Kampbell Stills. Ashburton College got their Thompson Trophy campaign under way against Burnside High on Tuesday. Photo supplied.A solid defensive effort from Ashburton College was not enough to avoid defeat in their opening Thompson Trophy encounter this week.

Burnside High School ran out comfortable 91-66 winners as AshColl struggled to make offensive inroads during Tuesday night’s competition opener.

The College A outfit are in a rebuild period after losing several of their key stalwarts from 2019, with half a dozen Year 11 pupils now thrust into the mix.

The match began at a high-octane rate, as both teams tried to impose themselves on the game.

Aggressive defence from both line-ups led to some niggle among opposing players throughout a tense contest.

For the Mid Cantabrians, it was hoped some of the early season rust would be tided up following a scratchy pre-season outing against Waitaki Boys’ High at the weekend.

As with most of the match they were able to get plenty of looks at the basket, they just struggled to convert at a rate that would impact on the game.

Burnside’s superior execution at the basket led them to a 46-25 advantage at halftime as their defence continued to shut out College.

College managed to wrestle back some of the ascendancy during the third stanza, at one point reducing the buffer to 16 as they clawed their way back into the game.

However Burnside did enough during a competitive fourth quarter as both sides went basket-for -basket, with Burnside sealing a 25 point victory.

AshColl’s Kambell Stills chipped in with 16 points and hustled tirelessly at both ends.

Riley Sa was defensively sound, despite being unable to get into his offensive stride.

Willy Joyce also enjoyed a late game run of 11 points including three three pointers.

Coaching staff said College were able to match Burnside’s defensive intensity on occasion, however were guilty of easing off their opponents which allowed them to get on a roll.

Finding more consistency will be the objective for the side as they knuckle down for next week’s game against Cashmere High.

The senior girls game against Papanui however was deferred.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 25 June 2020