Standard falls off

Press, 31 May 1982, Page 18

Standard falls off

The defection of members of the 3ZM Canterbury players from their club teams meant a falling-off in standard in the two games played in the CooperHenderson men's senior division basketball al Cowles Stadium on Saturday. Wins went to MatthewMairehau and Continental Caterers-Rangiora — the third game was played as the curtainraiser for the national league match yesterday afternoon. Play in both matches was fairly scrappy and there was an abundance of errors. University dropped off sharing the competition when beaten, 38-52, by an improving Rangiora side, while the persistency of Mairehau proved just a shade too much for the young Timaru High School Old Boys side, the Christchurch team winning 56-53. Superior tactics Mairehau may have been light on players on’ the bench, but made up for this with superior tactics and a never-give-in attitude in its game against Timaru. The South Canterbury side still appears to be learning what it takes in the city grade but is improving and always kept in touch with Mairehau on Saturday There was never any more than a few points separating the teams and it was touch-and-go in the last minute, Mairehau having a three-point margin at the final hooter. Timaru's main drawback was that it was unable to develop a move to combat Mairehau’s zone defence. Often they huddled round the key-hole unable to find a way through and invariably gave away possession. This suited the fast-breaking Mairehau defenders and they usually capitalised on it, particularly the capable Mike Seaward. iri this period Timaru's Glen Austin was playing one of his best games of the competition, and paired well with Graham Hall. Mairehau held a slender one-

point lead (26-25) at the changeover. but on the resumption Mairehau’s fast breaking had the Timaru defence well stretched. .Seawardand Matthew Hall kept the pressure on the visitors. Mairehau looked set to run away midway through the second half, but then Timaru came back with a press and the margin started to decrease. In the last 30 seconds there were some anxious Mairehau eyes looking at the scoreboard, but they held on. Players missed University sorely missed its top players in the clash against Rangiora. Where Rangiora had coordination. University often seemed out of touch with its positioning and passing and could not match its opponents under the boards, Rangiora never looked like losing and often played that way.

More times than John Hill, sitting on the bench, would want, over-confidence led to errors and the shooting was often sloppy and badly timed, and the Canterbury representative, Lance Dixon, was one of the main offenders. Rangiora’s 28-15 lead at halftime told the story of the standard of both sides. Rangiora continued to keep its grip on the game in the second spell and University was kept mainly on the back foot. The vouthful and improving Shane O’Connor top-scored for Rangiora with 18 points. Main scorers; Rangiora 52 (C. O'Connor 18, L. Dixon 16) defeated University 38 (J. Caldwell 20, J. Guillen 8). Mairehau 56 (M. Seaward 15, M. Hall 13) defeated Timaru 53 (G. Hall 14, P. Fila 12).