Basketball: Coach talks up HBHS chances

Napier Boys' High School's Wilfred Dickson puts some defensive pressure on Hastings Boys' High School guard Mataeus Marsh yesterday. Photo / Paul Taylor

Curtis Wooten was talking up his team's defence and versatility in the countdown to today's final of the Super 8 basketball tournament at Taradale's Pettigrew-Green Arena.

The former Hawks NBL team head coach took his Hastings Boys' High School team into the final against Rotorua Boys with four wins from as many games. Yesterday, HBHS beat Hawke's Bay rivals Napier Boys' High School 67-45 in their final pool game, before accounting for New Plymouth Boys' High School 75-58 in their semifinal.

"No matter what the code, defence is the best form of offence and that's definitely the case with us.

"I think our versatility will give us the edge also," Wooten said.

A good example of the HBHS team's defensive class is the fact they restricted IMS Payroll Hawks big guard-small forward, Wilfred Dickson, to 13 points in the win against Napier. Dickson scored 40 points in Napier's 92-68 semifinal loss to Rotorua and his total for four games is 95.

"Rotorua have got a very tall team with a couple of New Zealand players.

"They are [a] half court defensive type of side but we like to use a full court approach, so we can trap them and use our fast guards on fast breaks," Wooten said.

Against NBHS, HBHS led 33-24 at halftime and outscored them 25-5 during the third quarter. New Zealand age group guard Isaia Jones-Mitchell scored 26 points, Hawks guard Mataeus Marsh 17 and Josh Anderson nine.

A polished second quarter was a feature of the Caleb Edwards-captained Hastings team's win against New Plymouth. During this period, the Taranaki outfit could only score four points, another example of those solid defensive systems, Wooten was referring to.

Jones-Mitchell scored 22 against New Plymouth while Marsh and Anderson contributed 18 and 10 respectively. HBHS, who last won the tournament in 2013 in Hastings, will aim for a seventh crown in today's 1.15pm final.

The NBHS side, coached by former Tall Ferns captain Kirstin Taylor, will play New Plymouth Boys' High School in the 10.45am playoff for third.