Top Nelson sides sweep basketball

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34132, 20 April 1976, Page 3

Top Nelson sides sweep basketball

f By

ROD DEW)

Well-prepared teams i from Nelson won both men’s and women’s A grade finals in the annual Coruba Rum South Island Easter basketball tournament which ended in Cowles Stadium yesterday afternoon. In the women’s final, Tenjnis Nelson defeated the Can-i ! terburv champion club side, 'Mairehau. 65-52. to claim thej top award for the third sue-! cessive season. ’ And in the A grade men’s (final afterwards Nelson Old Boys had far too much control in the closing stages for’ ’Christchurch Y.M.C.A., win-] Ining by a surprisingly wide ; I margin, 56-44. ’ These results provided ’serious food for thought for the leading Christchurch and j Dunedin club sides with 'their sights set on the national championship later in (the season. The guiding light (behind the Nelson Old Boys’ I team. Dave Taylor, however,! ’had good cause to be satis-1 Ified with the performance of his team, ranked only fifth at the outset of the tourna1 ment.

“We are a proud team and’ we like to do things right.] even when the pressure isj on. Because of this, we fin-; ished much better than; Y.M.C.A..” Taylor, a former; New Zealand captain, said; afterwards. Taylor, who is considering’ making the present season his last, certainly contributed a tremendous amount to his] side’s success. He played] with superb control and judg-; ment and his play-making was unequalled in the final j He also scored a very useful! 14 points in what was one of] his finest displays in recent ] times.

But Taylor could not have done it on his own. The very talented 6ft sin American. Bill Eldred, was in superb form under the boards. The amount of ball he hauled down off the defensive board was remarkable.

He was also the arrowhead of the attack, scoring some beautiful goals with a wide ! range of shots. His individual ] tally of 18 points was the highest in the final. And he also badly upset Y.M.C.A.’s current New Zealand representative, 6ft 4in Stuart Ferguson, who he marked throughout the game. If the winning margin was a comfortable one, it was not an indication of th„ closeness of the game. Throughout the j first half, there was never •more than a point or two be|tween the teams. ( Y.M.C.A. led 8-7 after 5 min. Nelson was ahead 11-10 after lOmin and at half-time (Nelson was the leader. 22-20. .Y.M.C.A. had the better of (the early second spell play jarid was ahead, 32-27, and ( looking good after smin. But. | its 1-2-2 zone, although effective by normal standards, was not good enough to keep Eldred and Taylor out. Nelson restricted its defensive efforts to man-to-man and this proved very effective. In some respects, it was

a defensive contest, although! it was the shooting of the; Y.M.C.A. players which’ largely let them down. Many’ times Y.M.C.A. failed to fin-' lish off promising movements’ and had to work twice as hard as its opponents to keep’ in touch. And in the closing min-’ ( utes, as Nelson’s play became more forceful.] ; Y.M.C A.’s previously sound ! ’ball control started to dete-j jriorata. A few loose passes'; (and ill-directed shots were] ] quickly gathered in and wi-( ‘ thin the space of a few minutes the outcome was put! beyond doubt. ; From a lead of 47-42 with! ] smin remaining, Nelson ] quickly raced ahead. Y.M.C.A. could add only two points to its total before the; games ended — a. dis-' (appointing finish after its’ ] early promise. Although Taylor and Eldred were undoubtedly the stars, there was 1 much to ad-' (mire in the performance of ] other kelson players. Alister ] McCallum, returning after a year away through injury,! played well, and a 16-year! (old colt. Gareth Hare, dis-j (played ability far beyond his; ! years. Brian Cottell was a domi-! nant force for Y.M.C.A., at ] his best when play was] ( moving at high speed. His] fast-breaking was first-class,’ although these situations did; ’ not occur often enough to! (swing the game in; Y.M.C.A.’s favour. Grant Magon, in his first full A | grade season, worked well in .the rebounding department.: • Bob Manthei was his usual accomplished self in the mid-court but three men’ I who should have scored ; freely, Ferguson. Hugh Di- | mock, and John Bosch, were (off target. ; The women's A grade final!

I followed a similar pattern.® (Mairehau had the better oil ■ the first half, leading 28-25, 1 (at the break. But when playa ’ resumed. Tennis levelled a't| 32-all after smin and in thej final Ulmin was well in com-i manti. s Karen Hoddy was in out-1 standing form for Tennis,! scoring 24 points; Elaine] .Hesson also penetrated the] (Mairehau defence wuh easel to score 17 points. The topi Mairehau player was Sally I South who worked well ini ’ the rebounding as wt II as 1 scoring 18 points. Sue had I ’ good support from Patsey I Hinkley and Mary Fustier. I Results of finals were:— 1 MEN ( A grade.— Nelson Old Boys 5f <W. Eldred 18, D. (Taylor 14, A. McCtuum 9, G. Hare 7, S. Ricketts 6, L. I Bethwaite 2) beat Christ- I j church Y.M.C.A. 44 (B. Cot- I tell 16, G. Magon 10, R. ! ; Manthei 8, S. Ferguson 6, H. ’ ! Dimock 2, J. Bosch 2). B gi ade.— Cave Rock 56 (B. Shipley 9, D. Lomax 9, L. Parks 9, B. Gordon 7, F. I Pendleberry 4, G. Jones 4, D. ( Symonds 3,'N. Vincent 2. E. Hunter 2, B. Ward 2) beat Riccarton 33 IP. Walls 8, R. McCabe 6, C. Walls 6, D. ! Budge 6, W. Gooday 5, A. Butts 21. Women .( A g'ade.— Tennis 65 (K.J Hoddy 24, E. Hesson 17, T. .Hunter 8, C. Scott 6, L. i Wright 6, D. Hawes 4) beat [ Mairehau 52 (S. South 18, P. : Hinkley 11, M. Fastier 10, K. , Adamson 6, J. Armstrong 4, i A. Taylor 2, B. Thompson 1). B grade— Mairehau 59 (Jeanette Howard 23. R. | North 12, B. McLeod 8, D. (Broughlon 5, D. Cooper 4, A. I Sutherland 4, M. O’Reilly 2, ■j C. Ditfort 1) beat United 51 ’’(S. Monds 14. F. Vanstone .12, B. Tuck 10, M. Vissers (10, L. Bowler 5).