Saints Get Their Title
Tagged in: CBL, Competitions
The 2008 Finals were a time for change in the Conference Basketball League.
There was no four-peat for Jeff Green and the Actrix Networks Waikato Titans as the hometown Wellington Saints held out for a 90-84 win in the championship game at Wellington East Girls College on Saturday night.
Tournament MVP Arthur Trousdell scored a game-high 23 points and corralled 11 rebounds, while Tournament Team selection Matt Te Huna poured in 21 points and had four steals for the champion Saints.
The championship win, which ended the Titans three-year hold on the CBL Trophy, helped five members of the Saints team make up for the 2-0 sweep in June’s NBL Finals at the hands of the Waikato Pistons, who had three players backing up with the Titans.
“It always great to win a championship at any level and it’s just great to play at this tournament. It’s just such a great grassroots tournament,” MVP Trousdell said.
“It was a shame to lose the NBL title but it’s just great to win the CBL title against some of those guys.”
The Saints - featuring Trousdell, Te Huna, player-coach Brendon Pongia, Hugh Quinlivan and Randall Bishop from the Saints NBL line-up – led by 22 points after a Trousdell three from the top with 5:19 remaining in the third quarter.
With four straight baskets and a three-point play from eight-time NBL winner Prem Krishna, Waikato were able to close the margin and got within eight, trailing by 11 points heading into the fourth period.
The Titans closed to seven points down with under five minutes to play but Saints had the Human Hustle Reel, Tim Gillan, frustrating Waikato at both ends, scoring all of his six points early in the fourth to keep the defending champs at arm’s length.
“With Waikato, 10 points, it’s not a big lead,” Trousdell said. “When they’ve got three-point shooters in three or four positions, a couple of shots and it’s a new ball game. We were just trying to run the clock down and get a good shot off.”
Pongia, Te Huna and Trousdell combined to hit eight straight free throws in the final two minutes to signal a changing of the guard in the CBL.
Waikato’s Tournament Team selection Earl Smith finished with 18 points and five rebounds while Krishna had 14 points and seven rebounds and Ray Cameron 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Earlier, a Matt Doggett runner to open the second quarter gave Saints a 10-point lead at 28-17 and with tough defence on the Titans guards out-front, Wellington were able to hold their lead. Trousdell, who had 12 points in the first half, hit a late three to stretch the gap out to 14 points at halftime, 50-36.
Saints were able to safely negotiate Waikato’s press and double-teams in the back-court, executing well on offence, with Te Huna hitting 3-of-4 threes in the first half to also have 12 points. Pongia, who scored the game’s first four points, had 11 points at the main break, while Cameron led the Titans with 11 points at the half.
North Otago Penguins American point guard Dalun Smith, who regularly scored 30-plus points, and Wellington’s shooting guard Troy McLean were also named to the Tournament Team after taking their team’s to the semifinals.
Smith stuffed the stat sheet with 38 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and four steals as the Penguins dominated Wellington 98-83 in the playoff for third earlier in the night.
North Otago put together a 20-0 run in the second quarter to take a 30-point lead on a disinterested looking Wellington squad.
Down 52-26 at the main break, and after North Otago upped their lead to 32 points, Wellington fired into action, quickly cutting it in half and then closing to within 12 points in the final minute of the third. A Matt Gillan three at the buzzer put the Penguins up 74-60 with a quarter to play.
Three straight baskets from Wellington forward James Paringatai sliced the deficit to eight points, 74-66, with eight minutes remaining but North Otago recouped and cruised to the final whistle.
Tall Blacks trialist Calum MacLeod put up a big 19 points and 18 rebounds for the Penguins, while Paringatai had a team-high 23 points and seven rebounds, assisted by 21 points from Corey Vessey.
The Harbour Heat Reserves edged the Turanga Health Rising Suns for seventh, 76-74, while Auckland claimed fifth with a default win over the Foot Mechanics Western Bay Suns.
CBL Finals
Wellington East Girls College, Wellington
Final
Wellington Saints 90 (Arthur Trousdell 23, Matt Te Huna 21, Brendon Pongia 19) Actrix Networks Waikato Titans 84 (Earl Smith 18, Ray Cameron 15, Prem Krishna 14, Danny Williams 12, Kurtis Elliot 12)
1Q: 26-17
HT: 50-36 (24-19)
3Q: 71-60 (21-24)
FT: 90-84 (19-24)
Saints vs Titans Box Score (21KB html)
3rd-4th
North Otago Penguins 98 (Dalun Smith 38, Calum MacLeod 19, Ian Cathcart 12, Matt Gillan 10) Wellington 83 (James Paringatai 23, Corey Vessey 21, Jonathon Southey 14, Troy McLean 11)
Penguins vs Wellington Box Score (22KB html)
5th-6th
Auckland beat Western Bay Suns by default
7th-8th
Harbour Heat Reserves 76 Turanga Health Rising Suns 74
