READY TO SHOOT: East Coast’s Sam Marvel looks to the basket as Campion’s Hunter Jones defends in men’s club basketball at the YMCA last night. The Coast won this game 46-32. Picture by Paul Rickard
Glimpses of the incredible — that’s what basketball fans got at the YMCA last night as the teams of the men’s league signed off for the July school holiday break in style.
Gisborne Boys’ High School beat defending champions Pirates 42-30, City Lights showed their class in a 64-30 win against Uawa, Campion weren’t disgraced in a 46-32 loss to East Coast, and SE Systems defeated Lytton High School 58-29 although the younger team played with real spirit. Pure Sound, who beat Lytton 55-28 in the season opener, had the bye.
Boys' High v PiratesBoys’ High had good scoring balance in an up-tempo contest. Joe Te Maari led the way with 10 points, and captain Ryan Nepe (8pts) and Connor Mitchell (4pts) brought their best games. Freemin Te Whare found both Conrad Kutia and Nepe with brilliant passes. Te Whare and Kutia scored seven points each but special mention must be made of Mitchell and Psalm Taylor.
In the last fortnight, Mitchell has raised his game several notches, and the 17-year-old Taylor looks to be an excellent basketball prospect. He has size, great hands and game sense. Boys’ High trailed Pirates 9-8 at the end of the first period, took an 18-14 halftime lead and were 28-18 up at three-quartertime, despite the best efforts of Pirates captain Gary Harding (9pts) and TK Moeke (6pts).
“They’re getting better,” Boys’ High coach Dwayne Tamatea said of his team.
Skipper Nepe said: “We’re proud to get a win so early in the season. That tonight was a 100 percent effort from all the boys.”
Pirates’ Rongomai Smith, whose back injury has prevented him from playing club rugby this season, was sorely missed as Boys’ High dictated the tempo. Nepe stepped by TK Moeke to score in a superb second period for Boys’ High. Harding was gracious and thoughtful in defeat.
“They played well,” he said. “It was a fast, open game, but the big thing for us was to try to get away from a one-pass offence — to show more patience. It’s starting to happen; we just need to keep doing it.”
City Lights v UawaCity Lights can be well satisfied with their win against Uawa. Their captain, Scott Muncaster, led all scorers in the game with 22 points — including three three-point shots — while teammate Ryan Walters went one better with four three-pointers and new big man Luka Kablar (10pts) looked comfortable shooting the ball for the first time this season.
City Lights were 19-4, 35-10 and 45-15 ahead at the quarters, despite gutsy showings by Uawa’s Reg Namana (10pts) and inside presence Harley Phillips (10pts). Phillips hit two long jumpshots in the fourth period and the game featured two magnificent plays — Namana finding the powerhouse Phillips with a sweetly timed outlet pass for 61-28 (to City Lights) and Kablar, guarded by Namana to the left of the hoop, giving a sharp bounce-pass to the slashing Muncaster for 47-15.
The league has never been without feisty veterans and Steve Soatogi of City Lights certainly fits that bill. The battle he had with Namana for position inside provided some lighter moments. At times in the first half, both Walters and Muncaster missed open lay-ups but, overall, City Lights were very good. Perhaps their best moment came when Walters beat the halftime buzzer with a 30-foot shot.
Muncaster was pleased with the energy his team showed, while Uawa’s Trey Crawford gave this take on events: “Harley finished well and the effort was there from all of our boys, but the shots just wouldn’t drop tonight.”
Campion v East CoastEast Coast were favoured to beat Campion and did so. Brandon Paul (10pts) showed great leadership, and Drae Calles (8pts) doused a Campion rally with two three-pointers near the end of the game.
A 46-32 loss to the run-and-gun East Coast constitutes a committed match-effort by Campion.Game-day captain Raphael Heria recognises that with half of his team being students at the College and the rest being Filipino social basketball players, the mix will take time to gel.
“We’re really enjoying the game here, in a different basketball culture,” said Heria, who sank two three-point shots himself.
He acknowledged the efforts of his senior centre Edmund Arlos (11pts) and the promise of 14-year-old Orlando Pedraza, younger brother of former SE Systems point guard Carlos Pedraza. Campion showed courage on defence, Arlos taking a charge from Mokomoko in the third period and Hunter Jones also standing firm as the Coast attacked the basket.
The Coast held the advantage 8-6, 17-6 and 30-23 at the quarters. Of real interest should be the development of tall Turoa Kohata in 2016. He gives the league’s flyers much-needed height in the same way that Tahran Ward, at well over six feet, does for Campion.
Ward has promise, but if anyone dominated the game it was Hunter Mokomoko. Although skipper Paul was more concerned with his team’s need to better execute offensive plays and show more awareness defensively, Mokomoko gave the impression that he was in cruise mode throughout, despite leading all scorers with 16 points.
SE Systems v LyttonIt was almost a romp — the old heads of SE Systems shone in their 58-29 victory over Lytton. It was built on excellent interplay and teamwork. The game was close early (10-10 at the end of the first period) but Systems extended a 26-18 halftime lead to 46-22 at the business end. Liam Greening had a monster 30-point game to lead all scorers in 2016 to date.
SES skipper Adrian Sparks (10pts), the recipient of three high-quality assists from fellow forward Sean Pocock in the third period, praised the opposition.
“It’s always fun playing Lytton,” he said. “They run, they put up plenty of shots, and they’re no doubt great to watch.”
Lytton’s Genesis Tamatea (16pts) and Tane Wills-Aranga (7pts) likewise played strongly, their captain Levi Hohipa-Henry being most impressed with the toughness of Ngaru Williams, who bore the weight of the Systems behemoths, played good low-post defence and hit a tough shot over the outstretched hand of Ray Noble late in the game.
Another Lytton player to watch after the resumption could well be guard Raven Kerekere. His classic assist to the cutting Lavelle Rangihuna — who made the “floater” for 46-22 (to SES) — would remind fans of the silky skills of Leityn Swann and Jared Le Geyt in the 1990s.