Indoor Basketball Otago Successful In S.I. Women’s Titles

Press, Volume C, Issue 29573, 24 July 1961, Page 14

Indoor Basketball Otago Successful In S.I. Women’s Titles

(From Our Own Reporter)

GREYMOUTH, July 23. Teams from Otago won the A and B grade titles at the South Island women's indoor basketball championships which were concluded at Greymouth on Saturday night. The Otago A team had a comfortable win over Nelson In the final, but the B team won only after a very close and exciting contest with Southland after extra time. With a big advantage in height and weight, the Otago players were too strong for their Nelson opponents. Nelson made a gallant effort, however, and every goal was well received. The main fault with Nelson’s play was hesitancy in possession. This allowed the Otago players plenty of time to get into defensive postions. The result was: Otago 56 (R. Thomson 18. J Gare 13, P Struthers 8. A. Blair 6. L. Muir 5. J. Creagh 4. J. Ritchie 2). Nelson 24 (J. Guy, P Hand 6. M. Falconer, H. Hunter 4. G. Holland. H. Fellows 2). When the bell rang for time in the B grade final, Otago was leading by 36 points to 35. A penalty had been awarded to Southland, however, and from this the team gained another point to even the scores. This meant an extra five minutes of play and Otago gained four goals to Southland’s three. The final score was: Otago 44 (S. Arthur 13, P. O’Neill 11. J. Palmer 10. V. Whitrow 6. D. Fleming 4), Southland 42 (D. Smith. H. Morton 12. N. Boneface 10, A. Martin 6. B. O’Brien 2). In a play-off for third and fourth positions in the grade. West Coast beat Southland. 5444. The scorers were:—West Coast: A. Hannen 30. A. Finnerty 15. M. Baird 6, A. Barrow 4. J. Leech 2). Southland: H. Woodhead 15, V. Jenner 13, A. Sinclair 9. C. Harvey 4, L. Brown 3. Canterbury A v. Nelson A The scoring opened for Nelson with P. Hands shooting successfully after good controlled passing by her team. Both teams played a tight zone defence and play see-sawed from end to end with shooting down to a minimum. P Edmonds was first, to score for Canterbury and soon after S Prestidge scored for Nelson. Canterbury pressed hard on attack and quick, controlled passI Ing broke down the Nelson de- ! fence. Canterbury scored two baskets which put the team into the lead. B. Rogers played extremely well and her welltimed rebounding and interceptions gave Canterbury the opportunity to increase its lead. Nelson fought back and fine displays of set plays had the Canterbury players out of position. Several good baskets gave Nelson a comfortable lead to make the half-time score 23-17. Nelson won the centre jump and H Fellows drove to the basket to score. Playing against a man-to-man defence for the first time during the tournament Canterbury made many error# but after five minutes in the second spell both teams played fast, exciting basketball, and B Smith, driving down the court on fast breaks, scored

for her side. Her quick, crisp passing allowed P. Edmonds to score, gradually closing the gap between the two teams. S. Prestidge worked hard for Nelson and was responsible for 10 points. In the last three minutes Canterbury had several opportunities to score from foul shots, but failed. Nelson held its three-point lead till the final whistle. Final score: Nelson 40. Canterbury 37. Canterbury B v. Motueka Good set shooting by Motueka brought its score to eight points within five minutes. Canterbury fought back and scored from baskets from defensive rebounding. Then, after some long, swift passes J. Gaskell shot successfully The Motueka guards rebounded well, and the lead-off to their forwards was well controlled. Good over-load play enabled C. Kearns to increase Motueka’s lead, and at halftime the score was Motueka 36. Canterbury 14. The second spell opened with an aggressive attack bv Canterbury's forwards, and they scored two quick goals from hard driving lay-up shots by S. Chamberlain. Regaining possession, Motueka scored from a set shot by H. Ngamotu. and this was followed by a successful guard drive by S. Lightfoot, to bring the score to 20-28 in favour of Motueka. Infringements under the Motueka basket enabled it to go further into the lead through successful foul shooting. Canterbury’s guard-line played to its forwards with long passes, but frequent interceptions by Motueka and mishandling by Canterbury resulted in several lost chances. From very good long shooting N. Cullen, of Motueka, took her team into a lead of 30 to 22 Canterbury replied with vigorous forward drives, good rebound play and solid guard support. With five minutes of play remaining Motueka led by three Points. S. Carter, guarding for Canterbury. came up with two ooints from free throws to place Canterbury one point behind Motueka Point for point play continued with both teams playing fast constructive basketball, and with only seconds to fulltime Motueka scored two points from an infringement by the Canterbury forwards Final score: Motueka 39. Canterbury 38 The results of the earlier games on Saturday were as follows; A Grade.—Nelson 40. Canterbury 37; West Coast 45. Marlborough 21; Southland 56. Buller 21. B Grade—West Coast 25. Nelson 20: Otago 47. West Coast 15: Motueka 39. Canterbury 36; Southland 38. Harihari 18.

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