Basketball New Zealand

Conference Basketball League Finals

Regular season records mean nothing at the Conference Basketball League Finals.

That point was banged home in the opening game of the tournament as hometown Wellington smacked the Harbour Heat Reserves in the mouth 80-63 at Southwest Stadium, while the defending champion Waikato Titans, Wellington Saints and North Otago Penguins recorded wins on the opening morning.

The Heat Reserves lost only three times in the Northern Conference, finishing third with a 21-3 record, but were never in the contest from midway through the first quarter.

The Titans signaled their intentions to make the 2008 CBL Finals their fourth straight championship with an 88-54 rout of late wildcards, Turanga Health Rising Suns, while the Saints handled a pesky Auckland side 89-80 and the Penguins closed out the Foot Mechanics Western Bay Suns in the closing minutes 95-92.

Defensive intensity from the tip knocked the Heat Reserves, without leading scorer Dan Ryan, and Wellington were able to fast break their way to a double-digit point lead in the opening quarter.

Up 23 points at halftime, Wellington led by as many as 29 points in the third period but Harbour were able to answer, pulling within 14 points midway through the fourth on a Valance McCarthy lay-in. It was McCarthy’s last play in the game, and possibly the tournament, as he came down awkwardly on his left ankle, suffering a suspected break.

Wellington guard Troy McLean had 18 points, sharing a game-high with Harbour’s Reece Beardsall, and stuff his stat-line with four rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks, making 4-of-9 three-point shots.

George Le’afa posted 15 points and seven rebounds, Corey Vessey 14 points and Jon Cartwright 12 points and nine rebounds for Wellington.

The Saints got 25 points from forward Arthur Trousdell, 20 from guard Matt Te Huna and 17 from forward Hugh Quinlivan as they took care of a young Auckland squad that just hung around and hung around.

After Auckland led 17-16 after the first quarter, Saints took over and built a 20-plus point lead in the third period, before the Aucks scored eight straight points in the final minute of the quarter to close the gap to 10 points and make the Saints sweat.

With all 11 players scoring, the Titans proved too strong for a fading Rising Suns squad in the second half, outscoring them 19-9 in the third and 29-12 in the fourth as Jeff Green’s three-time defending champs ran the win out to 34 points.

Ray Cameron led the way with 17 points, while Earl Smith posted the tournament’s first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

In a game where no team led by more than six points, North Otago were able to hold on after scores were locked at 90-90 entering the final minute.

Penguins Ian Cathcart and Matt Gillan made free-throws and Suns guard Johnathon Dishroon missed a potential go-ahead triple from the corner with 6.7 seconds remaining, as the Penguins got their first CBL Finals win since their 2000 championship game victory.

Gillan scored a tournament-high 36 points, on 11-of-21 shooting from the field and bombing 8-of-17 threes, and American point guard Dalun Smith contributed 23 points for North Otago, while Eru Wills’ seven threes helped him to a team-high 25 points for Western Bay.

Suns Canadian centre Mike King limped off court after three minutes of court time, leaving Sam Walker to handle Tall Blacks triallist Calum MacLeod, who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, inside.

In tonight’s action, the Suns, Heat Reserves, Auckland and Rising Suns will all play for their Final Four lives.

The Suns face the Saints and the Heat Reserves need to upset the Titans, at 6pm, while Auckland will look to stay alive against North Otago and the Rising Suns against hosts Wellington, at 8pm.

CBL Finals

Thursday, August 28

Section A

Wellington 80 (Troy McLean 18, George Le’afa 15, Corey Vessey 14, Jon Cartwright 12) Harbour Heat Reserves 63 (Reece Beardsall 18, Valance McCarthy 12, Michael Dawson 10)
Wellington vs Heat Reserves Box Score (20KB html)

Actrix Networks Waikato Titans 88 (Ray Cameron 17, Puke Lenden 15, Earl Smith 10) Turanga Health Rising Suns 54 (Leityn Swann 13, Damien Ekenasio 12)
Titans vs Rising Suns Box Score (22KB html)

Section B

Wellington Saints 89 (Arthur Trousdell 25, Matt Te Huna 20, Hugh Quinlivan 17, Tim Gillan 13) Auckland 80 (Josh Clark 17, Daniel Kral 14, Vanja Babic 13, Brent Raven 11, Mike Townsend 10, Duncan Smith 10)
Saints vs Auckland Box Score (20KB html)

North Otago Penguins 95 (Matt Gillan 36, Dalun Smith 23, Calum MacLeod 13, Markham Brown 10) Foot Mechanics Western Bay Suns 92 (Eru Wills 25, Whare Bidois 22, Johnathon Dishroon 18, Sasho Tasevski 17)
Penguins vs Suns Box Score (21KB html)