Greens skipper Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown and zippy guard Holden Wilson — two of the competition's most gifted offensive players — started slowly, but they finished with 31 and 18 points respectively.
In the first quarter, Systems' Dom Wilson hit two three-point shots, the second of which was a high-arcing “rainbow” from the right corner.
Green Ups youngster Weighn Wilson, in a play reminiscent of legendary hustler Chad Rose, made the play of the game to date with a steal at halfway and a buzzer-beating lay-up.
The scene seemed set for a close contest, but the five-point lead at halftime belonged to Green Up.
Tuwairua-Brown gave Wilson an assist for the pull-up jump-shot to close it to 13-8 and soon after drove aggressively to score off a no-look pass from the impressive Paddy Blackman.
Green Up had begun to get things together. Blackman hit a trey in the third period; Wilson continued to go at the rim.
In the fourth quarter, Keenan Ruru-Poharama hit a 25-footer for SES from the right side of the floor, but Green Up were still well out in front, 56-32.
Nevertheless, SES team president Adrian Sparks's jumper from the right baseline got the crowd going.
And that was all before Gisborne Boys' High School Senior Premiers captain Seb Wilson really juiced them up with two epic dunk-shots in Game 2.
Wilson (22 points), Ngaru Grayson (14pts) and Seth Miller (10pts) all fought the good fight against two of the league's toughest hombres in City Lights left-hander Paora Dewes (23pts) and his teammate Rongomai Smith (21pts).
Wilson made a strong move right-side to score against Smith early in the game.
Wilson and fellow forward Will Collier both sank three-pointers to keep Boys' High close at 12-9. Soon after that, Collier proved his defensive presence against Smith on the right baseline.
With the Super 8 tournament in New Plymouth two weeks away, GBHS will need many more defensive stops.
Smith and Brooking — both solid, established players — were as physical as they were allowed to be in City Lights' 75-49 win. Referees Clifton Blumfield and Donna Brown were sharp.
Game 3 was more relaxed and brought a more homely feel to the prems' first hit-out of the season.
Raiders guard Ethan Ngarangione-Pearson scored 24 points, made one eye-popping dunk shot, missed several others and landed on Massive Marauders big man Adam Harford in the course of a 63-39 win.
Marauders captain Stefan Pishief led his team's scorers with 13 points.
As can always be expected when these teams meet, there was humour, the ball bouncing off the head of Marauders strongman Ray Noble, a shot on the move at the other end of the court hitting the top of the backboard.
The majority of the captains asked felt their teams got something out of the so-called dummy round.
Tuwairua-Brown said the start Green Up made was “all right”, while Systems' Adrian Sparks saw good things on the horizon, though his players were rusty and had cobwebs to blow out. For Willie Brown of the Raiders, the highlight of last night was seeing young players such as Allies Rangihuna run the floor.
GBA chairwoman Kylie Turuwhenua-Tapsell said they'd had two great nights for both the women's and men's club basketball.
“I'm looking forward to seeing how player movements and mergers unfold across the season,” she said.
“We'd also like to give a massive shout-out to the two Uawa teams who made the trip from the Coast to play in the women's league on Monday — they generated a real vibe.”
Green Up 70 (Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown 31, Holden Wilson 18, Weighn Wilson 9) SE Systems 43 (Dom Wilson 8). Q1 SES 11-6, HT Green Up 24-19, Q3 Green Up 56-25.
City Lights 75 (Paora Dewes 23, Rongomai Smith 21, Te Maro 12) Gisborne Boys' High School Senior Premiers 49 (Sebastian Wilson 22, Ngaru Grayson 14, Seth Miller 8). Q1 City Lights 22-11, HT City Lights 36-15, Q3 City Lights 54-37.
Massive Marauders 39 (Stefan Pishief 13, Simon Wilson 11) Raiders 63 (Ethan Ngarangione-Pearson 24, Hale Nepia-Sua 12, Jason Tuapawa 9). Q1 Raiders 20-10, HT Raiders 35-21, Q3 Raiders 49-31.
