Old Boys tipped to retain trophy

Press, 11 July 1983, Page 25

Old Boys tipped to retain trophy

Vistalite-High School Old Boys and Edgeware Service Station-Mairehau now share the top of the table for the Alan Hoben Trophy senior men’s basketball championship after the former co-leader, Collins Real Estate-University, suffered two defeats on Satur-

day. Old Boys and Mairehau, unbeaten on Saturday, have 16 points, with University on 14 points, but the students “blew” their chances of the championship by first going down to lowly-ranked Admiral LodgeCheckers 52-62 in the morning, and then fading badly against Old Boys in the afternoon to lose again, this time by 35-67. Old Boys looked favourites to retain the championship when disposing of University with a display of controlled basketball, which got better as Varsity’s game fell apart. Mairehau has played 12 games compared with Old Boys’ 11, and although its winning margin over Continental Caterers-Rangiora was 30 points, the display was far from encouraging. Rangiora had only five players and the game deteriorated into more of a practice session in the last 10 minutes.

Rangiora’s Shane O’Connor was the day’s top scorer with 26 points — other players in the 20-point bracket were Matt Hall (Mairehau, 24) and Bill Duggan (Butler Auto SparesY.M.C.A., 23). Mairehau’s 89-59 success against Rangiora was the highest score of the club season.

Y.M.C.A., which has played only 10 games, moved into fourth place with 12 points after a convincing win over Aranui. Results: H. 5.0.8. 67, University 35; Y.M.C.A. 70, Aranui 59; Mairehau 89, Rangiora 59; Checkers 62, University 52. Competition points are:

H. 5.0.8. 67, University 35 H. 5.0.8.: H. Thomson 18, K. Agar 12, K. Duff 10, N. Dew 8, M. Searle, A. Manco 6 each, D. Barry 4, T. Crownshaw 2, C. Cowie 1. University: D. Burtenshaw 10, C. Crampton 8, T. Thodey, A. Guillen 6 each, R. Evans 3, P. Mulvihill 2. Half-time: 2821 (Old Boys). University ended a hapless day when completely overwhelmed by Old Boys in the second half, scoring only 14 points in the last 20 minutes to Old Boys’ 39.

It was not just a case of Old Boys being vastly superior, but University’s inability to manage even the basics. From a mid-season high, University suddenly plunged into its worst form of the winter. The omens were quite evident in the

morning match against Checkers, and were compounded to a greater degree in the afternoon. For most of the first half ’Varsity matched Old Boys in technique and build-up. Then the errors cropped up quite alarmingly with five quick turnovers in the last 90 seconds from five ambitious but futile shots from the righthand corner, which Old Boys grabbed quickly and turned to a 28-21 lead at the interval. After that University spent most of the time bringing the ball back into play from a continuous stream of Old Boys goals. Hugh Thomson and Kent Agar stood out in an Old Boys team which relies on teamwork in preference to individuals. When allowed time to build up through the guards, Old Boys had the University defence in tatters in the last half. Agar was vigorous along the perimeters, and Thomson — 18 points — had his best game for some weeks. Kelvin Duff, Noel Dew, and Al Manco were sound supports. Manco was having his first game of the season, but will be available for only four more matches. 'Varsity’s percentage of first-time shots dropped to an abysmal figure as the game progressed and the defence under the boards was little better. Checkers 62, University 52 Checkers: P. Ward 12, J. Piket 16, P. McGrath 11, S. O’Leary 8, B. Ashworth 6, S. Edwards, M. Corkery 2 each. University: C. Crampton, A. Buillen 14 each, D. Bnrtenshaw 10, T. Thodey 8, R. Evans 4, P. Mulvihill 2. Half-time: 30-21 (Checkers). University’s run at the championship got an earlymorning setback when Checkers proved too consistent and agile in a game marked by some indifferent passing and poor positioning. Winning its fourth game of the season was a further boost for Checkers, which started the winter as the underdogs of the competition and has finished as one of the hardest teams to beat. On Saturday it again blended well in both attack and defence, whereas University relied too much on individuals, more so when three players fouled out. The unobtrusive but efficient Peter Ward played up to his standard of recent games and top-scored with 17 points. One point behind, Jackie Piket was more prominent than usual for Checkers, and Peter McGrath was good value. Andy Guillen, Colin Crampton (both 14 points) and Dale Burtenshaw were the pick of a University team which lacked consistency. Mairehau 86, Rangiora 59 Mairehau: M. Hall 24, M. Seaward 18, R. Keenan 17,

M. Weir 13, P. Daidnault 11, P. Kearney 4, G. Thompson 2. Rangiora: S. O’Connor 26, A. Robson 12, S. Nuku 8, P. Hobbs 7, M. Knox 6. Little wonder co-competition leaders, Mairehau, won by nearly 30 points — Rangiora fielded only five players, and towards the end of the game had only four on court when Steve Nuku was fouled off. Yet, for all that, Mairehau looked an ordinary side for a lot of the game. Shortly after the start of the second half, Mairehau led by only two points, 34-32, and it was more exhaustion on Rangiora’s part than Mairehau’s ability that was the deciding factor. However, the two bright spots in Mairehau’s display were the performances of Matt Hall and Richard Keenan. Previously this season. Hall had struck considerable foul trouble and rarely finished a match. On Saturday he steered clear of the penalty bench and shot 24 points in a polished display. Keenan (17 points) matched Hall and Mike Seaward under the boards, particularly on defence, and was always dangerous close in. Shane O’Connor, Al Robson, Nuku, Paul Hobbs and Malcolm Knox carried the flag for Rangiora, but it was not surprising that they wilted in the second half. Frequent team changes by Mairehau had Rangiora constantly on the move in an attempt to match fresh players, and to score 59 points was a gigantic effort. O’Connor’s 26 points included some excellent long-range shots, and Robson played tirelessly under the defensive boards. Y.M.C.A. 70, Aranui 59 Y.M.C.A.: B. Duggan 23, G. Utvars 13, M. Turner 12, J. Bosch, G. Pierce 8 each, P. Cook 4, P. Dobbs 2. Aranui: P. Hill 16, A. Atchison 13, G. Harrison 8, N. Costain 6, T. Costain, P. Nouata, A. Timu 4 each, D. Moir, G. Teague 2 each. Y.M.C.A. always had the advantage over Aranui, and but for a series of fouls would have won much easier. Aranui was not much better in this aspect, but when the game finally got flowing Y.M.C.A. was the only team in it. Bill Duggan (23 points) was Y.M.’s danger man and up until they were fouled off, Guntis Atvars and John Bosch were very prominent, and to a lesser extent Murray Turner.

Phil Hill (16 points) and Aub Atchison (13 points) attempted to hold Aranui together and Craig Harrison played his part, but there was little strength of quality on the Aranui bench and in the end this was costly. Aranui badly misses its Canterbury squad members, and this has become more evident in recent weeks — the team has won only two of its last seven games, and one of those was by default.

P W L F A Pt H.S.O.B. 11 8 3 699 575 16 Mairehau 12 8 4 749 700 16 University 12 7 5 654 653 14 Y.M.C.A. 10 6 4 569 523 12 Aranui 13 5 8 725 723 10 Checkers 12 4 8 667 738 8 Rangiora 12 3 9 580 736 6