strong tussle: Brick Layers guard Jayda Waititi-Leach, right, struggles to hold on as Hoops I did it again forward Kellann Kemp moves in. Picture by Darryl Crawford
IT was a great way to go out.
Round 2 of the Gisborne Basketball Association Ladies’ Draft League saw Butter Fingers showcase their class and Hoops I did it again join the winners’ circle on Tuesday night.
The five-week competition will resume on January 11.
Janelle Te Rauna-Lamont’s Butter Fingers beat the Dreamers 36-28 in the early game at the YMCA. In Game 2, Hoops I did it again tasted victory 42-34 versus the Brick Layers by virtue of their co-captains’ leadership by example.
Hoops I did it again’s Kellann Kemp, who scored 11 points, and Petra Sparks, who put up 10, were as prominent on defence as they were offensively. Sparks’ height and reach allowed her to block five shots, while Kemp’s footwork and solidity made it hard for Hana Wilkinson’s Brick Layers to get to the hoop.
Brick Layers guards Jayda Waititi-Leach (11 pts) and Anna Spring (8) both played strongly, though Hoops I did it again led 14-10, 23-15 and 33-21 throughout the contest.
Waititi-Leach makes one memorable play per game, and on Tuesday (having stepped by Sparks, right side, in front of the ring) that was a difficult finish, to draw Bricks within a point of Hoops at 6-7.
In the second quarter, Bricks veteran Amoe Tarsau (left side of the goal, back-to-the basket) made just as tough a shot coming off a spin-move for Brick Layers 12, Hoops I did it again 18.
Bobbi-Atawhai Crawford and Sparks made perhaps the best pure basketball sequence of the first half. Crawford, right side of the floor, fired a cross-court pass to her teammate: Sparks took the assist and scored off the backdoor play for 20-12.
Spring hit a three-point shot for 18 to 29 and Hoops’ hard-working Tyler Riri beat the three-quartertime buzzer with a field goal for 33-21. Jamieson Tapsell’s reverse-pivot to score v Tyler Riri on the left side of the court for 25-37 was a stunning play in a game during which both teams showed not just flair but heart and stamina.
Peyton Riri’s skills and quickness are eye-catching for Butter Fingers but her older sister Tyler’s effort is never better rewarded than on those occasions that she scores: as Tyler did on behalf of Sparks with a put-back basket from an offensive rebound, for 41-28.
It should come as no surprise that the plucky Waititi-Leach, who ran non-stop, scored the last field goal of Round 2: a three-pointer, for Brick Layers, 34, Hoops, 41.
Sparks was delighted with her franchise’s first win in an up-tempo competition made yet more gruelling by the heat.
“Heading into this, we were still working on and developing our game-plan,” said Sparks. “Tonight we hit our shots, which was great, and we worked really well as a team.”
Brick Layers coach Hana Wilkinson said: “Hoops played well, their mixing up their defences kept us on our toes.
We learned a lot, and our team’s keen to train over the Christmas break.”
Game 1 on Tuesday night was a doozy.
It contained all the elements of a great game of basketball: individual skill, teamwork, hustle and a long draught of pure rugged Gisborne-style, old school physicality.
Some of it was that peculiarly local blend of outrageous contact and unintended hilarity, as when Butter Fingers’ Te Amokura Te Rauna-Lamont fought Melissa Mackey-Huriwai for possession of the ball near half-court with one minute and 34 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter.
The game began with Shean Edwards of the Dreamers’ great dribble-drive to open the scoring; her teammate, Taimarie Matahiki, led all scorers in Round 2 of the inaugural ladies’ Draft League with 16 points and hit the first “trey” (3) of the night for 7-2.
Matahiki scored seven of her crew’s 11 points in the first period: the Dreamers led 11-5 at quartertime. Strong defence was a feature of the game throughout the battle, as when Lindsey Pomana kept Edwards wide right of the hoop at the resumption.
In Game 1, referees Clifton Blumfield and Lawrence Mulligan (as was the case with Adrian Sparks and Brendan Walsh in Game 2) proved not only that they know the rulebook but also that they have the quality officials feel for the game as much by what they stayed the whistle for, as by what they blew it for, with excellent non-calls.
The Dreamers still held the upper hand, 15-13, at halftime: they made some magnificent plays, as when Matahiki latched onto a right-to-left cross-court pass from Mackey-Huriwai and completed the play by slashing past the hoop for a reverse lay-up behind Peyton Riri, for Dreamers 17, Fingers 19.
Butter Fingers led 27-22 going into the fourth period. Riri hit a “floater” for 29-26, and powerful Dyani Johnson soon made her presence felt at both ends of the floor: Johnson stopped Piper Donaldson from getting to the ring in preservation of Butter Fingers’ 28-27 advantage, and hit a crucial 12-footer on the left baseline for 31-28.
Butter Fingers coach Janelle Te Rauna-Lamont said: “Tonight our defence was a lot better than it was last week, though there were still times when we made life hard for ourselves. Our communication on the floor was better this time around. Shots weren’t dropping in the first half, but luckily our ladies know when and how to make a comeback.”
Mackey-Huriwai, player-coach of the Dreamers, is a mature and incredibly tough competitor, but even she felt the pinch from time to time: “With the stadium so hot, it’s hard to maintain the fast-paced game that I’d like us to play — instead it was a slow game, with a lot of missed shots.