Week One picks are here! Are you ready for all the Thomson, Whelan and Grocott action?
It’s all on tonight as our Premier high school competitions tip off.
With our comps back in action, so are the weekly picks for the match ups. I have had little opportunity to see the teams in action prior to season start, and with changes in a couple divisions it’s almost anyone’s guess as to who will take the ‘W’.
But here are my guesses regardless
Thomson Division One- a max capacity of 16 teams, where three teams had to compete for the final two spots.
The preseason rankings were:
So using these as a guide my picks for week one match ups:
Ashburton vs St. Thomas: St. Thomas are ranked significantly higher, and if they have young Rams star Mana Martin on court, this should be a comfortable game for them.
Pick: St. Thomas.
CBHS vs St. Andrew’s: The closest match up of the night with number ten hosting number seven. Could be a close game, but STAC might just have the edge on these guys. Although CBHS did put up a great fight against Rangiora in their preseason game.
Pick: St Andrew’s.
Hillmorton vs Lincoln: Hillmorton are looking for a great opening night with their first home game in their new gym. Lincoln are the newcomers to Division one, looking at a tough start.
Pick: Hillmorton.
Kaiapoi vs Cashmere: The last match of the Kaiapoi vs Cashmere triple header. This game is looking like it should go in Cashmere’s Favour. But you never know.
Pick: Cashmere.
Rangiora vs Riccarton: Rangiora have secured Mainpower as their home venue this season and look to start strong against our lowest seed Riccarton.
Pick: Rangiora.
Shirley Boys vs Middleton: Shirley have several key players from last year returning and looking to improve. They will certainly make Middelton work and should take the win.
Pick: Shirley.
Rolleston vs Christ’s College: Rolleston are back and have a tough start taking on reigning National Champs Christ’s. Christ’s look strong, especially if Ram’s Ihaka and Tawhiri Cate are playing.
Pick: Christ’s College.
St. Bede’s vs Burnside: St. Bede’s are looking to make their mark with a win over Burnside. both teams with experienced coaching, but the hosts have young Ram Marco Sula onboard to give them a boost.
Pick St. Bede’s.
Next Up Whelan.
An extra team has made the jump to Division One basketball this season, with 2024 Division Two champs joining the same six Division one teams from 2024.
Here are my picks for their match ups:
Kaiapoi vs Cashmere: I saw these two teams play over Easter, and the result was quite in Kaiapoi’s favor. However, Cashmere was playing with one substitute for the game.
Pick: Kaiapoi.
Rangiora vs St. Andrew’s: The Goon Girls have pulled the short straw to start their season off against last year’s five-peat champs. I don’t think this is going to be a clsoe match up unfortunately.
Pick: St. Andrew’s.
Ashburton vs St Margaret’s: The Division One Debutants are hosting St Margaret’s. Ashburton is looking strong with Atami Prem’s players Jorja Abernathy and Yasmin Larry back on the court.
Pick: Ashburton.
Next up our Division Two teams. Both Thomson and Whelan division two are looking a little lighter this season, with Hagley’s departure, promotion of Lincoln and Ashburton, and Rolleston also withdrawing.
Rangiora NLS vs Oxford. Pick: RNLS
Hornby vs Darfield. Pick: Hornby
Cathedral College vs Papanui. Pick: Papanui
Middleton vs Burnside. Pick: Middleton.
Avonside vs Rangi Ruru. Pick Avonside.
Villa Maria vs Papanui. Pick: Villa Maria.
And last up Grocott. A couple teams are not in the competition this season. But we have kept at ten teams with the addition of CBHS and Papanui.
Grocott is displaying the strength we have in the Junior Boys space, with teams easily filling spots, and several representative players in these teams.
Hillmorton vs Lincoln. Pick: Hillmorton.
Kaiapoi vs Cashmere. Pick: Cashmere.
Rangiora vs Christ’s College. Pick: Rangiora.
Shirley vs Papanui. Pick: Shirley.
St Bede’s vs CBHS. Pick: St Bede’s.
Good luck to all teams for tonight. And remember for spectators to keep it positive and be #teamref from the sidelines.
