Mairehau A draws level with leader

Press, 16 July 1979, Page 19

Mairehau A draws level with leader

Mairehau A drew level with Checkers at the top of the woimen’s first division basketball [competition after beating Checkers. 46-41, at Christchurch Boys’ High School on Saturday. At the Pioneer Stadium. Mairehau High School avenged an earlier defeat with a convincing 62-44 win over Continental Caterers, and Rebels upset Christchurch United. 56-39, in a scrappy match.

Competition points are: Check[ers A and Mairehau A 24, Mairehau High School 18, Christchurch [United A and University A 10. [Continental Caterers 6, Rebels A i 4. Mairehau A 46, Checkers A 41 The lack of atmosphere and spectators at the.C.B.H.S, gymnasium, with the virtual certainty that these teams will meet in next month's ‘‘three-match final,” took most of the lustre out of the game. Checkers [looked especially lethargic at times

Mairehau jumped to a 11-2 lead after five minutes. At half-time Mairehau was ahead 31-23 and still had a good 10-point lead (41-31) after nine minutes of the second spell. Checkers did rally to close the gap to 41-37 but extremely tight defence and poor offence on both sides meant little scoring in the last few minutes.

Mairehau’s play was a far greater team effort, Viv Howard scoring eight points and three others six points each. Mary Fastier was well contained outside the keyhole, restricting her from rebounding effectively but she still managed to pick up 12 valuable points. Sharon Rennell’s fine outside shooting display kept Checkers close with a respectable tally. Rennell notched 18 points. Jane McMeekan, free of any netball commitments, placed a good first half but tired later and Sharon Constable worked hard, hustling the ball carrier whenever she could. Beth McLeod controlled a lot of ball for Checkers but failed to allow her forwards to penetrate the tight Mairehau defence as effectively as usual. Mairehau High Schol 62, Continental Caterers 44 Mairehau jumped to an early 22-11 lead, after 11 minutes and was still 11 points (33-22) ahead at half-time. Mairehau lost some of its concentration early in the second half and missed Rayne Cassidy when she fouled out in the ninth minute. Although Rongo King was w’ell contained by the schoolgirls, she still managed 18 points and led Continental's fight back late in the game. She was han-' dicapped in this effort when the big centre, Jenny Harris, fouled out as did Carolyn Winter with smin remaining. Donna Broughton played an excellent game, controlling the ball well for Mairehau as well as leading the scoring with 21 points from many angles. Megan Stokes was not as effective as usual at centre but Isobel Lee (11 points) and Bromwyn Palmer put in useful games. Karen Atchison and Fiona Van Zanten managed nine points eafhl towards Continental’s effort but found the fitness of the schoolgirls a big handicap, especially in the second spell. Rebels A 56, Christchurch United 39

The bottom-placed side, Rebels had only its second win of the >season. The game was spoiled oy

some rather bad fouling fi’.?n both sides.

Joe. Douglas worked extremely hard for Rebels and fully de [served her 16 points. Chris Chap lin (10'. Muriel Williams and iAveril Robinson (7 each) con itributed well to Rebels' cause. | United, with its coach, Maude [Reynolds oxerseas, was not pre[pared for the game and had to [rely on several lower grade play ers. Heather Steele managed 18 [points but her younger sister, [Barbara Carr, allowed the scrappy play to put her off her [game and she was guilty of some bad fouls.

Rebels had much the better of the first half and was well pleased to be ahead 32-16 at halftime. The second half was more evenly contested but United was unable to make much headway on Rebels lead even though its players had a good height advantage under the boards and were much quicker in passisg the ball. Full scoring details were:

Mairehau A 46 (M. Fastier 12, V. Howard 8, J. Cook 6, P. Barry 6. A. Taylor 6, C. Perry 4, C. McFarlin 4) beat Checkers A 41 (S. Rennell 18, J. McMeekan 10, S. Constable 6. B. McLeod 4, P. Roberts 2. D. Woodhouse 1).

Mairehau High School 62 (D. Broughton 21, 1. Lee 11, V. Cassidy 6, B. Palmer 6. R. Cassidy 6, K. Richardson 5, M. Stokes 5, A. Bermingham 2) beat Continental Caterers 44 (R. King 18, F. Van Zanten ,9. K. Atchison 9, C. Winter 6. F. Stevenson 2). Rebels A 56 (J. Douglas 16, C. Chaplin 10. M. Williams 7. A. Robinson 7. S. Le Warne 6. E. Young 4. G. Chin 4, Z. Meads 2) beat Christchurch United 39 (H. Steele 18. B. Carr 7, C. Heremia 6, D. Wilson 4, E. Scullion 4).