Cowles Stadium was absolutely rocking as our division two finals were contested
In an almost perfect reverse of the 2017 Thomson Final, it was Papanui who found themselves in an early hole, as Ashburton College raced out to an early 14-2 lead. Ashburton continued their dominance throughout the second quarter, still up 42-30 at the half, as it seemed like every time Papanui had what they thought was an open layup Fotu Hala (13p) would use his 2K chase-down badge and snuff out the point attempt.
Papanui had marginally trimmed Asholl’s lead to 59-51 near the end of the third quarter, but quickly went on an 8-0 run fuelled by Paddy Russell, Louis Navarro and Caleb Kirkpatrick (20p) to force a 59-59 tie.
A Kirkpatrick three lead gave Papanui their second lead of the game, but more importantly began the start of a 13-0 run, with Finals MVP Josh Briones (25p) and Sam Clark (4p) both contributing baskets here.
Ashburton was suddenly the team facing a double-digit deficit now. Marc Juntilla (17p) Ben Jackson (13p) and Quinn Ritchie (11p) desperately tried to close the gap to a more manageable amount, but could never get closer than nine points, falling to last year’s beaten finalists 89-80.
Papanui Coach Bob Weatherford was extremely happy with his teams performance: “This was a testament to the character and program we are working to build.”
The whole Division Two final can be viewed on our facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/ThomsonAndWhelanTrophies/videos/762364257427920/
In the Whelan Division Two final Avonside were the early aggressors, jumping out to a cracking start to lead 9-0, before Ellesmere finally got on the board thanks to a three by Sam Irvine (17p). In their second straight final Avonside looked undaunted by the big stage taking a 19-9 first-period lead and then stretched their advantage to 12 early in the second.
Ellesmere slowly started to find their defensive game and began to chip away at the lead thanks to Finals MVP Megan Ellis (34p 12 rebounds) who kept EC in touch going into halftime, down just 27-32.
An Irvine three-pointer to start the second half closed the gap to two points and it was game on. Fourteen ties or lead changes featured the rest of the way in a tense back and forth game between the Division Two heavyweights.
The high tempo action continued with Ellesmere leading 51-49 heading into the final period. The Avonside Lady Eagles continued to push hard. Bella Digby, Molly Cockburn (12p) and Megan Shannon (19p) all scored in a 6-0 run for Avonside, to break what was a 55-55 tie.
After an Ellis steal and layup cut the Lady Eagle lead to two-points, Emma Johnson came up with a big offensive rebound, leading to Ellis landing what would prove the game-winning three with only 27 seconds left on the clock. Avonside’s Jen Kee had a chance under the basket to regain the lead for Avonside, but just missed with Kaytlyn Riches claiming the final rebound to take a heart-stopping 64-63 win for EC.
Ellesmere Coach Josh Thompson said this after the win: “I’m really happy for the seniors in the team. With this being their last year, and coming up with a big win like that showed great character to come back from a slow start. Fighting to the end, and getting the win is massive for them moving forward. They should be proud of what they have done for their school, family and friends who have been there from the start.”
The entire Whelan Division Two final can be viewed on our facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/ThomsonAndWhelanTrophies/videos/451567378583203/
