Basketball crown goes north

Press, 24 April 1984, Page 3

Basketball crown goes north

By

FRANK DUGGAN

Canterbury’s ascendancy in South Island basketball moved out of the province yesterday when Nelson teams won the A grade men’s and women’s sections at the annual Easter tournament at Cowles Stadium.

As expected, Nelson Old Boys maintained an unbeaten record at the tournament, easily downing the Christchurch club champions, Vistalite-High School Old Boys, 80-68, in the final, and the Nelson women’s league team was too experienced for Admiral LodgeCheckers (Christchurch), winning 40-35. The Nelson men’s club side was far superior to any of its rivals. Yesterday, Old Boys played well until the last quarter of the first half when Nelson pulled clear to lead, 43-28, at halftime. Nelson bad little difficulty in maintaining a 10-point to 12point advantage throughout the second half. The Nelson club and league coach, Dave Taylor, can look forward to a good season, especially with the

added strength of a second American, Jacques Tuz, to join his compatriot, Tom Lesko, and Euan Lockhart, formerly of Otago, who was a final trialist at the New Zealand camp in Wellington this week-end. The 2.1 m Tuz is a prolific scorer. He took some time to find the basket yesterdy, but when he did points came steadily and he finished with a top score of 25.

Tuz, aged 24, is one of the better Americans seen in New Zealand recently. He only recently joined the American basketball merry-go-round of playing outside his country after being thwarted from gaining a place in a professional team. He has played for Austria, and moved to Nelson a few weeks ago after playing in Britain. He hopes to get a contract in Italy next season, “the best basketball country in the world outside the United States,” Tuz said yesterday. From Newport Beach, California, Tuz graduated from the University of Colarado with a liberal arts

degree and his name in the draft for possible professional status. “I never even got a run,” he said. Tuz decided to see the world and let basketball pay for his wanderlust.

“I have probably got three or four good years of basketball left,” he said, “and I use my skill to get me where I want.” Lesco had an outstanding game, getting 18 points and countless rebounds. Shallcrass and Costley had good games, although the latter did not have much court time.

Marty Searly had one of his best games for Old Boys, scoring 16 points. However, Hugh Thomson was Old Boy’s best player both in offence and defence, scoring 18 points.

Checkers made a determined effort to unsettle the women’s final favourites, Nelson, and looked like causing an upset when they had the scores tied, 21-all, at halftime. However, Nelson’s greater experience was the deciding factory in a tiring second half. Checkers had previously

won the title five times, including from 1979 to 1982. The leading Nelson club side, Tennis, won the championship last year. Results: Men, A grade: Nelson Old Boys 80 (J. Tuz 25, T. Lesko 18, A. Shallcrass 15, A. Webster, D. Jacobs 6 each, N. Costley 4, T. Stevens, G. Duffy and B. Daniels 2 each); High School Old Boys 68 (H. Thomson 18, M. Searle 16, J. Whelan 14, T. Cronshaw 4, A. Manco 2). B grade: Alexandra 1, Invercargill 2, Big Dog (Nelson) and Canterbury University C 3 equal. C grade: Pirates (Waimate) 1, Toads (Christchurch) 2, Cardinals (Waimate) 3. Women, A grade: Nelson 40 (J. Robinson 13, J. Harris 9, L. Wright 8. J. Richards 6, R. Laurence 4); Checkers 35 (B. Carr 11, B. McLeod 8, S. Akkerman 6, C. Erb, S. Constable both 4, M. Mullaney 2). B grade: Flyers (Christchurch) 1, Burnham 2, Rebels (Ashburton) 3. C grade: Checkers 1, Timaru 2, Alexandra 3. Most valuable players: Lynley Wright (Nelson), Tom Lesko (Nelson) and Hugh Thomson (H. 5.0.8.