Nelson dominates basketball

Press, 23 April 1984, Page 3

Nelson dominates basketball

Nelson teams figure prominently among the finalists for the men’s and women’s A-grade titles at the South Island Easter basketball tournament at Cowles Stadium today. The Nelson Old Boys men’s side will play the Christchurch club champions, Vistalite-High School Old Boys, and the Nelson women’s league team will be matched against Admiral Lodge-Checkers, of Christchurch.

Nelson Old Boys were unbeaten over the first three days of qualifying rounds and look the best team at the tournament. The team is dominated by Nelson national league players and has never looked like being beaten.

H. 5.0.8. dropped their opening match on Friday morning to Checkers (Christchurch) but won a final berth by beating Butler Auto Spares-Y.M.C.A. (Christchurch), 63-55, in the first semi-final yesterday afternoon.

In the other semi-final, Checkers were no match for Nelson under the boards and went down, 75-55. Y.M.C.A. and Checkers were to have played off for third and fourth places, but they agreed to forgo the game and share third plac-

The upset of the tournament was the exclusion of the Canterbury women’s league team from the finals.

A young Otago side upset the favourites, 36-33, on Saturday evening and then yesterday afternoon Nelson beat the runners-up in last year’s national championship, 52-49. Canterbury gained some consolation by beating Otago, 42-30, in the play-off for third and fourth placings.

A feature of the tournament was a game between the 3ZM Canterbury men’s league team against an invitation side on Saturday evening. In a light-hearted game Canterbury won, 9991, after leading, 54-41, at half-time.

Top scorer for Canterbury was John Rademakers with 27 points, two more than the captain, Clyde Huntley, who included four three-pointers in his tally. Dave Usmar got 18 points, Chris Dobbs 11, Andy Bennett 10, and Lance Dixon 8.

The Nelson players Tony Shallcrass (22), Tom Lesco (21) and Nick Costley (17), were the top scorers for the invitation side. The Nelson star, Jacques Tuz, withdrew because of a slight injury.

Other scorers were Murray Turner (8), Kelvin Duff and Brent Chapman (both 6), Colin Crampton (4), and Hugh Thomson, Athol Webster and Tom Ormond (all 2 points). The men’s B-grade finalists will be Alexandra and Invercargill, and Toads (Christchurch) and Pirates (Waimate) are in the C-

grade final. Flyers (Christchurch) and Burnham are B-grade women’s finalists, and Timaru and Checkers will contest the C-grade final.

In the men’s A-grade play-off matches, Otago juniors upset University (Christchurch), 57-55, for fifth placing, Aranui (Christchurch) beat Timaru Old Boys, 92-60, for seventh place and Continental Caterers-Rangiora edged out Mairehau (Christchurch), 69-58, for ninth ranking.

In the women’s A grade, Aranui took fifth placing from Invercargill, 48-33; Halswell gained seventh after beating Rangiora, 4642; and Mairehau finished ninth with a 74-34 success over Otago University. Semi-final results.— Men, A grade: High School Old Boys (Christchurch) 63, Y.M.C.A. (Christchurch) 55; Nelson Old Boys 75, Checkers (Christchurch) 55. B grade: Alexandra 33, Big Dog (Nelson) 16; Invercargill 28, University B (Christchurch) 19. C grade: Toads (Christchurch) 33, Oamaru 32; Pirates (Waimate) 30. Cardinals 12.

Women, A grade: Checkers (Christchurch) 42, Otago 27; Nelson 52, Canterbury 49. B grade: Flyers (Christchurch) 39, Rebels (Ashburton) 15; Burnham 24, Air New Zealand (Nelson) 23. C grade: Timaru 22, Halswell C 20; Checkers 16, Alexandra 14.