BASKETBALL FOR MEN

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27985, 4 June 1956, Page 7

BASKETBALL FOR MEN

SOUTH ISLAND TITLES CANTERBURY IN FINAL Canterbury will contest the A grade final of the South Island indoor basketball championships with Nelson, when the championships are concluded at Nelson today. Mid-Canterbury and Motueka are expected to be the finalists in the B grade. With wins against Otago, 44-38, and Marlborough, 44-38, Canterbury has caused upsets in the A grade by using a continuity play, in which it varied its attaching lanes every few moments. It has also given such young players as M. McKay, N. Saunders, K. Davidson, and R. Salt every opportunity to gain interprovincial experience, experienced players such as J. Warwick, M. McDougall, A Mcßae, and H. Fox being left on the sideline. Canterbury is the only team that has used man-to-man play. The others have used the outmoded zonal defence system. There were 42 fouls in the first match of the tournament on Saturday between Canterbury and Otago, mainly as a result of close pressing play by Canterbury, although lough tactics were used by both teams. Davidson (Canterbury) was ordered off for deliberate fouling, and two other Canterbury men, McDougall i and Mcßae, were disqualified with five fouls each. The Otago players, I. McLachlan and F. Hay. were disqualified also, leaving Otago with onlv five men for the last 10 minutes of the game. The highest scorers for Canterbury were Mcßae (10), Entwhistle (8), and R. Burnby (6), and for Otago G. Peters (12) and I. McLachlan (9). In the Canterbury-Marlborough match R. Salt, A. Davidson (12 each), Mcßae (8). and Fox (7) were the highest scorers for Canterbury. For Marlborough M. Barr (l*i and L. Anderson (12) were the best. The New Zealand representative cricketer, J. Guy, played particularly well in the guard line for Nelson, which beat Otago, 46 to 37. Two other Nelson men who played to a high standard were B. Bradley and B. Cotton, both New Zealand representatives, who scored 18 and 13 points. Successful fast breaking, backed by superb fitness, gave Nelson the advantage in this game. Mid-Canterburv did surprisingly well in the B grade. Good shooting by S. Bennett. who scored 14 points against Takaka, and the excellent captaincy of I. Archibald, who scored 11 goals by outstandinc nivot plav and rebounding, were factors in Mid-Canterbury’s success. Mid-Can-terbury scored the highest points of the tournament so far with 58 goals against Nelson B (27). The highest scorer was Archibald with 20. Results:— A Grade.—Canterbury 44. Otago 38: Canterburv 57. Marlborough 39; Nelson A 4G Otago 37. B Grade.—Mid-Canterbury 39, Takaka 23; Motueka 45. Tanaka 33; Mid-Canter-bury 58, Nelson B 27,