The Miles Toyota Premier League’s were back in action this past weekend – Bruce Martin catches us up on all the results from the July 14 games.
Report collated and written by Bruce Martin with James Lissaman
Miles Toyota Men’s Premier League
Wolverines 87 Gators 74
A match winning 33 points scored by Canterbury Ram Taylor Britt gave Wolverines a much-needed lifeline in the Premier Men’s Basketball championship when it defeated Gators 87-74 on Saturday in Cowles stadium.
Only four points now separate all seven teams in the championship
Another loss may well have seen Wolverines become the seventh team in the championship and face elimination from the Quarterfinal play-offs on August 25.
University 100 Lincoln University 92
The University of Canterbury had its work cut out to maintain their lead in the championship, facing a strong second half challenge from Lincoln University before escaping with a 100-92 win in the closing moments.
The UC students took a narrow 26-22 first quarter lead and by half time were still ahead 50-39. UC gave the LU team all they could handle to start the second half – going up by 19 points. After a timeout to stop the bleeding, LU started playing much better and made a huge comeback to grab the lead. Numerous lead changes followed this and through the efforts of James Cawthorn (23) and Ben Bowie (22), LU were able to sneak ahead 70-69 at the last break.
University regained, and stretched the lead to 92-82 in the middle of the fourth quarter through the efforts of Brent Fisher (33) with support from Paul Stephenson (21), Konrad Tota (18) and Nathan Campbell (13). LU were not done yet as they closed in to trail 89-95 in the closing stages before UC edged clear to win 100-92.
Pioneer Pacers 60 Atami 55
In the late game Oli Davies (11), Max De Geest (11) and Cam Costley 10 gave Pioneer Pacers a much-needed win over Atami 60-55. Derek Albertson slotted 13 for Atami but lacked support. In a tight match Pioneer lead the first quarter 19-15, Atami nudged ahead 26-25 at the turn around while Pioneer regained the lead 41-40 at the third break.
Pioneer opened up a handy 49-40 lead early in the fourth but Atami came back to trail 53-55 before Pioneer slipped clear to win the encounter 60-55.
Miles Toyota Women’s Premier League
Lincoln University and North Canterbury maintained their lead in the Women’s championship with Lincoln dispatching Halswell 56-35 and North Canterbury with a trademark strong second half thumping Wolverines 85-49.
Minties with the addition of Canterbury Wildcat Tessa Boagni (19) proved too strong for University, winning 92-41. Terina Wanoa (13) and Sam Duggan (10) added to the strength of Minties. By half time Minties led 50-22 before winning the encounter 92-41.
Lincoln University 56 Halswell 35
Due to the university and school, holidays on both teams were struggling for numbers. With many players away, it meant the game started with only five players for each team at the tip-off. Both teams came out slow to begin, knowing preserving energy and fouls was paramount. With the teams tied midway thru the first quarter Lincoln pulled ahead 22-13 thanks to back-to-back threes from scholar Sophie Schrader. Scoring slowed with both teams only managing single figures in the second quarter with LU leading 28-19 and the half. This got a little bit better through the third with LU managing to extend the lead to 44-28 going into the fourth.
With retiring Wildcat guard Shea Crotty (13p 8r 6a) and North Canterbury tier two player Caitlin Grice (14p 18r 3b 4s) LU managed to keep the score ticking over until the end with a comfortable 56-35 win. Halswell were without Wildcat Forward Darcy Rose due to injury and guard Laken Wairau was in Wellington coaching the Waitaha Canterbury U17 team saw them led on Saturday by Cashmere high School forward Rachel Pullan (16p) and ex Otago Gold Rush player Grace Love (10). (Report courtesy Joshua Thompson)
North Canterbury 85 Wolverines 49
Charlotte Whittaker again got about the boards in dominating fashion, slotting 25 points and taking numerous rebounds while Under 17 National representative Helen Mathews made many strong penetrating runs to slot an impressive 20 points for North Canterbury. Tiana Placid 11 and Ashlee Fane 10 added to the score-line as momentum slowed.
North Canterbury led 21-14 at the first break and stretched the lead to 39-21 by the turn around. Canterbury Wildcat Tessa Stewart-Morrison did all she could to stem the flow of baskets from North Canterbury while scoring 19 points herself with some support from Kendal Hastie who had 12.
By three-quarter time North Canterbury strode ahead 63-34, and finished up winning 85-49.
Results were:
Miles Toyota Premier Men’s League
University of Canterbury 100 (Brent Fisher 33, 8 R; Paul Stephenson 21, 7R; Konrad Tota 18, 10R; Nathan Campbell 13) Lincoln University 92 (James Cawthorn 23, 8R; Ben Bowie 22, 14R; Sam Smith 15, 11A; Josiah Williams 14; Ben Williams 10). HT: 50-39
Wolverines 87 (Taylor Britt 33, 7R; Jordan Duggan 21; Andrew Kellaway 14, 12R) Gators 74 (Cam Chalmers 22, 7R; Sam Lees 17, 8R; Connor McLaughlin 16; Jozef Knottenbelt 14, 11R). HT: 42-39
Pioneer Pacers 60 (Oli Davies 11; Max De Geest 11; Cam Costley 10) Atami 55 (Derek Albertson 13, 9R). HT: Atami 26-25
Bye: Checkers
Men’s Premier Championship placings with games played in parenthesis: University of Canterbury 15 (8); Gators 14 (9); Lincoln University 13 (9); Pioneer 13 (9); Checkers 12 (8); Atami 12 (8); Wolverines 11 (9).
Miles Toyota Premier Women’s League
Lincoln University 56 (Caitlin Grice 14, Shea Crotty 13, 8R, 6A) Halswell 35 (Rachel Pullan 16, Grace Love 10). HT: 44-28
North Canterbury 85 (Charlotte Whittaker 25, Helen Mathews 20, Tiana Placid 11, Ashlee Fane 10) Wolverines 49 (Tessa Stewart-Morrison 19, Kendal Hastie 12, Letitia Mullaly 10). HT: 39-21
Minties 92 (Tessa Boagni 19, Terina Wanoa 13, Sam Duggan 10) University 41 (Nicole Stuart 7). HT: 50-22
Bye: Pioneer Pacers.
Women’s Premier championship placings with games played in parenthesis: North Canterbury 15 (8); Lincoln University 15 (8); Minties 14 (9); Pioneer 13, (8); Halswell 11 (9); University 10 (8); Wolverines 9 (8).
Men’s Under 23 Report
Lincoln University Bulls vs University of Canterbury
A strong determined second half challenge saw the four-time defending champions, Lincoln University Bulls, almost upset the unbeaten Canterbury University, losing 75-79 in an action-packed Men’s Under 23 encounter in Cowles stadium on Saturday.
The UC students claimed the first quarter 20-8 but Lincoln closed the gap to trail 29-38 at the turn around. Numerous lead changes in the third quarter and early in the fourth saw Lincoln right back in the encounter through the efforts of Ben Bowie (25), Ben Hall (16) and Sam Smith (15), closing the gap to trail 57-59 by the third break. Canterbury opened to a 74-69 lead in the fourth through the efforts of Josh Petermann (31) and Paul Stephenson (16). In the hectic ending moments, Lincoln closed to trail 75-76 but the Canterbury student’s defences held firm to take the encounter 79-75.
Men’s U23 Results
University 79 (Josh Petermann 31; Paul Stephenson 16; Jacob Mullholland 11) Lincoln University Bulls 75 (Ben Bowie 25; Ben Hall 16; Sam Smith 15; Josiah Williams 11) HT: 38-29.
Gators Green 93 (Sam Lees 26; Matt Mischewski 23; Ben Carlile-Smith 16) Checkers 84 (Joe Cook-Green 42; Tom Hughes 16; Ben Harris 13). HT: 48-36
Atami 77 (Patrick Roger 33; Andre Tamagushiku 14) Wolverines 63 (Logan Woodill 14; Ben Hussey 14; Kyle Louis 11; Arama Thompson-Ruka 11). HT: 44-38
Deferred game: Pioneer Pacers v Pioneer-Cashmere
Bye: Atami Spartans
Men’s U23 placings with games played in parenthesis: University 22 (11); Gators 20 (11); Wolverines 17 (11); Atami 17 (11); Lincoln University 16 (10); Checkers 16 (11); Pioneer-Cashmere 15 (10); Atami Spartans 13 (10); Pioneer 11 (10).
