CBL Finals - Section B
Tagged in: CBL, Competitions
A decade ago, the North Otago Penguins were a dominant force on the Conference Basketball League hardwood.
Former NBL stars, Leonard King, Kerry Boagni, Kenny Perkins, Larry Hubbard.Two Southern Conference titles and three CBL championships in four years, ending in 2000. Then, in sleepy Oamaru, nothing. Not even third division.
Until the 2008 Resurrection.
“It was really because I just wanted somewhere to play,” joked starting guard Ian Cathcart, one of only three survivors, along with Markham Brown and coach Brian de Geest, from the Penguins 2000 roster.
“Nah, it was really Matt Gillan and some of the young guys that wanted to get the team going again.”
North Otago picked up American point guard Dalun Smith, who Cathcart played with at Lyon College in Arkansas, then added former Canterbury Ram Rewi Manahi and Bay Hawks centre Calum MacLeod to fill the middle.
With Gillan, Brown, Andrew Parke and Murray Clarke also on the roster, the Penguins have seven players with NBL experience, mostly with the neighbouring Nuggets.
The Penguins strolled through the Southern Inter-Association League against Otago A, Southland and Central Otago, going 6-0 with a winning margin near 30 points per game, then brushed aside Otago A in a two-game sweep, winning by 24 and 32 points, to earn the Southern Conference’s automatic bid.
If North Otago are to repeat their CBL titles from 1997, 1999 and 2000, they will have to go through the Central Conference champion Wellington Saints, second-ranked Northern Conference qualifiers Western Bay Suns and a streaking Auckland team that got a lifeline from the JTB/Breakers pull out.
Salvaging a title from the year will be the motivation for five members – Brendon Pongia, Arthur Trousdell, Matt Te Huna, Hugh Quinlivan and Randall Bishop - of the Saints line-up, who were also part of the Saints failed bid in the NBL Finals in June.
Saints forward Tim Gillan, a member of the 2000 Penguins championship team, will face his older brother Matt when the two teams meet on Friday afternoon to finish section play.
The Suns, who finished the Northern Conference with an 18-6 record and collected 12 bonus points from 20-plus point wins, also bring a team heavy on NBL experience, led by Canadian centre and former Harbour Heat import Mike King.
Sam Walker, Whare Bidois, Sasho Tasevski and current Waikato Piston Ike Smith also join point guard Johnathon Dishroon, Eru Wills, Junior Tall Black Adam Dunstan to form the bulk of Alex Stojkovic’s rotation.
Outside the top-ranked Waikato Titans, who have won 15 straight coming in, the young Auckland squad could well be the second hottest team, having won eight straight games after a slow start saw them slump to 2-6.
With a team player-coach Rob Crooks describes as a “development team”, Auckland slowly turned their season around, then the additions of Auckland Stars guard Josh Clark and Canterbury Rams centre Mike Townsend, a former NZ Breakers development player, pushed them towards a playoff berth.
SECTION B
Wellington Saints
Brendon Pongia (c), Arthur Trousdell, Matt Te Huna, Hugh Quinlivan, Randall Bishop, Jordan Mills, Tim Gillan, Matt Doggett, Callum Brock, Dan Quinlivan
Coach: Brendon Pongia
North Otago Penguins
Ian Cathcart, Calum MacLeod, Rewi Manahi, Dalun Smith, Riki Buckrell, Matt Gillan, Markham Brown, Andrew Parke, Murray Clarke, Jordan Small, Ryan Mitchell
Coach: Brian de Geest
Western Bay Suns
Mike King (c), Sam Walker, Johnathon Dishroon, Whare Bidois, Sasho Tasevski, Ike Smith, Eru Wills, Adam Dunstan, Johnny Miller, Tane Bennett, Jonathon Korenhof, Mike Pakoti
Coach: Alex Stojkovic
Auckland
Simon Mesritz (c), Mike Townsend, Josh Clark, Duncan Smith, Vanja Babic, Boris Babic, Daniel Kral, Nikola Lakatus, Brent Raven, Rob Crooks
Coach: Rob Crooks
