Glory Days
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When the Porirua boys are old men and remember their triumph at the 2007 Oreo NZ U19 Championships, it will ultimately be their dramatic short-handed semifinal win over Canterbury that looms large through the mists of time.
But they completed their destiny with a 90-74 result over arch-rivals Wellington in an encounter that could very easily have slipped into anti-climax after their heroics the night before.
The near-neighbours had already faced each other three times this season with Porirua emerging in front on the last two occasions, including the opening game of this national tournament at North Harbour.
ìIf it had been anyone else, we might have struggled,î said coach Deslea Wrathall. ìBut because it was Wellington, we knew what we were up against, we knew they would play hard and we came to play as well.
ìOur first game at the tournament was tough Ö we played hesitant against them. In the final, we started out a bit flat before finally realizing it was just another game.î
In fact, Wellington, led by NZ Junior Tall Black Dion Prewster, had much the better of the early exchanges, stretching to an eight-point advantage in the opening quarter.
But the boys from P-town finally catapulted ahead just before halftime on the back of a three-point play from captain Evan Bishop and a pair of treys from Jordon Mills and Brook Ruscoe.
They took full control command with a 17-4 run in the third term, applying a zone defence that Wellington never came to grips with. The rest was formality.
ìFinals are so often about tough-nosed defence,î said Wrathall. ìTheyíre about execution and effort, but the most import thing I told them was to go out and enjoy it.î
In many ways, the hard work had already been done in the semi when Porirua, who traveled north with just eight players and were then down one on Sunday through religious commitments, lost another when Bishop was ejected two minutes into the contest.
Quickly facing a double-point deficit and then battling foul trouble, they exploded past the Cantabs with a 30-15 second quarter and held on as point guard Hayden Whelan fouled out with five minutes remaining.
It meant that some of them had played the entire 40 minutes less than 24 hours before their biggest game of the season.
ìThat was tough, but they are such a tight unit and thatís what got them through it. Theyíre used to training hard.î
With heroes right across the floor, it was forward-by-default Joe Maiava who emerged with MVP honours, often befuddling much bigger rivals offensively with his patented spin moves into the lane.
ìHe was our glue,î observed Wrathall.
If the boysí final was over soon after halftime, Canterburyís 73-68 victory in the girlsí title game was a more fitting spectacle as upstarts Auckland gave the hot favourites everything they could handle.
This was essentially the same red-and-black line-up that had claimed U21 crown last month and then contested the Womenís Basketball League southern conference together.
ìBut we play an absolutely different style to the U21s,î insisted coach Russell McCormack, who was assistant with the older group.
ìWe prefer an up-tempo game, and with Erin Rooney and Natalie Moore in the back court, why wouldnít we.î
Many probably expected the southerners to have too much cohesion for Auckland, who had failed to qualify through their premiership, but became competitive with the late additions of Tall Fern centre Jess McCormack and budding young coach Chelsea Terei.
They produced the first run of the contest – an 11-2 outburst in the opening period – that took their edge to double figures. Late in the third term, it was still 11 points, but almost inevitably, the charge came.
ìWe knew we would wear them down in the end as long as we got running,î said McCormack, who was coaching against his second cousin. ìWe had to exploit the fact they only had eight players.
ìThey are a nice team and surprised me with the way they played. They hung in there longer than I expected.î
But Auckland did not seem to have a confident ball handler and relied on a netball-style passing game to feed McCormack in the circle Öer, keyhole.
ìWe werenít trying to stop Jess getting the ball,î said McCormack. ìYou canít.
ìBut we wanted to make her work hard for her opportunities and that was more about putting pressure on the guards than stopping her getting position.î
Auckland committed 29 turnovers and the dam finally burst early in the final quarter as the Cantabs unleashed a 16-2 run.
Rooney, who was MVP at the U21 nationals, took over the game and finally hit the back-breaking three-pointer with two minutes left on the way to her 20 points.
McCormack was challenged to win the game from the free throw line and probably fatigued from battling the combative Canterbury frontline of Ellie Pavel, Harriet Fenwick and Ashlee Rigter, managed just 11/21 FT, including 2/6 down the stretch.
Regardless, she finished with 35 points/19 rebounds, a massive effort that carried her to MVP honours on a valiant, but losing cause.
Oreo NZ U19 Championships
Day Three- Monday, June 4
Boys
Waikato 80 (Jordan Bradford 21, James Comer 20, Hiwaroa Grant 16, Te Puao Silver 12) Harbour 76 (Lucas Watt 21, Won-Sub Cho 20, Sam Butler 18)
Counties Manukau 91 (Poutu Edwards 27, Maahia Nathan 19, Dennis Tawhiti 17) Rotorua 62 (Levi Andrews 30, Sid Adams 12, Andrew Ford 11)
Seventh/eighth
North Otago 86 (Riki Buckrell 24, Gareth Dawson 21, Bede Rusbatch 18, Ian Shields 12) Palmerston North 83 (James Bardsley 26, Ryan Twist 25, Sam Sharland 17)
Fifth/sixth
Waitakere 86 (Houston OíRiley 31, Kere Davies 20, Zach Makavilitogia 14, Shane Schwalger 10) Nelson 78 (Adam Rainbird 31, Nico Ritschny 19, Sam Dempster 10)
Third/fourth
Canterbury 87 (Dave Gibbs 22, Thomas Eves 18, Logan Van Beek 14, Sam Dobbs 11) Auckland 66 (Elton Cotton 16, Sifa Puteni 12, Tamati Roberts 12)
Final
Porirua 90 (Joe Maiava 26, Brook Ruscoe 23, Jordon Mills 17, Evan Bishop 16) Wellington 74 (Dion Prewster 20, David Beck 18, Micah Lepaio 11)
Tournament Team
Bronson Beri (Nelson), Riki Buckrell (North Otago), Elton Cotton (Auckland), Joe Maiava (Porirua), Houston OíRiley (Waitakere City), Dion Prewster (Wellington), Adam Rainbird (Nelson), Brook Ruscoe (Porirua), Logan Van Beek (Canterbury), Hayden Whelan (Porirua)
Most Valuable Player
Joe Maiava (Porirua)
Girls
Western BOP 69 (Rose-Anna Kingi 31, Jenna Haewera 21) Waitakere City 65 (Bev Lalau 15, Juanita Hopkins 11)
New Plymouth 74 (Molly McCallum 23, Zoe Kensington 17, Sharee Hamilton 10) Nelson 65 (Hayley Cameron 23, Connie Dick 17)
Seventh/eighth
Porirua 75 (Lauren Paurini 18, Donna Fermanis 13) Wellington 36
Fifth/sixth
Harbour 71 (Kezia Kelly 18, Rebecca Dew 13, Clair McCurran 13, Kate Lacey 10) Waikato 61 (Emma Bryant 23, Miriam Slatter 14, Lucy Driscoll 10)
Third/fourth
Massey 85 (Stevee Theyers 21, Emma Gillespie 13, Mesha Blair 12, Chevannah Paalvast 10) Counties Manukau 54 (Stacey Cunningham 14, Leigh Paitai 10, Jordan Hunter 10)
Final
Canterbury 73 (Erin Rooney 20, Hayley Gray 14, Elie Pavel 12, Natalie Moore 11) Auckland 68 (Jess McCormack 35, Madison Nicolas 18)
Tournament Team
Rebecca Dew (Harbour), Jordan Hunter (Counties Manukau), Kezia Kelly (Harbour), Jess McCormack (Auckalnd), Madison Nicolas (Auckland), Te Rina Noon (Counties Manukau), Chevannah Paalvast (Massey), Ellie Pavel (Canterbury), Erin Rooney (Canterbury), Stevee Theyers (Massey)
Most Valuable Player
Jess McCormack (Auckland)
