BASKETBALL St. Nicholas Shines In First-Round Matches

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30129, 13 May 1963, Page 9

BASKETBALL St. Nicholas Shines In First-Round Matches

A light drizzle and a keen wind failed to deter basketball enthusiast! and the stands were well filled throughout the aitemoon as first round games in the 1983 senior competition got under way at South Hagley Park on Saturday In the first game of the afternoon St. Nicholas easily beat a strong Technical side and. in the manner of its winning established itself as a strong contender for championship honours. Last year's competition winner. Kakatai. is an experienced and tenacious team and on its convincing defeat of Sacred Heart today should tax severely all opponents. Community Centre achieved a good win in its first game in senior grade, and West Old Girls who forfeited their bye to provide opposition for the Canterbury players in the New Zealand team were beaten 48 goals to 25 by the composite team. Results:— St. Nicholas 33 Technical 22 Community Centre 33. Teachers College 28 Kakatai 34 Sacred Heart 23 New Zealand 48. West O.G. 23 Community Centre v. Teachers' College With both teams fielding many players new to senior basketball. this game rarely reached a high standard, but there were flashes of good play from both teams and the closeness of the score throughout compensated for the mediocre passing. Accurate shooting by Community Centre's J. Thompson Eve them an early advantage, t stepping and other minor infringements cost possession. The Teachers' College forwards made good use of possession and scores were level at 4-all Strong centre play by the college trio. A. Britten. H. Hutton, and G. Cooper, kept the College forwards K. Martin and L. King, on attack, and as the spell progressed, these players attacked confidently and penetrated the Community Centre defence with surprising ease Half-time score. Teachers’ College 16 Community Centre 14. Community Centre gained the initiative when the College defence infringed and forwards A Wyatt and J. Thompson, exploited the gaps in the College defence to good effect. Scores were level at 21-all and again at 23-all. but over-eagerness on the part of the College players brought an increase in mistakes and infringements and Community Centre gradually gained a five goal lead The College centres worked tirelessly in the closing stages to regain the initiative, but the steadiness of their opponents increased and Community Centre won by 33 goals to 28 Referee: Mrs P. -Edmonds. St. Nicholas V. Technical St Nicholas found form early to establish a handy three-goal lead with its forwards combining particularly well and their long passing tactics being allowed surprising latitude by their opponents. At this point Technical steadied and sound shooting enabled it to keep its deficit to three goals with the score. St. Nicholas 10, Technical 7. However. St. Nicholas forwards. K French and J. Cusdin, were goaling with great accuracy and wing-defence N Blomquist. and centre, N Baker provided reliable support. Technical’s defence, newcomer. J Langhope and B Winter worked well, but in general Technical’s play lacked

inspiration and zest. Half-time score: St. Nicholas IS. Technical 9

Competent teamwork and fine shooting enabled St. Nicholas to dominate play in the second spell and it soon established an eight-goal lead. Its defence. M Crossan and B. Smith, played soundly and the Technical forwards were rarely able to achieve good shooting positions St Nicholas continued to dominate play in all thirds to hold a convincing 12-goal lead. Technical's centre P Edmonds, rallied her team and its combination improved considerably, but it was unable to do more than restrict the St. Nicholas scoring rate and later was relatively untroubled to hold its lead. With the result inevitable, the final stages of this game were very scrappy and moves broke down with monotonous regularity. but St. Nicholas centres and forwards were always m control. Final score: St. Nicholas 33, Technical 22. Referee: Mrs B. Little. Kakatai v. Sacred Heart The meeting between the leading teams in last year’s competition had been expected to provide a close struggle, but the five newcomers to the Sacred Heart side were soon bewildered by the well-calcu-lated moves of their experianced opponents. The game proved rather one-sided. Sacred Heart zestfully exploited Kakatai's initial lapses in handling and both its forwards. J. Martin and C. Brady, shot well for Sacred Heart to lead by three goals before Kakatai settled down. When Sacred Heart’s next shot failed, decisive retrieving by Kakatai's L. Shaw placed her side on attack and the Kakatai forwards. J. Blair and J. Martin, goaled easily, to level with Sacred Heart. From its throw-off, Kakatai tightened play perceptibly and its careful passing in all thirds found its opponents frequently out of position. Kakatai too. was aided in its attack by the failure of the Sacred Heart defence to retrieve missed shots and when the Kakatai forwards finally goaled after five atempts at this point, Kakatai's superiority increased, and it soon led by 13 goals to 7. Kakatai defence. J Brownie and L. Shaw, exerted telling pressure on the Sacred Heart forwards and when their initial shots at goal failed, they were seldom permitted a second shot from the rebound. Mainly from superiority in this third. Kakatai was well placed by half time when the score was Kakatai 17, Sacred Heart 11. Kakatai maintained superiority throughout this second spell and only Sacred Heart’s H. Pooley offered spirited and unceasing resistance. Kakatai centres J. King M. Neiman and E Dell combined skilfully «nd offered strong support to their capable forwards. J. Blair and J. Martin, and once again defence L. Shaw and J. Brownie, kept the Sacred Heart forwards firmly checked Kakatai’s 14-goal lead suffered slightly in the closing stages and Sacred Heart defence, D. Evans and J. Ryall, gave their saddened supporters some slight comfort as they countered Kakatai's play to restore a little order out of chaos. Final score: Kakatai 34. Sacred Heart 23. Referee: Miss C. Brown.

There is but one morality, as there is but one geometry —Voltaire.