Basketball New Zealand

August 30, 2008

Another Waikato-Wellington final. Déjà vu anyone?

Just two months after the Waikato Pistons and Wellington Saints battled for the National Basketball League championship, the Waikato Titans and Wellington Saints will meet for the Conference Basketball League title in Wellington on Saturday night.

The Titans push for four straight CBL titles almost stalled against the persistent North Otago Penguins at Southwest Stadium on Friday night, eventually surviving 88-83, while the Saints ended cross-town rivals Wellington’s undefeated run at three games in the other semifinal, winning 86-82.

Guard Kurtis Elliot scored a game-high 22 points and veteran guard Prem Krishna had 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and hit the biggest shot of the game for the Titans, who reached their fourth straight CBL final.

With Waikato leading 81-80 inside the final minute, Krishna, an eight-time NBL championship winner, drained an NBA-distance triple to put the Titans up four points, before Elliot tacked on another three to close it out.

North Otago, playing without forward Markham Brown, had three chances to take the lead inside the last two minutes, Matt Gillan and Calum MacLeod, twice, missing open threes with the margin at one.

The Penguins had looked dead at halftime, down 12 points and with big man MacLeod on the bench with three fouls.

When MacLeod returned, the South Islanders turned the screws defensively and were able to close within one point at 60-59. They stuck around, took their first lead since early in the first quarter at 70-68 on a Gillan trifecta with 7:10 to play and led by four points soon after.

“We were down four points at one point but we didn’t panic,” Titans coach Jeff Green said.

“We still walked the ball up and passed it around and tried to find the mismatch. It was a tough semifinal. Anyone that thought they were going to lie down, they were dreaming. And if they thought we were going to, they were dreaming. That’s what championship basketball is all about.”

Earl Smith was another key contributor for the Titans, with 14 points, in the absence of leading regular season scorer Puke Lenden, while Ray Cameron had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with three assists and three steals.

North Otago’s American point guard Dalun Smith finished with 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals, while Ian Cathcart had 16 points, Gillan 15 and Tall Blacks trialist MacLeod 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Saturday night’s final will be a chance at redemption for five members of the Saints NBL squad, that was swept 2-0 in the NBL Finals by the Waikato Pistons, that have backed up for the CBL. Arthur Trousdell, Matt Te Huna, Brendon Pongia, Hugh Quinlivan and Randall Bishop will look to salvage something from the year and end the Titans reign.

“When we lost the NBL Finals, we felt like we lost an opportunity that should’ve been ours,” Saints guard Te Huna said.

“I, myself, and some of the other guys, it’s about making up for that.”

Veteran Brendon Pongia, who has only played the night games during the CBL tournament due to his TV commitments, went a perfect 8-of-8 at the foul stripe and made four free-throws in the closing seconds to ice the win.

While Trousdell scored a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds, Te Huna, who had 22 points, talked up the influence of part-time coach Pongia.

“It’s huge. You can tell, the two morning games we didn’t play that well. When he comes in he brings his experience but not only that he brings excitement. He gets everyone up. He demands a lot of us and the guys respond. It’s key.

“Who else could hit four clutch free throws at the end?”

The Saints took the lead for good on a Bishop runner in the lane with 4:42 remaining, a Trousdell three extended the lead to four soon after and when Trousdell threw down a dunk with 1:10 to play the Saints were up 82-75.

Ex-NBLers Dave Hopoi top-scored for Wellington with 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting and seven rebounds, and point guard George Le’afa had 16 points, six rebounds and six assists before limping from the court after scoring to get Wellington within three points with 2:26 to go.

Bishop and Pongia will also be looking to exact revenge on the Titans, after being part of the Porirua team that lost 94-92 on a Cameron tip-in at the buzzer in the CBL championship game 12 months ago.

In the final, Green will go against Natu Taufale, his assistant with the Titans last season and now part-time Saints coach. Taufale also coached Hutt Valley in 2005, when the Titans began their current run with a 91-74 win in the final.

CBL Finals

Southwest Stadium, Wellington

Semifinals

Wellington Saints 86 (Arthur Trousdell 28, Matt Te Huna 22, Brendon Pongia 13, Tim Gillan 12) Wellington 82 (Dave Hopoi 24, George Le’afa 16, Corey Vessey 11, Troy McLean 11, James Paringatai 10)
Saints vs Wellington Box Score (21KB html)

Actrix Networks Waikato Titans 88 (Kurtis Elliot 22, Prem Krishna 15, Earl Smith 14, Ray Cameron 10) North Otago Penguins 83 (Dalun Smith 21, Ian Cathcart 16, Matt Gillan 15, Calum MacLeod 13, Riki Buckrell 12)
Titans vs Penguins Box Score (22KB pdf)

5th-8th Playoffs

Auckland 75 (Duncan Smith 18, Nikola Lakatus 14, Josh Clark 13) Harbour Heat Reserves 70 (Karl Noyer 21, Michael Dawson 15, Lydon Aoake 15, Kael Tarawa 10)
Auckland vs Heat Reserves Box Score (19KB html)

Foot Mechanics Western Bay Suns 73 (Whare Bidois 18, Ike Smith 15, Sam Walker 10) Turanga Health Rising Suns 64 (Reg Namana 24, Leityn Swann 19)
Suns vs Rising Suns Box Score (21KB html)

Finals Day Schedule

Saturday, August 30
Wellington East Girls College, Wellington

2.30pm: 7th/8th: Harbour Heat Reserves vs Turanga Health Rising Sun
4.15pm: 5th/6th: Foot Mechanics Western Bay Suns vs Auckland
6pm: 3rd/4th: North Otago Penguins vs Wellington
7.30pm: Final: Actrix Networks Waikato Titans vs Wellington Saints