Sudden-death time on court

Basketball BHS v Dream Team - Joseph Te Maari, Scott Muncaster

There won’t be scenes of jubilation tonight — only relief and heartbreak.

YMP Black meet the Dream Team in the men’s club basketball top four at the YMCA at 5.30pm, followed by YMP White versus Gisborne Boys’ High School in the bottom four. Both are sudden-death semifinals.

Fans will see grit and heart (YMP Black), firepower (the Dream Team), newfound competitiveness (YMP White) plus youth, energy and excitement (GBHS).

The top-four and bottom-four finals for the men’s and women’s divisions will be played on Saturday, September 26.

YMP Black will field their full complement — wise heads Billy Maxwell, Dale Hailey, Adam Niwa, Chad Rose, David Glendenning, Willie Brown and Anton Riri, muscle in the form of Hukanui Brown and Kauri Coleman, and talented youngsters Tyrese Tuwairua-Brown and Xzavia Mason.

Mason led YMP Black’s scoring with 10 points last week as 6ft 5in Dale Hailey was held to seven points by the big Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates line-up.

Hailey has to have not just a game in double-figures but a 20-game — even a 30-point game — within his team’s structure, for said structure to function.

In Week 5, he scored 32 points — including four three-point plays — in a 25-point win, 67-42, against Boys’ High. Three weeks later, without him, Boys’ High turned the tables 49-45 to record only their second win of the season on the court.

In prior meetings, the Dream Team beat YMP Black 65-47 in Week 2 and tied 62-all with the Scott Muncaster-led crew three weeks ago.

Muncaster is fizzing“I’m a little bit nervous, I just want to have a good game,” said the Dream Team captain, who had a 31-point game in the third-versus-fourth 84-49 victory over Hearty Ngati last Monday.

Muncaster has one part of the Team’s arsenal back on deck from Tauranga, in the form of Jasper Wills, the league’s tallest player at 6ft 8in.

Wills gives his outfit a real scoring threat inside, with forwards Ryan Walters, Siaki Tui and Wayne Bartram aligned with a dangerous back-court — Kit Maile, Carl Riini, Dom Wilson and, if work commitments allow, Trey Crawford.

Earlier this season, the Dream Team featured sharpshooter Koroua Rangihuna — were he available tonight, the threat level for YMP Black would be doubled and Muncaster’s outfit would have six or even seven players with three-point shooting range.

As it is, they will have at least two players on their reserves bench — Hearty Ngati did not, and the up-tempo nature of the Gisborne Basketball Association semifinals is such that they could not stick with the Dream Team.

If Wills can establish himself early in tonight’s game, the defence will be stretched as help is required to stop the centre, yet Maile, Muncaster and the rest are as almost as likely to attack the hoop as they are to shoot three-pointers.

On the YMP Black side, where Hailey can score and his captain Billy Maxwell is able to penetrate off the dribble, their unit has sound basketball knowledge — the ability to anticipate a pass and score off the type of creative assist that Maxwell can give. This is where Niwa and Rose have always come into their own, while Willie Brown was superb against Pirates in Week 3. His 11 points gave Hailey scoring support for a 65-55 win against the first qualifier for this year’s grand final.

“We haven’t done anything different to prepare for this game,” Maxwell said.

“One step at a time . . . it’s just another day.”

A low-key approachThat low-key approach could be the right tactic for YMP Black, a close team whose desire to perform and win for each other could see great things unfold tonight if they can create space, move the ball and make shots. Even for veteran teams, the confidence that comes from scoring early is a huge factor.

The bottom four: desperation.

Last week, SE Systems became the first team to advance to the bottom-four final but they paid for it dearly — if not in blood, certainly in bruises and sweat — during a 37-32 battle with YMP White. Tonight YMP White, who have turned their season around in incredible fashion, line up against a Gisborne Boys’ High School team who have played some good basketball this year.

Superb guard Freemin Te Whare is on the mend, having played for almost a month with a sore left knee, while a changing of the guard in the squad has given Thomas Kepa and Max Scott more court-time. They have responded, taking their opportunities to learn and play well.

Boys’ High beat Lytton High School for the third time last Monday, 44-30, having pipped Lytton 43-41 seven days before.

YMP White, if they can get over this hump, will pick up the cudgels against SES again, having beaten them 55-40 two weeks ago.

Boys’ High beat YMP White 52-32 in Week 4, YMP White returned the favour 34-26 in Week 9 and then went 2-1 up for 2015 in getting by GBHS 45-41 three weeks ago.

Athletic Wi Brown scored 12 points for YMP White in that last meeting, and he is pesky on the boards. He scored 13 points in last Monday’s war with Systems and his quickness, allied to the experience of captain Jimmy Wilson, is a major factor in YMP White’s resurgence.

Forward Tony Akroyd has always been a capable rebounder and it seems as if YMP White have been infused with toughness in the latter part of the season: Callan Whaitiri-White was excellent value in the last win against Boys’ High, owing much that night to the passing of guest player Leityn Swann.

Akroyd and Whaitiri-White are 6ft 2in, 6ft 3in and as such will need to help Wilson at the defensive end.

Joe Te Maari is a key player for Boys’ High inside, as the one true springheels in their team: Te Whare, when fit, leaps just as high but he is having to play solidly while confined to terra firma. Scott scored eight points last week and if he can remain in shooting rhythm, the 15-year-old could be a thorn in YMP White’s side.

Connor Mitchell, in his second season in the A team, has improved throughout and provides the best example of what college players can get out of the men’s club league: experience, time on the court, the opportunity to handle the ball, and appreciation of the need to be alert and make the transition from offence to defence in seconds.

“We’re taking it as it comes,” Gisborne Boys’ High captain Ryan Nepe said.

“We’re keen to salvage a rough season.”