Game 1In Game 1, YMP Black led 16-14 at quartertime, the Dream Team then nudging ahead 34-31 before taking a six-point advantage, 54-48, into the fourth period.
Dream Team captain Scott Muncaster has delivered the goods at the business end of the season, last night backing up his 31-point game against team No.4 Hearty Ngati in the 3 v 4 semifinal with a 29-point effort to lead the league’s scorers for all four GBA grades for the second week in a row.
His teammate Ryan Walters cut to the basket to score a decisive field goal in breathtaking style off Siaki Tui’s bullet-pass, for 62-59.
Carl Riini’s free-throw shooting sealed victory for the Dream Team as time wound down: his first foul-shot took the Dream Team out to 60-57 and his last free-throw for 63-59 — with 22.89 seconds left to play — won the game. Riini played an enormous hand for 18 points.
Trey Crawford and Tui scored one basket in the crucible for the Team while YMP Black’s Dale Hailey was magnificent for 28 points. Willie Brown (12pts) made two three-pointers and veteran Anton Riri raised his game and was one of the league’s best on the night, providing YMP with a powerhouse start in stepping between defenders to score and soon after scoring off an offensive rebound. He nailed a three-pointer to open up after halftime.
But the Dream Team made 11 perimeter shots in total and would have shot the three-pointer at around 40 percent.
“That game was nerve-racking; we couldn’t settle, we couldn’t relax,” Muncaster said.
“Ryan and Siaki did an awesome job rebounding — without them, Dale (Hailey) would have walked all over us.”
The Dream Team captain paid tribute to the hustle of YMP Black’s Chad Rose and the talent of an excellent young guard in Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown.
YMP Black skipper Billy Maxwell put a high price on loyalty: “It’s about brotherhood and basketball. Our young guys played well and I’m happy that we finished with the same guys we started with.”
Game 2From start to finish, the Gisborne Boys’ High School-YMP White game was played at a hectic pace.
Freemin Te Whare and Joe Te Maari’s individual pointscoring efforts were critical in the younger team’s four-point win.
If anything, hard defence was even more of a factor in the sudden-death semifinal of the bottom four than it had been in the Dream Team’s win against YMP Black, as Te Whare (12pts) and Te Maari (10pts) laid the platform for a Boys’ High team who played man-to-man defence for the entire 40 minutes, despite YMP White outnumbering them eight players to seven.
Wi Brown of YMP White topped the scoring list in the game with 13 points, including a three-point play for the lead, 31-29, at the expense of Boys’ High captain Ryan Nepe.
Nepe took sweet revenge before the fulltime buzzer could sound, swatting Brown’s three-point shot attempt into the second row of seats.
Year 12 student Nepe was delighted with his team’s effort.
“We’re proud to have won a close game — our young guys stepped up.
“It was a really physical game — it was hard to keep up with.”
Boys’ High coach Frank Russell had no doubt that playing man-to-man defence against older men throughout the battle was a key factor.
“It was an excellent game — we stuck to our pattern and it’s great to have a win in which we executed our game-plan.”
Jackson Leach and Ron Tamatea — who hit a three-pointer — scored five points in the tightest of games, with the scores tied (4-4, 12-12) to halftime before Boys’ High took a 26-24 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Callan Whaitiri-White, standing in for YMP White regular captain Jimmy Wilson, was upbeat: “Coming from rugby, we had to make a transition and learn the rules. Watch out next year; we’re coming back hard and fast!”
