Hudson proved tough scoring his points in a variety of ways (10/17 FG, 3/3 3pt, 10/17 FT), also grabbing four steals and dishing four assists.

Cougars got to within 2 with 4.56 left after a Paora Winitana three, but Saints countered with threes from Hudson and Troy McLean (13 pts). After a Winitana three Saints went on a 9-0 run, finishing the with game 15-4 run.

The first quarter was scrappy Cougars taking first advantage leading by six from a three point play by Jeremy Kench (12 pts) and a three by Winitana (20 pts). Saints meanwhile were struggling missing easy shots in the paint, missing free throws and committing seven turnovers. First quarter Cougars up 19-18.

The second quarter was also scrap with both teams exchanging baskets, But Winitana and Trent Wurtz (15 pts 5 steals) got into foul trouble each with three fouls.

Saints starting to gain momentum leading by as many as eleven. A Kench layup cut the lead the lead to nine, 44-35 score at halftime. Saints shot the ball at 72.7% from the field in the second quarter.

In the third quarter Saints extended their lead to 12, but the Cougars came roaring back with a 14-4 run cutting the lead to two. After a battle for the boards Nick Horvarth (14 pts and 16 reb) tipped in a basket at the buzzer giving the Saints a slim five point lead to end the quarter.

The final quarter started off tight, Mark Morrison (12 pts) scoring the first basket.
But Saints closed out the game with defence holding Cougars to 33% from the field in the quarter and scoring from Hudson who scored 15 of the Saints 23 points.

Saints now go 2-0 but will face their toughest game yet when they play Nelson Giants at the Trafalgar Centre on Saturday. The Giants clean sweeped the Saints last year, also knocking them out in the semi final.

Cougars meanwhile go 1-1 and will travel down south to play the OceanaGold Nuggets on Saturday.

Thursday, March 11

At Cowles Stadium, Christchurch

Chrischurch Cougars 72 (Paora Winitana 20, Trent Wurtz 15, Jeremy Kench 12, Mark Morrison 12) Wellington Saints 85 (Darryl Hudson 33, Nick Horvarth 14, Troy McLean 13) Final

Referees - Gavin Zimmerman, Raewyn Willocks, Ralene Forde
1Q: 19-18
HT: 35-44 (16-26)
3Q: 57-62 (22-18)
FT: 72-85 (15-23)
Cougars v Saints Boxscore (24 KB html)

Mills was one of five nominations for the three vacant seats up for grabs and, when the votes were counted, was the only new member on the board. He brings a record of business acumen, innovation and a passion for basketball.

The other two spots were retained by incumbents Barry Wilson and Patrick Dougherty.

While all other candidates took their opportunity to address the meeting from the front of the room, Mills preferred to lobby “from the trenches” – the rows of seats set aside for association delegates – because that was where he felt more at ease.

“I’m excited to be part of a team to guide the sport I love,” says Mills, who has guided Saints to five NBL titles. “I hope to make a difference towards achieving a strong, financially stable sporting organisation.”

Other highlights of the meeting included …

• Former president Barbara Wheadon and current vice president Mel Young were unanimously installed as life members

• West Coast’s Bill Kennedy, who earned a 50-year service award last year, was presented with the Sir Lance Cross Award for his contribution to basketball

• Southland’s Jill Bolger was named as recipient of the Zena Gay Award for services to women’s basketball. Bolger, a BBNZ board member, was absent as she prepared for the Southland Sharks’ NBL debut later that evening

• Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic was Coach of the Year for leading the national team to a record victory over the Australian Boomers at the FIBA Oceania Championship for Men.

• Counties Manukau stalwart Georgina Nathan was named Volunteer of the Year, while colleague Jillian Harris was Official of the Year

• Basketball New Zealand declared a $214,248 deficit for 2009, mostly attributable to hosting the FIBA U19 World Championship for Men in Auckland

Faced with the challenges of a large deficit and a difficult sponsorship and funding market, chief executive Tim Hamilton outlined his plans for Basketball New Zealand over the coming year, including the immediate re-introduction of commissions to advise on and administer parts of the game.

Hamilton, who took office last October, proposed the creation of five commissions to oversee tournaments and leagues, women’s basketball, awards and honours, and associations.

Basketball New Zealand has provision for commissions in its internal regulations and already operates a technical officials commission.

Delegates also heard of a very full national team programme during 2010 and the organisation’s priority to rebuild its high performance capability.

2009 BBNZ Annual Report (pdf 2.82mb)

Round Two should be even better when it begins this Thursday when the Christchurch Cougars host the Wellington Saints at Cowles Stadium (Tip Off 7pm). Cougars had a gutsy 3 point win over the Bay Hawks last Thursday after trailing by as many as 20 points. Their captain Paora Winitana was instrumental in the comeback scoring 27 points and the Cougars also welcomed back hometown boy Jeremy Kench who tallied 20 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.

Saints meanwhile cruised to a 34 point rout of the Manawatu Jets, although it came at a cost losing their franchise player Lindsay Tait who suffered a severe ankle sprain and could be out for up to a month. Nick Horvarth was outstanding after a one year hiatus scoring a game high 29 points. Horvarth was complemented by emerging star Leon Henry who scored 28 points at a field goal percentage of 76.9%.

The Cougars Kench, Winitana and Aidan Daly will have to look to run and put pressure on the Saints with the loss of Tait. Whereas the Saints will like to keep the game in the halfcourt getting inside to the likes of Horvarth, Casey Frank and their new import from the Gold Coast Blaze Erron Maxey.

Head Coach Pero Cameron will be taking the reins for the first time this season and will want to keep his unbeaten record against the Cougars beating them three times last season as a player for the Pistons.

On Saturday there will be four games around the league and it begins at 6pm in Palmerston North when the Jets host the Bay Hawks. Jets will need to forget last week and hopefully have the services of their import big man Ronald Allen who did not play against the Saints with a back injury. They will also need to forget preseason when the Hawks romped them a couple of weeks earlier.

The Hawks will be relieved that they did not give away a second game when they blew a 14 first quarter lead against the Southland Sharks in regular time, eventually winning in overtime by 15 points. Coach Shawn Dennis will be pleased with his team’s fortitude winning on the road in most probably one of the toughest places to play this season Invercargill. Dennis will also be pleased with his new signings Dave Langrell and Nat Connell who averaged 16 and 15 points on the road trip respectively. Jets split the games with the Hawks last season winning at home 107-93. Jets Richard Jeter showed glimpses of brilliance last week scoring 17 consecutive points and 20 in the second quarter against the Saints.

A rematch of last year’s semi final will take place at 7pm when the Nelson Giants host the Saints. Saints seemed to have had victory in the semi only for the Giants to snatch it away with a late tip by Tony Rampton off a missed free throw on the buzzer. The Giants will hopefully be welcoming back the services of Tall Black Mika Vukona who was sorely missed in the Waikato game where they were out rebounded 57-32.

Vukona will go head to head with his fellow team mate at the Gold Coast Blaze Erron Maxey, both bringing similar hard working no nonsense attributes to their teams. Another interesting match up to keep an eye will be between the Giants Phil Jones and the Saints new import Darryl Hudson who showed he can play defence grabbing 11 rebounds and 4 steals on debut. Hudson will have his hands full marking Jones who is one of the most crafty players ever to play in the league and he proved this when he scored 37 points also going to the line 16 times against the Airs.

In Te Awamutu the Waikato Pistons look to take the Taranaki Mountainairs to 18 consecutive losses, but it will be no easy task with this much improved Airs side. Airs showed a lot of character against the Giants last week losing only to a Michael Harrison jumper with one second remaining, final score 84-82. This game could be a shoot out between Pistons Eric Devendorf and Airs Jack Leasure who are arguably some of the top shooters in the league.

Pistons meanwhile look very strong to make 2010 a three peat with the additions of Devendorf, Tony Ronaldson, Hayden Allen and former Cougar Gerard Bowden. Pistons never looked like losing in their 92-73 win over the Giants, winning every quarter.

After a year absence in Dunedin, the OceanaGold Nuggets return to the league to host the Cougars at the Edgar Centre. Even though the Nuggets lost by 17 against the Harbour Heat they showed promise being down in the first quarter by 17 closing the gap to 5 at the half.

Cougars will most likely be without the services of their import big man Tim Behrendorff who is currently with the Wollongong Hawks in the Australian NBL. This will mean the likes of Lionel Hopgood, Trent Wurtz and Mark Morrison will have the assignment of trying to shut down big man Antoine Tisby. Tisby scored 32 points and grabbed 19 rebounds against competition of the quality of Breaker import Rick Rickert and Tall Black Beny Anthony.

Round two concludes on Sunday afternoon when the Harbour Heat play Southland Sharks at the North Shore Event Centre. The Heat has a new front line of Rick Rickert, Dillon Boucher and Reece Cassidy to compliment young stars Corey Webster and Beny Anthony. Heat showed they can quickly put points on the board scoring 34 points in the opening quarter against the Nuggets.

Sharks meanwhile had a strong fourth quarter versus the Hawks restricting them to 12 points. But it was a different story in the extra period when they gave up 21 points losing by 15. Sharks can ill afford to do the same with a team with the offensive capabilities of the Heat. Sharks Mike Rose impressed last week with 29 points and he will match up against Webster who scored 34 in round one.

Import guard for the Sharks Rene Rougeau has been compared to Boucher in is style of play, but struggled to get decent court time for his team fouling out in twenty minutes. Big man Rickert had a solid 18 points and 10 rebounds last week, he will go up against young big man Martin Iti who had 8 points (4/4 FG) and 8 rebounds.

More Information click on Media Guide Pdf. 2010 NBL Round One Media Guide (420 KB pdf)

The tournament, hosted by Western Bay Basketball Association, is designed to cater for the best intermediate school (years seven and eight) teams around the country. Entries close May 21.

For further information, contact
Tricia Begley
Western Bay Basketball Association
Phone: 07 578 0016 (ext 813)
Email : wbopball@enternet.co.nz

NZCT AIMS National Sporting Championships (pdf 334kb)

The Wellington Saints centre was burnt out last year after spending the majority of his 20s playing in both the New Zealand and Australian leagues while also representing the Tall Blacks.

Mentally and physically exhausted, a newly married Horvath disappeared from the basketball scene in 2009, travelling his homeland America with his wife, former Black Stick Sheree.

Batteries charged, the hiatus appears to have been a masterstroke and Horvath returned to the court with a vengeance on Saturday night, pouring in 29 points in a dominant opening win over the Manawatu Jets.

“The year off was the best thing for me,” Horvath said.

“I remember reading about Shane Warne when I was in Australia and he was suspended for that year [for testing positive to a banned substance].

“He said it was the best thing that ever happened to his career.

“And I can understand why. Because it just gives you time, you have no agenda and you can totally put everything into perspective.”

During the time off, Horvath had no idea whether he would play again.

“It showed me that when I’m not playing, life still goes on, you know. The people that are important to me are still there, I still have a life, I can do whatever I feel.

“It just takes a lot of pressure off performance and it’s not the entire world.

“Now that I’m back I’m just basically enjoying having fun.”

While in the States, Horvath and his wife had a house built for them in Palmerston North, where he is studying a graduate diploma in teaching at Massey University.

“We went to the US and I worked a little bit as a maths tutor because I knew I was going to be coming back and doing my diploma in teaching.

“We went to LA, Las Vegas, New York and Canada and just had a really good time. It was the first white Christmas for my wife. Halloween, did all of the things that she’d never done before so it was really fun.”

The 29-year-old said the decision to play again happened in stages.

“At first I didn’t want to look at a basketball, I didn’t want to watch basketball, I just wanted to get away and do different things. First I started watching basketball again, watching games. When I was home in the US there was college basketball on so I got interested in watching it.”

Horvath gradually got fit and the spark started to return.

“By the end I just thought `oh well, I’d kind of like to play again’.”

The 2.08m Horvath is commuting to a limited number of Saints trainings from Palmerston North though he will spend the next three weeks as a student teacher at Wellington College.

Saints chief executive Nick Mills had allowed some flexibility.

“He [Mills] was fine with the stipulations behind it and he’s been very good.

“It’s [the course] pretty full on. It’s from 9-4 or 9-5 every day plus the homework so it’s a fulltime deal. But I can’t wait to be a teacher. I’m going to be teaching physics so I’m quite excited about that.”

Despite an already crammed schedule, Horvath said he was committed to returning to the Tall Blacks this season as they eye the world championships in Turkey in August-September.

“It’s definitely my No 1 goal.”

The problem is Horvath will also require some leeway from national coach Nenad Vucinic in playing the warmup games.

“I’m just not sure I’d be able to, I’d fail my course. It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I think my course will be quite flexible but it might have to be something where we meet in the middle.”

The Saints’ next game is against the Cougars in Christchurch tomorrow night.

Devendorf’s stat line consisted of 49 Points, 17-26 FG, 7/10 3pt, 8/8 FT, 7 rebounds in a 92-73 win over the Fico Finance Nelson Giants.

Devendorf has broken the Pistons record (since 2000) knocking out Clifton Bush’s 46 against the Nelson Giants in 2001. It is also the highest points total a player has scored since 2003 when John “The Pope” Whorton scored 50 points against the Bay Hawks.

Other notable performances around the league were from sophomore for the Harbour Heat Corey Webster scoring 34 in their win against the OcenaGold Nuggets whose import Antoine Tisby had a monster 32 points and 19 rebounds.

But Tisby is currently second in the league in rebounding, behind the Pistons Alex Pledger who grabbed 20 rebounds to equal the team record also with Clifton Bush.

Heat player Dillon Boucher nearly grabbed a triple double (12 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists), while his teammate with the Heat and New Zealand Breakers Rick Rickert collected a double double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.

2009 MVP Phil Jones scored 37 against the Airs and former All Star Five Nick Horvarth scored 29 on his return to the league.
Horvarth’s fellow teammate Leon Henry assisted with 28 points at a field goal percentage of 76.9%.

Down south Cougars Paora Winitana had 27 in the win against his home town Hawks, while his team mate Jeremy Kench tallied 20 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and four steals.

In Invercargill Sharks import Mike Rose had 29 in the overtime loss versus the Hawks.

Imports Jack Leasure (Mountainairs), Demarshay Johnson (Mountainairs), Darryl Hudson (Saints) and Richard Jeter (Jets) have also impressed.

Click on pdf below to check out Top 50 Player Power Rankings

Top 50 Player Power Rankings (92KB pdf)

Bulleen had lost just once on their way to the regular season title and were six points ahead with 4m 33s remaining, but could not hold off Canberra’s assault down the stretch.

Superstar Lauren Jackson was named MVP for her 18 points/13 rebounds, while the victory was a triumph of pupil over master as Australian Opals coach Carrie Graff outwitted mentor Tom Maher. Both are also former Tall Ferns coaches.

Pardon played 19 games during the season, averaging 3.5 points and shooting 35.5% (11/31) from beyond the arc.

In Europe, Kiwi Brendon Polyblank had a quiet night, but his Fribourg club defended their Swiss League Cup title with a 79-78 win over Lugano Tigers in the final.

Polyblank had only three points, but earned bragging rights over former Wellington Saints team-mate Mike Efevberha, who led all scorers with 19 points in a losing effort.

Fribourg returned to earth with a thud over the weekend, though, toppled 81-74 by Starwings in the LNB. Polyblank led his team with 21 points as his team fell to 19-6 for the season.

In US college play, Tall Ferns guard Micaela Cocks and the University of Oregon fell to their fifth consecutive loss, 53-67 away to Washington State, shooting just 26% FG.

Cocks had 10 points (4/13 FG, 2/7 3pt), three rebounds, three assists and two steals as the Ducks fell to 16-13 for the season and 7-10 in the Pac-10 Conference.

Ferns centre Rebecca Dew had six points (3/5 FG), four rebounds, an assist and a block in 12 minutes as her University of Hawaii rounded off their regular season with a 51-53 loss to Utah State.

The Rainbow Wahine finished with a 10-19 record, 4-12 in the Western Athletic Conference, and enter the conference tournament as eighth seeds.

Junior Tall Black captain Dion Prewster and San Jacinto College were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Region XIV junior college tournament, defeated 61-64 by Lee College.

SJC entered the tournament seeded third, but conceded an 11-2 late in the game as their opponents snatched a six-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.
Prewster hit a three-pointer to close the gap, but Lee hung tough from the free throw line to survive down the stretch.

His description apparently isn’t far off because a New Zealand website, although not going as far as calling the weather gloomy, did state there’s “moderately high rainfall.”

But it’s been anything but gloomy since the arrival of Prewster on the San Jacinto College basketball team’s roster because there’s been some moderately high rebounding and scoring totals coming from the sophomore.

In a nutshell, San Jac’s personable power forward has been a big reason why the Ravens have spent the entire 2009-2010 season in the Division I national rankings courtesy of a handsome 25-5 season record and first place in the Region 14 South Zone standings.

Not bad for a player who has only spent the last four years playing the game.

“This year, I was just more assertive. Being one of only two sophomores, I felt like I had to step up my game. It was just something coach expected,” Prewster said Tuesday. “Having that one year under my belt, I also felt more comfortable in the system.”

“Last year, we kept at him to be more aggressive offensively. He just seemed to settle for passing. Then all of a sudden after the first of the year he just went on a tear. He was hitting 3s, getting to the basket, rebounding, playing defense. I can’t imagine a better player in the league for about two or three weeks,” San Jac head coach Scott Gernander said.

Comfortable would be an understatement simply because Prewster just doesn’t know what an off night means. Double-double games in the scoring and rebounding columns have become commonplace for Prewster, which explains why he’s taking a 13.5 scoring average and 11.83 rebounding average to this week’s Region 14 postseason tournament in Tyler.

Ranked No. 5 in the nation in rebounding, he has gladly accepted his role as chairman of the boards, especially under the defensive glass where he’s accumulated 248 rebounds, second-best in the nation among Division I junior college teams.

“Rebounding-wise, I don’t think I’ve had a 6-4 kid rebound like he has,” Gernander said.

“Going into the season, I can’t say that was one of my goals. I just wanted to go out and rebound because it was something I did last year really well for the team,” Prewster said. “This year, it’s just been a blessing to be in that position.

“We were kind of lacking in size so I needed to pick up some more boards somewhere. Luckily enough, I’ve been grabbing my fair share. I think rebounding is more of a habit. You don’t have to jump the highest or be the tallest necessarily to grab rebounds, it’s a matter of crashing the offensive boards and anticipating.

“This year, being in the four spot, I’m definitely always around the basket and that helps too. I’m also playing a lot of minutes. There’s a lot more opportunities to grab rebounds when you’re playing that many minutes.”

“I’ve never had a kid in all my years of coaching play as many 40-minute games as he’s had,” said Garnander. “I think he’s had about five games where he’s played 40 minutes and he’s had several at 38. It’s like we want him on the floor because we run so many things through him.

“We call him a four-man position-wise but he’s outside facing the basket. He’s just such a versatile player. Just the way he’s stepped up his game offensively this year has really carried us through a whole bunch of games.”

“Last year, my three-point shooting was OK,” said Prewster. “This year, it’s been a lot better. I’m hitting threes with a little more regularity. I’ve added other positives to my game that’s opened everything else up.”

Born in California, Prewster moved to New Zealand around the age of four after his parents divorced. An only child, Prewster was raised in a single-parent home. Prewster’s mother, a native of New Zealand, kept him in sports, especially soccer.

“Really, I had been a soccer player all my life. Even as a freshman in high school, I thought I was going to be a professional soccer player. Basketball just came along because one of my good buddies played,” Prewster said. “I dunked the ball in my first game. Ever since that day, I fell in love with the game. But I think soccer helps with the footwork, the Xs and Os and timing. It goes hand-in-hand.”

As an example, Prewster calls Phoenix Suns player Steve Nash the best passer in the NBA but in the summer, Nash plays soccer. Although it’s a sport where a player can’t use his hands, it can teach running to spots to get the ball. In fact, Nash in recent years has been running a soccer charity tournament in New York City involving both NBA and soccer players.

After a move to Iowa and the program of Andy Woodley, the former Sam Rayburn head coach, Woodley told Gernander about the potential Prewster had at the collegiate level. Prewster came for a visit and the Ravens liked what they saw.

“I saw the resume and I wanted to be a part of it. I didn’t realize the prestige that this program has and its achievements until I got down here. It’s really good to be a part of it,” Prewster said.

Because of his late start in the game, Prewster takes advantage of whatever down time he has to sharpen his talents. Gernander says it’s not uncommon for Prewster to be in the weight room or shooting by himself in Anders Gym.

“He’s one of the finest young men I’ve ever coached,” Gernander said. “It’s not like he’s one of those rah-rah guys trying to get people to follow him. He just gets out there and leads by example. Almost every night he’s down here doing something extra.

“He’s kind of a workaholic and it’s paid off for him. He’s got other guys doing the same thing. You can’t get much better of a leader than he’s been. He’s one of those kids you don’t have to worry about.”

Thursday, March 11

At Cowles Stadium, Christchurch

Chrischurch Cougars 72 (Paora Winitana 20, Trent Wurtz 15, Jeremy Kench 12, Mark Morrison 12) Wellington Saints 85 (Darryl Hudson 33, Nick Horvarth 14, Troy McLean 13) Final

Referees - Gavin Zimmerman, Raewyn Willocks, Ralene Forde
1Q: 19-18
HT: 35-44 (16-26)
3Q: 57-62 (22-18)
FT: 72-85 (15-23)
Cougars v Saints Boxscore (24 KB html)

Saturday, March 13

At Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North

McDonalds Manawatu Jets v 0800 Easy LPG Bay Hawks, 6pm

Referees - Dallas Pickering, Hayden Pipe, Jame Campion

At Trafalgar Centre, Nelson

Fico Finance Nelson Giants v Wellington Saints, 7pm

Referees - Andy Thackray, Sean Cronin, Gareth Tehan

Te Awamutu Events Centre, Te Awamutu

Waikato Pistons v Taranaki Mountainairs, 7.30pm

Referees - Melony Wealleans, Jamie Hickey, Miguel Gallardo

Edgar Centre, Dunedin

Oceanagold Otago Nuggets v Christchurch Cougars, 8pm

Referees - Gavin Zimmerman, Bevan Maslin, Matt Bathurst

Sunday, March 14

Harbour Heat v Zerofees Southland Sharks, 3pm

Referees - Dallas Pickering, Melony Wealleans, Cheryl Crabbe

View live scores, results and standings