YMP debut winners

On target: O'Neill Wilson-Peipi led all scorers in the women's final, with 15 points, but side, the Honey Badgers, were on the wrong end of a 45-27 scoreline against YMP.

It’s first-time lucky for YMP.

The Janelle Te Rauna-Lamont-led club won Gisborne Basketball Association’s bottom-four final 45-27 against the Honey Badgers to claim a title on debut.

Heather Haenga scored 13 points, Trish Hina eight and Miri Katipa six.

“It was nice to have subs but we took a whole half to get into the game; the kids should have run us off our feet,” Te Rauna-Lamont said.

“When the Badgers decided to apply full-court pressure defence, the pace of the game picked up, although we tried to run the clock down in the second half.”

For the Honey Badgers, O’Neill Wilson-Peipi scored 15 points — leading all scorers in the women’s final — while teammate Anna Spring opened the scoring for the younger team in both the first and second periods.

The scores were tied 8-8 early on, YMP taking a 20-13 advantage by halftime and a 32-23 lead at three-quartertime.

“In the first half, we played well but it took us a long time to find our shooting rhythm,” Wilson-Peipi said.

“Of the season overall? We improved a lot but I still think we could have done even better and won the bottom-four final because we’re all young and fit.”

That’s true, which makes the achievement of YMP’s veterans (Kereru Walters aside) even more remarkable. From their first game in 2015, a 30-25 loss to beaten top-four finalists Mackeys, YMP’s brand of basketball has been a mixture of ferocious defence and great camaraderie between team members and opposition players alike. They, like SE Systems, are worthy bottom-four champions.

Systems beat Gisborne Boys’ High School 52-46, on the back of a 14-point game from Sean Pocock and 11 points from fellow big man Matt Kemp, while one of the 2015 league’s great characters, Steve Soatogi, returned to battle and produced eight points.

Soatogi is a hugely entertaining player in the mould of the Dream Team’s Wayne Bartram and Tavis Milner of the now-defunct Old Surfers, in that he makes the occasional stunning play.

SE Systems trailed 18-8, 34-22 and 42-37 at the quarters but as the gap closed, the older team started to grind into gear.

Pocock, who had scored 10 points and nine points heading into Saturday afternoon’s bottom-four final, came to the party when it mattered most.

With Ray Noble playing a coaching role at courtside, as opposed to playing himself, the battle of wits between Noble and Boys’ High supremo Frank Russell was keen.

Boys’ High applied full-court and half-court pressure defence and, interestingly, 1-3-1 zone defence.

“We’re disappointed to have lost the game but excited to have played well enough to make it that far,” Boys’ High captain Ryan Nepe said.

“We definitely have something to build on.”

Freemin Te Whare had a hot shooting hand for the students early in the game, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the first period, while fellow standout Joe Te Maari was good for 12 points and 15-year-old guard Max Scott hit a three-pointer in his seven-point fourth-quarter tally.

“They were up by 12 points but then we went back to basics,” SE Systems captain Adrian Sparks said.

“We went to our strengths: Sean and Matt Kemp inside. Boys’ High’s pressure defence was very good.”