Top Marks
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Colin Tilley
A week of top basketball came to a fitting end at the North Shore Events Centre with the Furnware NZ Secondary School Championships girls and boys finals played in front of an enthusiastic and vocal crowd.
Rangitoto College vs Church College
Rangitoto came into the game with the more likely lineup with forwards Mikayla Blair and Hope Thompson expected to establish a dominant presence under the boards on offence leaving their livewire shooters Milika Nathan and Candice Marsh freedom to pick their shots from around the perimeter at will.
Church, on the other hand, were going to be more at home with intense defense creating the turnovers necessary for their running game to open up the scoring opportunities for Mieke Elkington, Donna Fermanis and Arden Rarere.
The first two quarters were pretty much to script at the offensive ends with both teams playing to their strengths. With the score 42-35 in Churchís favour at the halftime break, it was still an evenly fought contest, but the fouls were starting to mount up for Rangitoto with Thompson, in particular, struggling to stay out of trouble.
The third quarter saw the constant sniping in around the keyhole by Church take its toll on the Rangitoto defence. Weary legs meant getting into good defensive positions became more and more difficult as the quarter wore on and Church made Rangitoto pay the price with good option taking by linchpin Letava Whippy resulting in a combination of accurate inside and outside shooting.
Rangitotoís attack found it equally tough with an aggressive zone defense forcing them to rely on long range shots which were usually rushed and under pressure by either the 24 second clock or Church College defenders.
Ten points for the quarter and the fouling out of Thompson early in the last meant an uphill battle loomed for Rangitoto, a battle they were doomed to lose. Churchís defense was too good with Whippy ruling the roost and directing her troops with great vision.
Rangitoto point guard Marsh worked tirelessly to try and set up plays for her team against the tough defensive pressure they faced, but more often than not, found herself having to take it to the basket in the hope of converting possession into points.
Restricted to another measly 10 points, Rangitoto had to try and stem the flow of points at the other end of the court. It was a difficult task as Church was able to maintain the pace and shape of their game throughout, continually catching the Rangitoto defense out with plenty of back door baseline plays and penetration moves.
Again, Whippy played a key role in what was a very impressive performance.
In the end, Church College ran out convincing winners and worthy champions after wearing down Rangitoto in the first half and then laying them bare in the second.
Church College NZ 79 (Donna Fermanis 22, Mieke Elkington 18, Arden Rarere 14, Letava Whippy 10) Rangitoto College 55 (Kate Lacey 12, Candice Marsh 11)
Quarter 22-17
Halftime 42-35 (20-18)
Threequarter 59-45 (17-10)
Fulltime 79-55 (20-10)
Box Score – Church v Rangitoto (html 23KB)
St Patircks College vs Nelson College
The boys’ final was an epic battle between St Pats College (Wellington) and Nelson College with plenty of cut and thrust from both teams throughout the first three quarters. Both teams had the advantage of having met each other in section play (won 67-46 by St Pats) as well as being able to compare notes on results against the same teams.
St Pats were the form team, but Nelson couldnít be dismissed out of hand easily as their on and off-court lineup were experienced campaigners when it came to playing finals
They key to the game was always going to be the generalship of the point guards (Hayden Whelan for St Pats, Josh Bloxham for Nelson) and their execution of the gameplans. Nelson had a height advantage that was used to good effect early on in the match on defense with St Pats required to work hard to create scoring opportunities.
That they did was testament to patient offense and good shot options. On attack, however, the Nelson tall timber found it difficult to operate in and around the basket due to the defensive pressure and pattern St Pats employed to effectively isolate the ball carrier and deny safe passing options.
St Pats, meanwhile, concentrated on working out Nelsonís defensive strengths and weaknesses with constant probing around the fringes, staying in touch 17-24 at the end of the first quarter.
Fortunes changed in the second quarter when Whelan took charge of proceedings to lead his St Pats troops into the fray with great success. Down seven at the change, Whelan was instrumental in pulling back the deficit and turning it into a seven-point advantage at halftime.
Dominant for St Pats in the scoring stakes was Brooke Ruscoe-Taiaora, who started his phenomenal game-high 35 point scoring run in the second quarter.
The third quarter saw Nelson re-assert their early dominance with a frantic three-point shooting display from Bloxham hauling his team back into the lead by six with a quarter to go. St Pats did their best to stay in touch, but could only muster 13 points of their own as a token gesture compared with the pounding Nelson was dishing out to them at the other end.
The final quarter saw a repeat of the second with a calm and collected Whelan taking charge again for St Pats. On defense, St Pats threw a blanket over Nelson with their smother defense that denied the easy shooting and passing options Nelson enjoyed in the third.
Bloxham and Bronson Beri were the only threats Nelson could offer, while at the other end, Ruscoe-Taiaora continued his scoring blitz against a tiring Nelson lineup. Adding to Nelson’s defensive woes was the scoring contributions from Joe Maiava and then centre Jacob Ashby‘s audacious ìin-your-faceî presence at the top of the keyhole that saw him used as an effective pivot for St Pats’ attacks.
In the end, St Pats took charge of a match that was anyoneís up until early in the fourth period when they pumped up the volume and put on a display of scintillating basketball that, in other circumstances, people would be pleased to pay money to see.
St Patricks College 83 (Brooke Ruscoe-Taiaroa 35, Joe Maiava 15, Jacob Ashby 13) Nelson College 71 (Josh Bloxham 25, Bronson Beri 20, Adam Rainbird 12)
Quarter 17-24
Halftime 43-36 (26-12)
Threequarter 56-60 (13-24)
Fulltime 83-71 (27-11)
Box Score – St Pats v Nelson (html 22KB)
