The 2019 Winter Club Season wrapped up in a fitting fashion, with the Miles Toyota Men’s Premier League Final only getting decided in the final few minutes
Not only did we decide the champions in each senior grade, we also recognized the Major Award Winners, as well as First Team and MVP Award Winners before each A grade final.
Miles Toyota Men’s Premier League: UC vs Pioneer
UC was looking to go back to back winning the Robert C. Curtis Cup, but had the Pioneer team who hoisted the trophy in 2017 in their way. The crowd at Cowles Stadium was not disappointed with the battle, as the game featured 23 ties or lead changes, and no team got more than five points ahead until half way through the fourth quarter.
Brent Fisher (21p, 14r) and Thomas Webley (11p, 14r) had a tremendous battle inside, with Oli Davies wowing the crowd with an assortment of finishes inside the arc (25p, 8r, 5a) for Pioneer. UC’s Paul Stephenson had 11p and 8r, and was matched exactly in the scoring column by Pioneer swingman Adrian Taylor. The biggest issue Pioneer Coach Fraser Costley had to manage was Nick Erwood’s (10p) foul trouble – getting whistled for three in the first half, and being whistled for his fourth in the third quarter.
In the final quarter Jack Exeter (13) had an athletic shot which capped off an 8-0 run, which gave UC a ten-point buffer. The game was far from over though, as Pioneer had two wide-open looks from behind the arc, and only four points to make up, but couldn’t hit either one. After a Jacob Mulholland (12) Free Throw, Pioneer took a timeout and advanced the ball. Josh Chin, who missed last year’s final due to injury, became the hero, as he stepped in front of the inbounds pass and effectively iced the game with a steal for UC 81-74.
Josh Petermann doubled up on his Grade MVP award with a finals one after a line of 14p, 10r, 7a, 7s, as his UC team went back to back by winning 81-74.
You can watch the whole game here:
https://www.facebook.com/canterburybasketball/videos/671871743289777
Miles Toyota Women’s Premier League: North Canterbury vs Lincoln University
The Miles Toyota Women’s Premier Grade also featured the last two winners, with Lincoln University looking to repeat as well. North Canterbury had other plans, with Stella Porter scoring five of her 11 points as part of an 8-0 start for NC. Lincoln University was never able to recover from this early deficit. Connie Poletti did bring her hard-hat for LU, having an extremely impressive 23p, 22r game. Lauryn Hippolite (11p, 7r) and Rosalia Samia (10p) managed double figures for LU, but it wasn’t enough, as the team committed 19 turnovers in the game – of which 14 were of the live-ball variety.
Finals MVP Helen Matthews had seven of the steals, to go along with 17p, 6r and 5a, helping keep the NC team’s buffer intact while Tall fern Esra McGoldrick (18p, 8r, 5b) sat for a lot of the second half in foul trouble. North Canterbury bested LU four times in 2019, with the Final score also going their way 72-55.
The whole game can be viewed here:
https://www.facebook.com/canterburybasketball/videos/402343230445201
Men’s Division One: Mid Canterbury vs Atami Casa de Banos
The team from Ashburton brought plenty of support with them to Cowles Stadium, and the younger legs certainly helped Mid Canterbury, as they outscored Atami every single quarter. The fourth was the most telling, as they held the 2017 champs to only seven points.
Pip Johnston went for 22 points, gaining the Finals MVP to pair with his Grade MVP award, and the MC big man Jason Greig had 12 while frustrating the Atami bigs at the other end. Fotu Hala (15) and Marc Juntilla (12) rounded out the main scoring threats for Mid Canterbury. For Atami, only their three post players made it into double figures (Scott Howell 13, Ritchie Howell, Nathan Hyde 10) as they fell to the well-deserving team from Ashburton 82-62.
Women’s Division One: Halswell Green vs Halswell Red
Halswell Red knew they had an uphill battle with Bridget Fairweather unavailable due to injury, and a 16-0 run for the green team in the opening quarter effectively ruled out any ideas of a Ewing Theory upset. Georgia Onekawa had 15 for Red, but the extra depth that Green had was telling, as Finals MVP Lisa Book (18), First teamer Sonja Akkerman (17) and ex Tall Fern Jane Lattimore had 10 as Halswell Green beat their sister team easily 73-33.
Men’s U23: Lincoln University Bulls vs Gators Green
One of the most exciting games of the day took place in this final. The LU Bulls raced out to an early 14 point lead. Gators Green uexhibited their balance with five double-figure scorers (Ben Carlle-Smith 16, Amosa Faitaua-Nanai 14, Barclay Miller 14, Jarred Burnett 13, Connor McLaughlin 10) as they fought back to tie the game on three separate occasions in the second half. Grade MVP Ben Hall had a big game (22), along with Finals MVP Jayden Chan (18) for LU. The experience of Josiah Williams (15) and steady inside scoring of Nic Wenmoth (13) helped the Bulls to a slender 85-82 win, and got their name back on the trophy for the fifth time in six years.
Women’s U21: UC-CGHS vs Lincoln University
UC-CGHS carried on an excellent week, winning the WU21 Club Final after essentially the same team won the South Island Premiership in Nelson a week ago. A 12-0 run that crossed the half-time break turned what was a bucket for bucket game into one that UC-CGHS never looked like giving away. Former LU club player Sammy Arnold got rewarded with the Finals MVP award after notching 18 points – all from behind the arc, while teammates Erin Kennedy (14) and Isabella Luhetoa (10) also hit two threes each as well. Paige Willman (15), Sam Irvine (11) and Olivia Clark (11) all reached double figures for LU, but fell 70-52 to UC-CGHS.
Men’s U20 A: STC Pacers Yellow vs Checkers
STC held Checkers to nine points in over 15 minutes of second-half game-time, while scoring 37 themselves to make the final score more flattering than would normally be expected. Checkers had five players in double-figures (Caleb Conyers 18, Tyler Bramao 17, Tom Hughes 15, Reuben Gray 11, Jayden Cameron 10). Finals MVP Benji Freeman (32) and Louis de Latour (22) led the way for STC, and had scoring support from Hunter Adam (15) and Peter Taylor (10) as STC took the cup 101-76.
Men’s U20 Middle: Mid Canterbury vs Papanui Wolverines
The end of the second quarter finished with NC scoring 21 of the 23 points, and a game that was within single-figures suddenly blew out into an easy North Canterbury win. No one player was chosen as Finals MVP, but Blake Cunninghame’s 36 points (9/15 from three) and Jackson Lewis (19p, 5/7 from three) stood out on the offensive end of the court, along with Jayden Garrick (13) and Adam Ireland (12). The Papanui Wolverines struggled offensively this game, only mustering 66 points in total, with Lucius Taylor’s 18 and Louis Navarro’s 16 heading the point table here. Final score in North Canterbury’s favour, 111-66.
Men’s U20 Development: UC-CBHS vs St. Andrew’s Wolverines
UC-CBHS was able to score the first point of the game, and never look back – building a thirteen-point lead at the end of the first quarter, and extending this to over 40 by the time the final buzzer sounded. Finals MVP Hunter Lilley (28) and Isaac Dann (23) were exceptional for the winners, with Ice Williams and Connor Wilson both adding 13 points apiece. The StAC Wolverines were paced by Nic Daniels (23) and Jack Kelliher (15), but an 0/9 effort from behind the three-point line as a team was a symptom of the tough game they had. Finals score UC-CBHS 97, StAC Wolverines 56.
