Gisborne equal best showing

BASKETBALL

It’s good that they’re annoyed.

Gisborne Boys’ High School A finished their five-game Super 8 basketball campaign with two wins and equalled their best placing of sixth . . . and know that they could’ve done better.

“Overall, the boys did well — I’m proud of them and what we accomplished, as the Super 8 was our first big tournament of the year,” captain Max Scott said.

“We’ll get back in the lab with our squad, work hard and get ready for the regional tourney.”

Gisborne Boys’ High made history in Game 1, beating Palmerston North BHS 85-82 (PNBHS 12-11, 38-24, 61-56 — Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown 36, Wilson 18, Scott 17).

They lost their second game on Monday 108-70 to Tauranga Boys’ College (Wilson 15, Tuwairua-Brown 14), went down in Game 3 to Hamilton 79-47 (HBHS 23-6, 42-25, 58-35 — Tuwairua-Brown 11, Westrupp 10) and recorded their first win against a Curtis Wooten-coached Hastings — 86-80 — in overtime yesterday afternoon (GBHS 21-18, 39-38, Hastings 59-57, 76-76 at the end of regulation time, 93-86 to GBHS in OT — Tuwairua-Brown 38, Scott 17, Wilson 12). This morning they were beaten 93-47 by a sharp New Plymouth outfit (NPBHS 31-22, 48-32, 78-40 — Tuwairua-Brown 11, Westrupp 10).

The win against Hastings is a rich prize: during Wooten’s 23-year tenure as head coach and director of basketball, only twice have Hastings BHS missed making the National Boys’ Secondary Schools Tournament.

Wooten said: “Gisborne had three great shooters in Tyrese, Max and Holden. That’s the best Gisborne team I’ve seen. Tyrese would start on any team here — Max would start on most of them.

“They would have started on my team.”