Basketball: Daly drives Bay to win over Pistons

Aidan Daly.

The Hawke's Bay 2nd division team are in the final of the SAS Sport Continental Basketball League.

They beat the Waikato Pistons 84-74 on Saturday in Napier with former IMS Payroll Hawks point guard Aidan Daly playing a pivotal role.

The visitors had a formidable line up, including Tall Black trialist in 2m Dyson King and New Zealand Junior Olympic representative Kiri Rainaiwha but the Theo Tait-coached Bay prevailed with tough defence and balanced scoring.

Daly ensured that the defence was relentless and the speed advantage was maintained throughout the game. He also scored at critical times, adding 15 points and creating opportunities for other players with 11 assists.

Bay's Matt Wilson was an animal on the boards and proved unstoppable at the post with a double-double 15 points and 14 rebounds to claim the unofficial player of the day. Napier Boys' High School pupil Wilfred Dickson showed some great touches and was effective on the offensive boards, flicking missed shots back to the guards. He also got a double-double 18pts and 11 rebounds.

Hastings Boys High School guard Harris Solomon shot well in the early stages and his consecutive three-pointers in the second quarter opened up Waikato's zonal defence to allow the bigs to dominate.

Dean Lautele guarded NBL player Dyson King with aplomb, contributing eight points in the third quarter when scoring had slowed.

The Bay will play the Mariners Tauranga who beat Gisborne Rising Suns 98-92 in the other semifinal on Saturday.

The final will be at Tauranga this Saturday with the time and venue details to be confirmed.

Result: HB 84 (M Wilson 25, W Dickson 18, A Daly 15, Harris Solomon 10, D Lautele 8) Waikato Pistons 74 (D King 21, K Rangiawha 17, J Harris 15).