Old Boys’ winning with late runs

Press, 19 August 1985, Page 26

Old Boys’ winning with late runs

Vistalite High School Old Boys took true aim at retaining the Canterbury senior men’s basketball championship for the umpteenth time when, after dragging the chain for three-quarters of their match against a lively Admiral Lodge-Checkers, they eased away in the last five minutes to win 79-68 at Cowles Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Old Boys always appear to reserve their best for the last. Previously, late runs at both the Alan Hoben Trophy and big club championships have eventually found Old Boys winning; their charge for the Hoben Trophy this season was a bit too late, but their bid for the championship proper is again well on-key after defeating Checkers. The keyword to Old Boys' success has always been their bench coach, Ray Thomson. He is perhaps the only senior men’s coach in Canterbury who has, and is, able to deal with the complexities of players’ characters and their foibles. More importantly, he knows almost every player in the competition and for many years has been able to combat opposing teams with knowledge of their inadequacies. Mr Thomson has had firsthand knowledge of his combatants; at some time or other he has had 99 per cent of them under his tutelage. However, on Saturday he used commonsense and a “gut” feeling to beat a Checkers side “fired” up and ready to give its American forward, Eddie McLeod, a successful farewell before . his leaving today to play in Belguim.

Mr Thomson chose an equally tall forward, Lloyd Dunstan, to mark McLeod in the first half. It was. a nonevent for while a lumbering Dunstan sought to contain the American, who was obviously not looking to getting hurt before going overseas, a virile Checkers’ guard-line had Old Boys in all sorts of trouble to hold a 42-32 half-time lead.

Mr Thomson then chose to ignore Dunstan in the second

nalt, relying on Craig Cowie and to a lesser extent Paul Dewe to clear the defensive boards. With McLeod undecided to play either high post or low post and with Checkers’ “dying” on its challenge, Old Boys ground their way back into the game, tying the score at 59-all in the thirteefth minute and then drawing away with ease.

Once more it appears that Old Boys and Aranui will contest the championship. Old Boys and Aranui head the championship with 10 points, although Aranui has a game in hand. Continental CaterersRangiora is not that far away, although dropping a close game to Aranui, 62-57, on Saturday. Businessworld, the winners of the Hoben Trophy, have had a bad championship competition. It lost 65-80 to Butler Auto Spares on Saturday, after being beind 16-42 at half-time, the result of an almost perfect first half by Butlers. A deferred match next week between Businessworld and Aranui should give Old Boys a better idea of their championship prospects. Because the game was postponed during a time when league players were not allowed to rejoin their clubs, Aranui will be without lan Johnson, Bert Knops and John Rademakers for the Businessworld clash. This could have a large bearing on the championship winner.

The' Rangiora-Aranui match was by far the best of the day. It was a bruising encounter with both sides having their league players included for the first time this season. The result was in doubt until the last five minutes and it was the greater control of Aranui that was the deciding factor.

butlers overwhelmed Businessworld in the first half. With the Butlers’ guard, Chris Dobbs, “thieving” pass after pass and Businessworld misdirecting whatever passes were left, the traffic was all in Butlers’ favour. Also, Businessworld’s mainstay, Dave Usmar, was late in arriving

because of personal commitments. Trailing by 26 points at half-time, Businessworld recovered to score 49 points to Butlers’ 38 in the second half, but it still left it well short of what could have been a remarkable recovery. Butlers' forward, lan Webb, who has been chosen to captain the Canterbury under 23 team to play at the New Zealand championships at Nelson this week-end, was the day’s highest scorer. The Converse Canterbury and former New Zealand forward had a magnificent first half against Businessworld. He tired somewhat in the second half but still managed 26 points. Rademakers (Aranui) captured 24 points against Rangiora, including five threepointers, while the Old Boys players, Hugh Thomson and John Whelan, both scored 23 points, Thomson the result of hard work under the boards and Whelan most from the outside. Both McLeod and Usmar gained 22 points in displays of variance. Results: Butlers 80, Businessworld 65; Aranui 62, Rangiora 57; H. 5.0.8. 79, Checkers 68. Competition points:

Butlers 80, Businessworld 65 Butlers: I. Webb 26, C. Dobbs 22, B. Hall 9, J. Bosch and M. Weir both 8, P. Scott 7. Businessworld: D. Usmar 22, D. Green 13, R. Harris and S. McCulloch both 8, J. Dahl and R. Walker both 4, R. Evans 3, J. Caldwell 2. Half-time: 42-16 (Butlers).

Butlers embarrassed Businessworld in the first half, so much so that it went into the last two quarters leading 42-16.

The delayed appearance of Dave Usmar — he was late in arrival because of personal commitments — and a certain casualness on Butlers’ behalf enabled the Hoben Trophy winners to score 49 points to Butlers’ 38 and reduce the final margin to 80-65. Chris Dobbs and lan Webb had outstanding games for Butlers in the first half. Thb fleet-footed Dobbs repeatedly intercepted passes and Webb dominated both the offence and defence boards. The eventual arrival of Usmar had a quietening effect on Butlers’ dominance but by then it was too late. Butlers has seldom played better even without Chris Green (illness) and Bill Duggan (injury). If it can sustain its degree of competence in the next three games it could well upset some of the more favoured teams in the battle for championship honours. Both Webb (26 points) and Dobbs (22) weakened on their first half efforts, but they had done enough to ensure success. Bede Hall (9), a spasmodic John Bosch (9) and Murrey Weir (also 9) added to a sound Butlers’ performance. But for being late, Usmar could well have increased his tally of 22 points. Darrel Green (13), Richard Harris and Stephen McCulloch, both eight points, had useful games, while Jim Dahl and John Caldwell, in between coaching commitments, had their moments. Aranui 62, Rangiora 57 Aranui: J. Rademakers 24, A. Bennett 12, K. Ritsma 10, P. Hill and B. Knops both 6, I. Johnston 4. Rangiora: L. Dixon 16, D. Edmond and R. Whearty both 12, A. Robson 7, P. Hobbs 6, J. Hill 4. Halftime: 33-30 (Aranui). Aranui and Rangiora had a semi-league match of sorts and the end result was that Aranui (with four league players) lasted better than Rangiora,

which included its two outstanding 'ague and New Zealand pla .s, Dave Edmonds and Johr Hill. After eleven minutes, Aranui led 24-11, which was increased to 31-12 in the fifteenth minute. However, Rangiora strung together 16 points in the next three minutes without reply and Aranui had slumped to a 33-30 half-time advantage. Rangiora continued to charge. In the ninth minute of the second half Rangiora led 49-46. From then on it was a toss-up as to the eventual winner, the difference being that in the last five minutes Aranui cut down its mistakes while Rangiora kept on playing with fire. Rangiora made too many mistakes at a crucial stage, and this could have been alleviated if the more senior members of the squad had insisted on a more matter-of-fact attitude in a trying situation. Although it was by far the best match of the day, at times individuals who should have known better, and this includes both teams, allowed their emotions to surface to the detriment of others. John Rademakers shot five three-pointers in getting 24 points for Aranui; Andy Bennett got 12 points under the close guarding of Lance Dixon. Korry Ritsma scored 10 but was nowhere the force of previous games, and the same can be said for Phil Hill and Bert Knops, both six points. Dixon (16) had a busy first half for Rangiora, only to fade; Edmonds and Rob Whearty (both 12 points) were as busy as ever, but continued to have lapses; John Hill (4) was sound under the defensive boards. H. 5.0.8. 79, Checkers 68 H. 5.0.8.: H. Thomson and J. Whelan both 23, D. Barry 13, C. Cowie 10, P. Duggan 5, D. Grocott 3, P. Dew 2. Checkers: E. McLeod 22, T. Brunell and M. Corkery both 11, J. Piket 6, P.

Martin, J. McKay, M. Shaw, P. Ward 4 each, S. Edwards 2. Halftime: 42-32 (Checkers).

The two halves of the Old Boys-Checkers match were like chalk and cheese. Checkers dominated the first half, leading 42-32 at the interval and holding on to an everdiminishing lead until seven minutes from the end. But for a momentary recovery in the fifteenth minute, the last quarter was as if Old Boys had just realised that success was possible and once that was evil- - there was only one team in the match. Lloyd Dunstan was earmarked to match the tall American, Eddie McLeod. He did just that in the first half, but the intensity of his obligation upset the normal freeflowing Old Boys machine. With McLeod and Dunstan having a two-man war, Checkers leapt at the opportunity to go ahead 42-32 at half-time, although in the last couple of minutes of the first half the signs were ominous that Old Boys were slowly getting their “act” into gear. Chris Cowie and Paul Dew replaced Dunstan as McLeod’s shadows in the second half and slowly the complexion of the game changed. Also the Old Boys guards, Dennis Barry and John Whelan, got more room and, eventually in the thirteenth minute of the second half Old Boys drew level, 59all. Apart from a brief Checkers recovery a couple of minutes later, Old Boys continued its charge and ended up clear winners. Whelan and Hugh Thomson shared a high score of 23 points. Whelan had an excellent second half; Thomson was vigorous under the boards. Barry got 13 points and Craig Cowie 10. McLeod could have probably done more than 22 points for Checkers. Terry Brunell and Maurice Corkery, both 11 points, never stopped trying, as did Jackie Piket (6) and Peter Ward (4).

P W L F A Pt Aranui 6 5 1 435 377 10 H.S.O.B. 7 5 2 508 473 10 Rangiora 7 4 3 474 474 8 Butlers 7 3 4 505 502 6 Bsnsswrld 6 2 4 385 426 4 Checkers 7 1 6 476 531 2