In the three A Grade games in women’s club ball at the YMCA on opening night, defending champions Ngati Porou beat Stretchmarks 53-32, Manu Tu beat Gisborne Girls’ High School 40-16 and 2018 champions Ritana beat Dem Air Ballers 42-24.
In B Grade action at the Sports Centre, Riverina beat Manu Toa 27-16 and SE Systems beat Horouta 46-42.
In the men’s A Grade at the YMCA on Tuesday, Gisborne Boys’ High School A beat Dialektric 55-26, defending champions City Lights beat the Filthy Dozen 65-52 and SE Systems won the first golden-point game of the year 39-37 on a leaner by Rising Suns great Reg Namana.
The late game at the YMCA, the Bumbles’ 30-22 win against the Backcourt Violators, was a B Grade fixture. B Grade scores at the GBHS Sports Centre were: GBHS Juniors 72 Gizzy Gilas 69, GBHS B 52 Old Surfers 38, Big Ballers Brand 52 Massive Marauders 48 and Campion 38 Ritana 36.
PIPER Donaldson was fantastic.
The Ritana dynamo led all scorers in the third women’s A Grade game with 16 points. Her Lytton High School team beat Dem Air Ballers 42-24.
Kiara Swannell (10pts) topped the scoring list for Dem Air Ballers. They have quality players in both guard and forward spots, but as one of the association’s 10 new teams, they need time to gel.
WILLIAM Collier (18pts), Henare Tofilau (11pts) and Ethan Pearson (10pts) of Gisborne Boys’ High School A made a good start to the season offensively in the team’s 55-26 win against Dialektric.
That GBHS coach David Glendenning’s crew should have at least three scorers in double figures on opening night is, for them, good news. They led Dialektric 16-6, 28-14 and 35-21 at the quarters.
Dialektric, though raw, have the keenness that teams new to competitive basketball bring. Whippet Israel Kerisome (6pts) made a strong impression with his quickness and energy.
HE'S remorseless. He’s Reggie Namana.
The Rising Suns great scored the match-winning basket in SE Systems’ golden-point 39-37 victory over Green Up. Namana’s eight-foot shot on the move in traffic, from the left side of the court, was an effort to match Jimmy Wilson’s iconic, 0.4-of-a-second, buzzer-beating three-pointer for Purp and Yellow against Ray Noble and Blades in the 2011 grand final.
Rongomai Smith (15pts) and Will Hocquard (10pts) were Systems’ leading scorers. Smith made two three-point shots. Green Up were 8-3 in front at the end of the first period but SES led 14-8 and 22-20 at the end of the second and third quarters, and it was 37-all at the end of regulation time.
Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown (20pts) and Psalm Patea-Taylor (11pts) led Green Up’s scoring; Tuwairua-Brown was the heaviest scorer in both men’s grades and made the second of two foul shots to draw Green Up level at 37-all. He and Taylor are assets for a team good enough to push some of the league’s biggest names to the brink on opening night.
PAKU Wilson is a great talent.
The young guard scored 23 points for GBHS B in their 52-38 win against Old Surfers, his teammate Seth Miller (16pts) also having taken a step up in confidence from last season. Also in form was 12-year-old Year 7 student Jerome Tamatea. Under the eye of referee Dwayne Tamatea, he made two free-throws in the first period and scored the Surfers’ last field goal.
GBHS Senior A guard Sebastian Wilson, who led the Juniors to Whakatane, was not surprised to hear of their winning start to the club season: “It’s good to see that Safin and Dom — both productive offensive players, solid defensive players — scored well for the boys. They’re genuine.”
