Liam Sullivan in action. Photo supplied.It might not have been the fairytale finish they were hoping for, but there were plenty of high points for the Ashburton College boys basketball side to take from their season as it concluded during the week.

The team, who went on a hot run of form last week, winning three matches in as many days, took on the might of Christchurch Boys’ High School on Tuesday night in Christchurch and while beaten 88-70, they were far from disgraced in their final match of the Thomson Trophy.

Coach Brian Kerr said that while losing this week was a tough way to put an end to the competition, the youthfulness of the side, and the efforts shown during the competition, were encouraging for the future.

“Overall, this young College team has come a long way over the season, especially on the defensive aspect,” Kerr said.

“They almost pulled off a massive upset against the top dogs, St Andrew’s College, as well as coming close on a number of occasions.”

On Tuesday night, College started well against CBHS and both sides traded blows for the opening quarter, going basket for basket.

In the second quarter it was the hosts who made the early play, but College negated their two-to-three zone play and started to string some plays together to stretch out to a five point lead.

A couple of key turnovers through, turned things back around and the two sides went into the break at 42-all.

The third quarter was tough for the young College side.

With CBHS readjusting their zone play and upping their intensity, scoring baskets became a real struggle and the visitors were forced into making shots while also being unable to secure the rebounds.

This put CBHS on the front foot, and they used to it advantage to stretch out to a 14-point lead.

Things got worse as the College defence fell right away and by the end of the third, College were down by 22.

In a not completely unfamiliar situation, College found themselves chasing the game heading into the final quarter, and initially they did very well.

Switching to a full court man-to-man approach they turned the ball over and got their shooting range in line and drew the game back to 14 points.

But a timeout by their hosts steadied the ship, and they rounded out the game well winning comfortably.

Liam Sullivan led the way for the College side with 16 points, including three from beyond the circle.

Riley Sa was solid again with 14 points, considering he was given plenty of attention when he had the ball in hand, and Thomas Patterson, Jacob Swan and Kambell Stills all claimed 10 points.

“They played well for periods, but were guilty of not boxing out when the shot went up,” Kerr said.

“On the plus side they continued to fight hard and when they got things right, they looked good. “

Ultimately, Kerr said a six minute lapse in the third quarter left them with too much work to do.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 4 September 2020