Aranui establishes early lead

Press, 29 June 1987, Page 23

Aranui establishes early lead

Aranui established an early lead in the championship section of the division one women’s basketball competition when it edged out Minties, 59-56, in Cowles Stadium on Saturday.

This win over the secondplaced side in the Patron’s trophy competition makes Aranui firm favourites to regain the championship from Checkers.

Butlers caused the first upset of the championship when it stylishly beat Halswell, 5639, controlling most aspects of play with sound team work, good defence and gritty determination.

Checkers soundly beat Rebels (Mid-Canterbury), 5840, relaxing its domination in the second spell after leading, 34-9, at half-time. Rangiora had the bye. Points are:—

Aranui 59, Minties 56 Aranui: D. Knops 12, M. Costain 9, A. Fennemor 9, B. Atchison 8, T. Costain 8, T. Beukenholdt 5, L. Richard-

son 4, V. Cowley 3, P. Barry 1. Minties: E. Duffey 19, S. Richards 14, Y. Crichton-Hill 13, L. O’Connor 4, O. Cook 4, S. Camp 2.

Minties had an unfortunate start when the car with the team’s uniforms in it broke down and Minties had to start with a make-shift set. The team was penalised with a technical foul for incorrect uniform. Aranui’s all-round depth allowed it to dominate the early play. It led, 15-8 after nine minutes and extended this to 28-10 by the fourteenth minute before Yvonne Crichton —Hill led a Minties recovery.

Minties reduced the deficit to eight points (23-31) by half-time. Its American player, Edith Duffey, playing her second-to-last game for Minties before going home on July 7, fired up the Minties team. She slotted 12 points in a blistering five-minute attack to level 41-41 in the ninth minute. Aranui never allowed Minties pressure to fluster it and it took its time to set up play and used its bench to good advantage. Diane Knops anticipated well, placing herself well to retrieve any missed opportunities annd she quickly turned the possession into points. She helped push

Aranui clear in the vital middle stages of the second spell. Thelma Costain responded well in the dying stages to keep Aranui ahead as Minties pressed relentlessly while her captain, Pat Barry, a former national player, used all her skills to shut down the sharp shooting Duffey. The referees were Ken Kilgour and Russell Wilson. Butlers 56, Halswell 39 Butlers: I. Hartley 18, D. Broughton 12, D. Dixon 12, L. McLintock 6, B. Palmer 4, C. Obel 2, S. Gabites 2. Halswell: M. Collins 11, R. Forde 10, S. Bennie 10, S. Elliott 2, D. Walker 2, R. Walker 2, T. Phillips 2. Butlers, which started the season with a mixture of former Mairehau, Y.M.C.A. and Rangiora players and Bronwyn Palmer, returned from several seasons in the lower grades, has settled down now playing with more determination and much improved teamwork. Isobel Hartley played another skilled game. She faked several times to wrong foot her marker and slip by a lack-lustre Halswell defence to slip in a vital 18 points. Diane Dixon wo/ffcd with enthusiasm, gaps right down the middle of

Halswell’s defence. Mandy Collins and Raylene Forde both worked with speed and skill on offence for Halswell, while Canterbury’s Sue Bennie lacked her usual authority. Sally Elliot worked tirelessly for Halswell but lacked support. Butlers led, 14-6, after seven minutes, but Halswell levelled, 18-18, in the thirteenth minute. After a scoreless five minutes, Butlers scored four more baskets to lead, 31-18, at half-time. Halswell lifted its efforts in the second spell but could not make any headway against a determined Butlers team. The referees were Barry Dent and Bruce Martin. Checkers 58, Rebels 40 Checkers: S. Akkerman 30, J. Lattimore 8, C. Erb 7, M. Mullany 6, S. Constable 5, B. Carr 2. Rebels: L. Scammell 15, S. Francis 8, R. Duncan 6, L. Forsyth 5, W. Holland 3, S. Moon 3. Rebels almost defaulted its game to Checkers and was fortunate that by the end of the day, games were running late. It had only four players warming up and the coach was preparing to register Kate Dobbs, sister of Butler player, Chris Dobbs, to stand on the court to enable Rebels to start the game within the

two-minute period allowed in club games.

Checkers attacked strongly from the outset with the Canterbury player, Sonya Akkerman, in full command of both boards. She towered over the Mid-Canterbury girls and used her height and ability to score 20 out of the 30-point tally in the first half to give Checkers a sound 34-9 lead at half-time.

Although Checkers dominated the first half, its teamwork was far below its usual standard and again its coach, Sharon Constable, put on her boots to: take the court to instil some discipline in its play.

Barbara Carr worked hard about the court but failed to penetrate Rebels’ defence with any authority while Marama Mullamy worked hard for little reward. Lynette Scammell fired off threepoint efforts in the second spell, sinking one as well as four others from just inside the line. Sue Francis was energetic but suffered her usual fate of fouling out late in the game. The youthful Sarah Moon and Robin Duncan, a former Oamaru player, both played enthusiastically for. Rebels. The game was refereed by Kevin Fastier.

P W L F A Pt Aranui 2 2 0 110 98 4 Minties 2 1 1 119 120 2 Halsweil 2 1 1 120 89 2 Checkers 2 1 1 119 103 2 Butlers 1 1 0 56 39 1 Rebels 2 0 2 82 109 0 Rangiora 1 0 1 33 81 0