No Upset Results In Women’s Basketball

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31737, 22 July 1968, Page 14

No Upset Results In Women’s Basketball

Results were as expected during Saturday’s womens basketball at Hagley Park. The leading team, New Brighton, fought off a strong challenge from Hagley A, Sacred Heart defeated the lowly-ranked St Nicholas’, Technical had a comfortable victory over Hagley B, and Cashmere was the only team to win over an opponent placed higher in the competition when it defeated Teachers’ College. Results were: 21 n « w Brighton 24, Hagley A Sacred Heart 30, St Hicholas' 20. Technical 34, Hagley B 21. Cashmere 34, Teachers' College 20. Points are:—New Brighton 24, Technical 22, Hagley A 14, Sacred Heart 12, Hagley B 11, Teachers’ College 7, Cashmere 6, St Nicholas’ 1. Technical v. Hagley B Good passing in the mid-court soon gave Technical domination in the game and by the time the first half was completed a comfortable lead had been established. Hagley found the Technical defence hard to penetrate and were often forced to shoot from the limits of the circle. The Hagley defence had a difficult task keeping the strong reboundiing opposition attacks at bay and in this phase of play S. Norman, although marked by the repres«ntative player, H. Hutton, was especially effective. Technical’s S. Langrope was an able centre and often set up play with intelligent passes. For Hagley, Hutton was overworked in her endeavour to try to stabilise the defence and the tall H. Mabin seemed the best of the attacking unit. Sacred Heart v. St Nicholas' In a very interest first half the more fancied Sacred Heart combination was held to a onenoint lead by a determined St Nicholas’ team. The bottom team, with some grand attacking play, repeatedly gained easy access into the Sacred Hearth circle and although Sacred Heart forged ahead to lead 21-14, shortly after half time, good work by the St Nicholas’ goal shoot, G. Norton, and her team mate, L. Weastell, pegged the margin back to 22-19. Controlled play enabled Sacred Hearth to dominate the last five minutes and it eventually ran out easy winners by 30-20. For Sacred Heart the national representative. J. Harnett, was nvaluable to her side, so much in fact that at times in the first half it appeared that she was playing the whole team by herself. Her positioning was superb and she shot many fine goals when the pressure was on. On attack she had strong support from the goal shoot, G. Taurima, who took advantage of the good feeding she received. The heroes of the St Nicholas’ side were Norton and Weastell. Their combination in the circle was outstanding and between them they shattered the Sacred Heart defence on many occasions. New Brighton v. Hagley A After a quiet opening five minutes, New Brighton settled

down with some strong midcourt passing and accurate shooting to take a nine point lead at half-time. In this first half Hagley appeared lethargic and uninterested, the only player seeming to care about the outcome of the game being the lively centre, C. Cottrell. However, in the second half Hagley fought back to trail by two points shortly before the end of the game and in the closing minutes the result could have gone either way. Both teams missed a lot of scoring chances in the dying stages, and when New Brighton goaled two minutes from the finish the score was to remain at 24-21. The tall New Brighton goal shoot, V. Price, displayed good form and it was her accurate shooting in the opening part of the game that built up the early lead. The rest of the team played well as a unit for all but part of the second half and the goal-keeper, N. Simeonidis, was particularly strong in her defence. Cottrell was a tower of strength in the centre position for Hagley, displaying tremendous fighting qualities when the fest of her team seemed so dejected in the first half. E. Rowley, a talented player took some time to settle down, but when she did she and Cottrell were the masters of the mid-court. Cashmere v. Teachers* College This was a scrappy affair,' poor passing and lack of combination spoiling many chances. Cashmere was soon in front and at half-time had accumulated a lead of 11 points.' Teachers* College could make little leeway in the second half and it was only some good shooting from the fringe of the circle by C. Vincent that kept its tally mounting.

K. Robinson and L. French both had solid games and took the opportunities that came their way. Their shooting was always accurate and kept Cashmere well in front.