Basketball: Young team show plenty of ticker

The Hawke's Bay division two basketball team have passed the physicality test.

"The young guys showed a lot of character," coach Theo Tait said on Saturday night after his troops beat Gisborne Suns 74-70.

The game went down to the wire at the YMCA gym before the Ravi Mani-captained Bay prevailed in the CBL League.

"We were tied [70-70] with 50 seconds to go in front of a parochial crowd," Tait said before hitting the road back to the Bay after the 4pm tip off.

A last-minute inclusion to the team of eight, Dean Leutei took two throws from the charity line to ease the tension a little.

With 20 seconds left on the clock, the visitors turned the ball over with some steely resolve.

"With 3 to 4 seconds left, we made a fast break and put Matiu Spooner in line for the last basket," Tait said.

What impressed him most was the youngsters stepping up after three players in the team withdrew.

IMS Payroll Hawks bench player Wilfred Dickson (Napier Boys High School) and Harrison McGuire (St John's College) didn't travel after they were hurt playing the Friday night Bay league.

Neither did Joshua Anderson (Hastings Boys' High School) after hurting himself in the Super 8 Tournament in New Plymouth last week.

The non-schoolboys, Tait said, had also worked on their fitness.

The Bay play a doubleheader next weekend, against Tauranga at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale, in their next home game on August 16 before hosting Gisborne at the Centennial Hall the following day.