Basketball title to Checkers

Press, 29 August 1977, Page 21

Basketball title to Checkers

It was an unusual match, each side having its moments of superiority. Jaks started better, leading 8-4 after smin. Then Jaks’s offence stagnated and after lOmin Checkers were ahead, 13-10. It went further ahead to 17-10 before Jaks finally got back into gear. Jaks. for the first time, started to apply serious full-court pres- <

By

ROD DEW

Trailing by 10 points at half-time, Checkers staged a superb recovery in the second half to defeat Jaks-High School Old Boys, 60-56, in the third and final match of the best-of-three play-off series for the CanterburyMount Cook Airlines A grade men’s basketball championship at Cowles Stadium on Saturday.

This gave Checkers a 2-1 win in the play-off series and its first Canterbury title win for 17 years. Playing under its former name of Y-Boys, the club shared the title with Rex (now Bumside) in 1960. The wait for another title has been a long one but there can be no doubt that Saturday’s success was a richly deserved and popular one. For some of the older spectators, the win recalled the earlier success of the old Y-Boys club which won the provincial championship eight times in the 19505. It was said by some that this could be the start of another long reign at the top. However. Checkers’ right to the 1977 title was hotly disputed by the defending champions, Jaks, right to the end — and with less than a minute to go, it was clear that anything could happen. The sweep hand on the time clock was on its last circuit when Tim Guthrie received two free throws from a foul. He sank them both to bring Jaks within two points. 56-58 of Checkers. A defensive press was applied from the throw-in but Garry Ottman and Allan Bigwood were left unmarked under the basket. A long pass went to Ottman and he missed his hurried shot. However, Bigwood was right there to gather up the rebound and score the basket which put the match beyond doubt. "I am extremely happy.” the Checkers captain (Dennis Barry) said afterwards. “We have had a reasonable game at last. It was a good team effort, especially in the second half.” He admitted that he had started the match thinking it could go either wav. “It had to be close," he said.

The Jaks bench coach (Mr R. Thomson) said that Checkers deserved to win. *We didn’t have enough shots, and Lloyd Sanders simply shot us out of the game,” he said. Sanders, one of Checkers’ two Americans, certainly had a successful day. He flew back from Wellington, arriving only a short time before the match, after attending the New Zealand women’s A grade championship in his capacity as national director of coaching. The hurried trip certainly paid off. After sitting out the first few minutes on the | bench, he came on to guide i Checkers expertly through a sticky patch and then set the seal on victory by scor- ( ing 20 points — the highest of the match.

sure on defence and for the first time started to look lively. This was reflected in the score.

In the last smin before half-time, Jaks went ahead to lead 28-18 at the break. It should have been a winning margin. When Jaks scored twice in the opening seconds of the second half to go even further ahead, the match seemed as good as decided.

But Checkers refused to be beaten, tightened its excellent man-to-man defence, and started to regain lost ground. It kept up a fullcourt press, hounding the Jaks players wherever they went. These were the same tactics which Jaks used to win the second match and Checkers was not ashamed to make full use of them. Slowly the margin narrowed. After lOmin, Jaks was leading by only 42-37. Checkers hit the front for the first time 6min from the end. It lost it again almost immediately but a rebound shot from Barry 2min from the end put Checkers back in front, 55-54. From that moment, it was anybody’s game. Checkers 2.08 m (6ft lOin) American centre, Bill Kinchen, had two free throws and was successful with only one. But he was not the only one affected by the tenseness of the finish. The Jaks forward, Gareth Hare, missed both his free throws seconds later and a chance to put Jaks back on level terms. Ottman then scored with his two free throws and Tim Guthrie lobbed in both his. It was becoming a battle of the tactical foul. But it ended when Bigwood put the seal of success on the match with his final rebound shot.

He played an excellent game, taking the place of another tall Checkers player, Geoff Longley, weakened through illness. His work under the boards was most valuable. However, the three men who did the most damage to Jaks were Barry, and the two Americans, Sanders and Kinchen. Barry made very good use of the loose ball and backed up magnificently. Kinchen helped Checkers dominate the rebounding to a marked degree at both ends and Sanders set up play well and also scored a lot of points. But it was defensive team work which won the match. On the day, Checkers’ man-to-man was more effective than the zone press of its rivals.

Even so, Jaks might still have won if its shots had been better. It had many narrow misses under pressure but also made a lot of mistakes. Players were called for progress several Times, and the defence was icertainly not as good as it had been the previous Sunday.

John Hill, back in the team after missing the first two play-offs, played hard under the boards but, like most of his team-mates, his shooting was not at its best. The team captain, Ed Manco, was outstanding when play was flowing and scored some great baskets. But more often than not the offence was slow off the mark and seemed unable to penetrate the Checkers’ defence once play had

slowed. John Wright, one of the outstanding players in the earlier play-offs, pro* vided some bite to both the offence and defence in the first half and it was surprising that he was not used more in the second half. Jaks was clearly not at Its best but this could in no way detract from Checkers’ win. It was a great finish to an enthralling series. In the other A grade match, Mairehau and Y.M.C.A. both gained overwhelming wins over weaker opponents. Mairehau beat Burnside, 86-38, after leading, 48-16, at half-time. The star of the match was Allan Yates, who scored 28 points for Mairehau. Gordon Phillips and Mike Seaward also showed fine form. But the match had no effect on the competition. Mairehau had already assured itself of third place with its win over Y.M.C.A. the previous week. Y.M.C.A. topped the century for the first time in recent weeks in beating Teachers’ College, 113-73, in another free-flowing match. Y.M.C.A. led, 50-31, at halftime. Hugh Dimock had a great day under the boards, scoring 22, and Selo Soylemezoglu was outstanding in mid-court. But the honour of scoring the most points went to Teachers College’s Neville Costain, who lobbed in 22. DETAILED SCORES Checkers 60 (L. Sanders 20, D. Barry 13, W. Kinchen 12, A. Bigwood 7, G. Ottman 4, I. Sheerin 2, M. Johnston 2) beat Jaks-H.5.0.8. 56 (J. Hill 14, E. Manco 12, G. Hare 10, A. Smith 6, T. Guthrie 6, J. Wright 4 S. Guthrie 4). Y.M.C.A. 113 <H. Dinunock 22, S. Soylemezoglu 22, G. Morgan 18, K. Jones 16, T. Neumann 14, P. Carpenter 9, P. Kuipers 8, C. Dobbs 4) beat Teachers’ College 73 (N. Costain 26, D. Ferguson 12, R. Blakemore 9, P. Oskenek 8, P. Osvenek 8, J. Price 8, M. Stevenson 6, K. Adcock 4). Mairehau 86 (A. Yates 28, G. Phillips 18. M. Seaward 18, B. Searle 12, B. Woolcroft 6, J. Pickles 4) beat Burnside 38 (P. J. Ward 8, A. Robson 8, R. Lee 8, K. Bullock 5, B, Hall 5, M. Everyman 4k B grade.— Aranul 60, Y.M.C.A. B 55; Y.M.C.A. C 72, Ranglora 64; Checkers B 75, University B 49; H. 5.0.8. B 53, Riccarton A 37; Checkers C 44, Riccarton B 32. Final platings: Aranul and Y.M.C.A. B 1 (equal), Christchurch B.H.S. 3, H. 5.0.8. B 4. C grade.— Burnside H.S. 60 Checkers D 24; Teachers College' 26, H. 5.0.8. C 20; Mairehau B 32, Christchurch B.H.S. B 31; Burnside B 33, Dodgers 29; Y.M.C.A. F 42, Checkers 15; Hagley 25, Y.M.C.A 19. Final placings: Bumside 1, Burnside H.S. 2, Dodgers 3.