Canty basketbailers snatch remarkable win

Press, 12 June 1989, Page 21

Canty basketbailers snatch remarkable win

By FRANK DUGGAN Houdini had nothing on the magic weaved by the Canterbury Countrywide national men’s basketball league team at Cowles Stadium on Saturday evening when it came from 20 points behind to beat the high-flying Wellington team, Saints, 113-108. It was one of Canterbury’s finest wins in the league. It was accomplished with flair, skill and downright bloody mindedness and gave another packed house possibly one of the most gripping final 20 minutes of basketball seen in Canterbury.

For the first six or seven minutes Canterbury walked on air as it built up a 21-11 advantage. But the bubble soon burst. Canterbury began to hesitate at shots and as Saints drew the defence, wider gaps opened up. Saints do not let opportunities like these miss and quickly the puzzled looks on the Canterbury players changed to ones of deep concern. You could have heard a pin drop among the Canterbury supporters as Saints continued to draw the Rams into mistakes, both at the back and front of the court. Then 30 seconds into the second quarter Saints was in front, 29-28. In the next couple of minutes the score was tied at 31-all and 33-all. Seven minutes from the

break Saints peaked. In a whirl of Saints dark blue surges to the basket, one or two Canterbury players looked at the shot clock with bewilderment, found Saints leading, 56-36, and there was still another three minutes

left. Canterbury managed to scramble back four points to trail 44-60 at the interval. There was no time for postmortem examinations as the Canterbury coach, Keith Mair, grimly and quickly led the team back to the dressing room. Whatever happened in

the 10-minute break nobody is telling but it is certain that it was no wine and roses conference.

Brickbats probably replaced bouquets. Whatever it was it worked miracles, and returned the vociferous Canterbury support earlier on. Enter the Canterbury assistant manager, Gary Marsh, and his bass drum. He sat himself at the end of the bench and in time to the beat the crowd began to clap and shout.

One Saints wit thought Canterbury had entered the realms of voodooism, but it certainly cast its spell over Canterbury and had the reverse effect on Saints. Slowly but surely Canterbury started on the long road to recovery, courtesy of stunning three pointers by Clyde Huntly and John Rademakers; outstanding rebounding by Kenny Perkins and John Hill, and Glen Denham putting the icing on the cake with deadly accuracy from just outside or inside the keyhole.

It was Saints' turn to be stunned and its leading Americans, Kenny McFadden andKerryßoagni.whowerenow starting to get worry lines.

Canterbury refused to release the pressure. After nine minutes Saints’ lead had been cut to 75-72, then 75-74. It was inevitable that Canterbury recover the lead and this was when the fourth quarter was only a few seconds old. In the next two minuts Canterbury scored eight points without reply to lead 82-75 and in this time Wellington lost one of its forwards, Dave Mason, with an injured arm. Mason made a spectacular dive for a loose ball, which would have done justice by any rugby league player on a muddy Show Grounds.

Wellington’s problems had just begun. Canterbury led by 10 points with three minutes remaining and then Saints’

top rebounder, Neil Stephens, had to make an exit after five fouls. McFadden and Boagni attempted a recovery, shooting from the outsides instead of the team’s usual policy of working inside.

Two minutes from the end the pair gave Saints a faint hope to reduce the margin to 97-101. Saints did not get any closer and Canterbury’s success deservedly lifts it to the top of the competition with Palmerston North and Auckland.

The exuberant response from high-leaping Canterbury forward at the final buzzer told it all for the other 11 Canterbury players. It was a win deserving of the highest accolade and only confirms what the team has been aiming for all season, a place in the finals.

Canterbury has dropped only two matches out of 10 and both of these were away - in the first round to Saints and Auckland, and by three points. It is now unbeaten in seven home matches this season. This Saturday it plays Hawks’s Bay at Napier, and a week later at Cowles Stadium against New Plymouth. Canterbury’s transformation in the second half on Saturday was little short of unbelievable. After being so far behind at the interval — Canterbury shot only 16 points to Saints’ 30 in the last 30 minutes — it came out with a much more positive, attitude and played to its strengths. Huntley and Rademakers, to a slightly lesser degree, led by example and their successful barrage of long-ranged shots encouraged the others to change into top gear. Huntley shot 29 points, seven of them three pointers, and Rademakers shot four three-pointers. Later, Richard

Hadlee named Rademakers man-of-the-match for being one of the instigators in Canterbury’s revival. Denham kept the best to last. He was unusually quiet in the second quarter then hit his best in the second half. He scored -27 points, missing one of 11 shots from the floor.

Hill and Perkins were the two best forwards on the court. Perkins scored 19 points and took seven of Canterbury’s 23 rebounds. Hill did not waver, often under difficulty, and finished with 12 points. Mr Mair used only nine of his 12-man bench and some of them did not get much court time, but did all that what was required. From the floor Canterbury was successful 29 times from 43 attempts and Saints managed 36 of its 64 attempts, as well as 35 rebounds, a large percentage of them being in the second quarter when Canterbury lost its shooting touch. McFadden and Boagni, although scoring 61 of Saints’ 108 between them, were not the force of old. McFadden scored 31 and Boagni 30. Stephens (18) was the only other player to reach double figures. Result:

CANTERBURY 113 (Clyde

Huntley 29, Glen Denham 27, Kenny Perkins 19, John Rademakers 18, John Hill 12, lan Webb 4, Andy Bennett and Ralph Lattimore, both 4).

SAINTS 108 (Kenny McFadden 31, Kerry Boagni

30, Neil Stephens 18, Dave Mason 6, Chris Tupu and Rick Wineera, both 5, Gilbert Gordon and Adrian Tuitama, both 4, Frank Mulvihill 3, Peter Ruscoe 2. Half-time: 60-44 (Saints). Referees: Ms Donette Daly (Napier) and Mr John Burton (Auckland).