Christchurch B.H.S. top in basketball

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

Christchurch B.H.S. top in basketball

'THE future of men’s basketball in Canterbury is assured if the performances of Christchurch teams at the South Island secondary schools’ tournament at Dunedin last week can be taken as a reliable guide. The open title was won by Christchurch Boys’ High School, which produced a magnificent team effort to come from behind in the final and defeat the favoured Kings High School (Dunedin) team, 50-45. Coached by the former Canterbury and South Island representative, Mr R. S. Thomson, the team lost to Kings High School in the section play but in the final displayed much better control than its opponents. Kings High School led, 26-18 at half-time but too much hacking in the first half put it in danger of losing its top players and it was forced to ease off in its defence. Near the finish it lost three players with five fouls, but by

this time Christchurch had control. It was Christchurch’s first win since 1966 but in the eight years the tournament has been held it has only failed to reach the final once. In the final against Kings High School, the Canterbury representative centre. S. Ferguson, played an important role, scoring 29 points. But the win was the result of a team effort. The captain. A. Cameron, kept calm when the situation looked bleak and later opened up play from the guard line with considerable skill. Ferguson, who is 6ft 4in and a player of tremendous potential, scored 119 points in six games. Another Christchurch team. Mairehau High School, also performed well in the open section. It finished first equal with Otago Boys’ High School and Kaikorai Valley High School in its section but was eliminated from the final play-offs on a count-back. Final placings were: Christchurch 1, Kings 2. Otago 3, Kaikorai 4. Mairehau 5. In the under 17 section, St Andrew’s College kept the Christchurch flag flying by finishing third behind James Hargast (Invercargill) and South Otago. Over all. the standard of the tournament was the highest so far. There was a much greater depth of ability than before and the defensive play was quite outstanding.