Basketball: Loss in final ends dream run for Suns

A poor start cost the Northland Suns supremacy in the Intercity Basketball League on Saturday, with Waitakere beating them 78-67 in the final.

Waitakere tore out of the blocks scoring the game's first 10 points before the Suns even bothered the scorers and although they slowly got back into the game they never quite recovered from the damage suffered in the first quarter.

Behind 22-4 at the end of the quarter, shooting guard Travis McIlroy said they ditched the zone defence they had employed to begin the game and slowly edged back into the game to trail by just 28-42 at halftime.

"It was the worst start to any game all year. I think we showed them too much respect at the start of the game and we were a bit cautious. When we began playing our natural game we slowly got back into it," he said.

With both teams ramping up their defence, a high-scoring final was never likely.

"Ray Cameron told us if we won the battle of the boards we'd win the game but we never quite managed it. Waitakere showed what a good rebounding team they were and won that particular duel," McIlroy said.

The match got physical as the Suns closed to within seven points during the final quarter and McIlroy said their offensive depth let them down.

"It was a big learning curve for us and next year we know we can't rely just on two players scoring our points, we have to strengthen our offence," McIlroy said.

"But we've raised the bar now and on the bus back to Whangarei we were able to reflect on what a journey it's been. It's been a great year and now the challenge is to improve on it and win the final next year."

Northland Suns Basketball Development Trust spokesman Edwin Popham said the charitable trust is also keen to keep the ball rolling.

He said even before the team stepped out on to the court on Saturday they were winners - far outstripping even the most optimistic estimate of their chances at the beginning of the season - after finishing last and second to last in the two previous seasons.

"Old time basketball supporters have been coming out of the woodwork to show their support recently but perhaps even more importantly some of the elite players up here have approached us to show interest in playing so we're hoping to have an even stronger squad in the competition next year."

The players will now get a break for the rest of the month before the Whangarei Super-Six competition gets underway on November 2.