Basketball "sportsman" a prolific scorer

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32391, 2 September 1970, Page 15

Basketball "sportsman" a prolific scorer

(By R. 0. DEW)

TTEVIN HESSELL has no long-standing ties with men’s basketball in Canterbury—until this year his sporting activities were confined to Auckland. However, it came as no great surprise when he was announced as the Canterbury men’s basket ball “Sportsman of the Year” on Saturday evening. Since be came to Christchurch “just for a change,” Hessell has made a deep impression on all who have come into contact with him. In a remarkably short time, he has become an integral part of Canterbury basketball and it will be a sad day for the sport when be decides to move on.

His cheerful personality and willingness to help others less fortunate have made him popular with players at all levels. But it is on the court that he has made his greatest impact He played no small part in University’s third successive victory in the A grade club championship which ended last Saturday and he has been a first choice guard for the Canterbury team since the start of the season. It was his early performances for Canterbury which first caught the eye of the national selector-coach (Mr T. Wright, of Nelson). And when he scored 31 points in Canterbury’s win over Nelson, a team coached by Mr Wright, in the South Island championship, a place in the New Zealand team for the two tests against the touring Czechoslovaks became certain. One of the shortest players in the New Zealand team at sft lOin, be played well enough in the tests to ensure serious consideration for the team to contest the Oceana tournament—a qualifying round for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games—next year. At present Hessell is in Invercargill with the Canterbury team competing in the national tournament His great speed, keen sense of anticipation and accurate shooting have already made him a marked man. But he is never better than when under pressure. Some of his finest scoring displays have been against strong teams. At club level he broke the individual scoring record earlier this sea-

son by scoring 42 points against the second team in the competition, Checkers. This has since been extended to 47 but in the last game of the season, also against Checkers, he scored 44 points. At representative level, he holds the individual record of 39 points. This he set against the touring Northern Queensland team.

Although his connection with Canterbury has been brief, he is among the most loyal members of the provincial team. In common with his University teammates, J. Culliford, P. Stigley and T. Guthrie, he elected to make himself not available for the New Zealand Universities team so that he could play for Gan-

terbury against Northern Queensland. Now 23, Hessell (Hess for short) is studying at the University of Canterbury for a B.A. degree. He obviously has a great future in basketball. It can only be hoped that he spends as much of it as possible in Canterbury. The photograph shows Hessell in full flight during a lay-up shot against Northern Queensland in Cowles Stadium recently.