Canty men’s basketball title to Jaks

Press, 21 August 1978, Page 21

Canty men’s basketball title to Jaks

nm Crumne was a nappy man at Cowies Stadium on Saturday ‘afternoon. Guthrie, the player-coach for Jaks-High School Old Boys, had just ied his senior basketball side to victory in the 1978 Can-j terbury inter-club championship' and he was elated. Jaks had won the first game of the best-of-three match final last week but Checkers had bounced back to take the second game on Sunday. Jaks began strongly on Satur-! day and was aevei neaded by a Checkers team that seemed strangely disjointed. Checkers , never found a rhythm, while Jaks quickly settled into its (stride tn play team basketball. After lOmin Jaks led. 20-13, and the pattern for the match had been established. Carl Dickel, the player-coach for Checkers would have a long I shot from beyond the keyhole, .which more often than not ’missed, and Jaks would pick up ’the rebound, pass down the ■ court with slick efficiency, and (wait for a gap in the Checkers’ defence before driving in or 'making a set shot to score. Dickel may have done more i harm than good for Checkers. At times, he appeared to be (losing his cool, which would (have done little for the comiposure of his team-mates, and (his long shots cost Checkers (vital possession. ( Jaks used smooth, offensive 'patterns and a tight defence to deny Checkers easy shots. This was well exhibited in the speed and skill with which a lay-up became a hand-off to a player in a better position. Checkers ; forwards were often absent for the rebounds, whereas two and often three Jaks players went high for the ball. By half time. Jaks had a 36’25 load and did not look like being headed. Checkers had come back a little in the second quarter, in which the team upset Jaks’ rhythm and made better use of passing in and around the key, but it could not be susstained and Old Boys deserved its half-time lead. The second spell followed the pattern of the first. Jaks presented Checkers with an almost i impenetratable defence and coupled the fast breaks with good passes to net many points. Dickel mystified the crowd and his Checkers bench, with some strange substitutions, and his on-court actions did not endear him to the referees. Too often i he attempted a long, hopeful (Shot to see it bounce off the ring and into the waiting hands of a Jaks player and his muttered grumbling could be heard ; clearly. By the end of the third quarter, Jaks led. 50-40. and although 'Checkers pulled the deficit tack to five points by the end of tne game, could not complain at< ut ■being beaten by a better allround team. i For Jaks. Ed Manco showed ro 'signs of a broken arm that kept him off the court for most of the season and he netted some fine shots from the edge of the ikey. He top-scored for Jaks v/Hh 16 points. John Whelan and Malt Ruscoe rebounded aggressively under both boards and roved the court constantly to pick up 23 points between them, while Guthrie and Kelvin Duff scored eight [points each. For Checkers, the captain, Dennis Barry, got through much

‘work and his jumpshots from • the perimeter scored valuable points. He top-scored with 14 and Dickel’s 19 points, too. were a handy contribution. Geoff Longley rebounded well ■ under both boards and Pete Ward showed speed about the •court which earned him nine points. Two other men’s first division [games were played on Saturday: ■Y.M.C.A. surprised by beating Burnside, 71-50, and Mairehau beat University, 67-51. ( Y.M.C.A. put together one of its best performances all season I to beat Burnside. The school i team was never given a chance to get into the game as Y.M.C.A. dominated from the outset. Previously this season. Burn side has beaten Y.M.C.A. twice 60-50 and 71-51, but the tables were well and truly turned on Saturday. Y.M.C.A. led, 24-6, alter just 15min and had stretched this to 33-17 by half-time. Eleven minutes into the second spell. Burn side had begun to make an impression on Y.M.C.A.’s lead but it could not pull back so large a deficit and eventually lost by 21 points. Y.M.C.A. concentrated on feeding the ball to the tail centre, Hugh Dimock, who dominated the board-boards. Andy Miller. Ken Jones, and Murray Turner also contributed useful tallies! for Y.M.C.A. For Burnside. Neil McCormick made use of his height to topscore with 20 points. ! Mairehau scored a good win; (over Universitv a after strug-) igling in the early stages. After; i lOmin Mairehau led. 12-10, but : •by the end of the first half had stretched this to a handy j 38-28 margin. Gordon Phillips, the Mairehau [captain, marshalled his troops • well from the back and made [many good sallies into the University keyhole. Peter Kearney, l 'Who scored 17 points, took many [good feed passes into the centre .and collected rebounds under both boards with abandon. . University worked hard in the • second half hut could not pull back the deficit. Andy Guillen •had to do all the hard work for! (the students, bringing the ball! up the court and making many; !shots. He topped University's’ (scoring with 19 points. Too many’ handling errors at i (critical times enabled Mairehau to escape from danger whenever University threatened and valuable nossession was often lost! •in this way.