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Appliance Shed Harbour Heat showed the whole was much bigger than the sum of the parts when, short-handed, they overran Century City Wellington Saints 94-74 to wrap up the 2007 Dominion Finance NBL regular season title and home advantage through the playoffs.
The Heat, who had been the competitionís best team since starting the season 7-0, confirmed their favouritism for the title with an emphatic win over a team that had dominated them on the road just last month.
They came into the game without import Oscar Forman, who left for Australian national team trials yesterday, and were forced to play small line-ups for much of the game without any real height coming off the bench.
But the adjustments didnít seem to hurt the home team, who always seemed in control, opening up a nine-point lead at halftime and stretching it beyond reach with a 23-10 third quarter.
Even without Forman, who has averaged 15.6 points (50% 3pt) this season, the Heat had five players scoring in double figures with reserves Daryl Cartwright (18 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal) and Dan Ryan (12 points, 3/7 3pt, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals) filling the void.
Guard Hayden Allen matched Cartwrightís scoring tally to lead all scorers and the Harbour defence continued their sterling work of the entire season, limiting Saints to just 34% FG.
American Bakari Hendrix and sharpshooter Troy McLean paced Wellington with 17 points each, but the loss saw them slip to 9-7 for the season and finally out of playoff contention.
Harbour (14-3) have not been in the post season since 2000, when they also won the regular season title, but lost to eventual champions Auckland in the semis.
Meanwhile, American Garry Hill-Thomas continued his drive for the league scoring title as he sparked TET Taranaki Mountain Airs to a 102-84 home win over Scenic Circle Canterbury Rams.
Hill-Thomas had 31 points as the Airs improved to 7-9, their semifinal hopes long gone.
Dominion Finance NBL
Wednesday, June 6
North Shore
Appliance Shed Harbour Heat 94 (Hayden Allen 18, Daryl Cartwright 18, Nat Connell 16, Tim Behrendorff 14, Dan Ryan 12) Century City Wellington Saints 74 (Troy McLean 17, Bakari Hendrix 17, Leon Henry 10)
Quarter 22-19
Halftime 47-38 (25-19)
Threequarter 70-48 (23-10)
Fulltime 94-74 (24-26)
New Plymouth
TET Taranaki Mountain Airs 102 (Garry Hill-Thomas 31, Link Abrams 20, Kaine Hokianga 14, Gabe Stephenson 10) Scenic Circle Canterbury Rams 84 (Mychal Green 21, Jeremy Kench 20, Michael Joiner 16)
Quarter 33-26
Halftime 56-38 (23-12)
Threequarter 77-62 (21-24)
Fulltime 102-84 (25-22)
