, Nick Erwood 10, 10R, Xavier Shaw 9,12R) def Checkers 83 (Jordan Kauta 23,Nat Connell 21, 16R, Pip Johnston 19, 7R) HT: 48-41.

 

Final Hoben Points table and placings:Pioneer 11pts, 1^st, University 11pts, 2^nd, Gators 10pts, 3^rd, Lincoln Uni 9pts, 4^th, Checkers  8pts, 5^th,  Wolverines 7pts 6^th, Atami 7pts 7^th.

 

Hoben trophy final June 18^th: Pioneer Pacers v University of Canterbury.

 

In a preview of next week’s Patron’s Trophy final, Lincoln University and the University of Canterbury met. A low scoring game eventuated, with both teams tied at 21 at half time, before a 15-0 LU run in the third quarter saw them gain a lead they would never relinquish. UC was able to cut the deficit to three with three minutes to go, but the LU defence hardened, as they held UC to only two points until a meaningless three at the buzzer. Finals score saw LU stay unbeaten at 7-0 with a 62-58 win.

Minties and North Canterbury were also tied after two quarters, before NC was able to start building a small lead. A 12-0 NC run to finish the game removed all doubt, as they won 62-46, cementing their third place position in the Patron’s Trophy round.

Gators took on Halswell in the Women’s Premier grade, who had some reinforcements arrive this week in the form of Tessa Boagni and Gabby Edmondson. This game had 18 lead changes, but the final one went Gators way, as Harriet Fenwick hit a go ahead jumper with just under two minutes to go, as part of a 6-0 run, which saw the Gators grab an upset win 54-50, and finish in fifth place for the round.

Pioneer proved to be far too much to handle for the young Wolverines team – going ahead 22-5 after the first quarter, and running away with a 75-41 win. The young Wolfpack did do a good job defending NZ Select, and Wildcat Import player Ashley Gayle, as they did limit her to only six points.

Women’s Premier Patron’s trophy:

Lincoln University 62 (Fran Edmonson 17, Courtney Hamblin 15, Tessa Morrison 10) def University 58 (Pip Connell 19, Ashlee Rigter 10, Bianca Aguiar 10). HT: 21 all

Gators 54   (Sam Duggan 16, Lucy Brown 12, Sofia Kennedy 12) def Halswell 50( Celcilia Zambrini 17, Bridget Salkeld 12, Tessa Boagni 10)  HT:29-23

North Canterbury 62 (Tyler Courtney 16, Ash Fane 13, Charlotte Whittaker 12) def  Minties 46 (Jess Rathgen 17, Natasha Van Vuuren 12 ). HT: 32 all

Pioneer 75 (Bree Cumming 20, Grace Rutchie 18) def Wolverines 41  (Sam Irvine 10). HT 43-19

 

Final points and placings: Lincoln University 14pts 1^st, Canterbury University 12pts 2^nd, North Canterbury 12pts, 3^rd, Pioneer 11pts, 4^th, Halswell 9pts 5^th, Gators 9pts 6^th, Minties 9pts 7^th, Wolverines 8pts 8^th,

Patrons trophy Final June 18^th: Lincoln University v University of Canterbury

 

Sharon Erwood with contributions from James Lissaman

Photo Courtesy Arjan van Hasselt