Ashburton College senior boys basketball team. Photo supplied.Ashburton College senior boys basketball team ended its winning streak at the hands of Christchurch Boys High School on Tuesday night, losing 88-70 in their last game of the Thomson Trophy secondary school competition.
Coach Brian Kerr said the team had come a long way this season, deserving of its spot in the 12-team top division despite not making the playoffs.

Here’s how he saw Tuesday’s game:

The match started off pretty evenly with neither team being able to take charge. Instead, they went basket for basket with mini scoring rolls made by both teams.
In the second quarter, CBHS started well, however had dropped back to a 2 – 3 zone. College were able to break it down successfully as they started to string plays together to push out to a 5 point lead. However a couple of turnovers that CBHS were able to capitalise on meant the scores were tied 42 apiece at the break.

The third quarter was a real struggle for College. CBHS refined their zone defence to a 1 – 2 – 2 defence and upped their intensity which created issues for the College offence. Instead of getting good shots, College were forcing shots and with CBHS boxing out well, second shots were rare.
They were also able to create turnovers which they exploited to push them out to 14 point lead. At this time the College defence fell away especially on the help defence and more importantly on the boxing out so that by the time the fourth quarter arrived, they were 22 points down.

Once again College were chasing the game. They went to full court man to man and initially it worked well as they were able to turn the ball over and were finally able to get their offence functioning in getting better shots. They drew it back to 14 points.
A timeout by CBHS steadied the ship and from there College wasn’t able to impact on the differential, finally going down 88 – 70.

For College, Liam Sullivan had a good game nabbing 16 points (three 3-pointers). He worked hard defensively and attacked the basket well. Riley Sa added 14 points (two 3-pointers) but found himself receiving more defensive attention every time he got the ball. Thomas Patterson (two 3-pointers), Jacob Swan (two 3-pointers) and Kambell Stills ended up with 10 points apiece.

College played well for periods but were guilty of not boxing out when the CBHS shot went up. This allowed put backs which really hurt College, especially in the third quarter. Their help defence was also sometimes lacking, allowing easy drives to the basket for CBHS.
On the plus side, they continued to fight hard and when they got things right, they looked good. A six-minute lapse in the third quarter left them too much to do in the fourth quarter.

Overall this young College team has come a long way over the season, especially on the defensive aspect. They almost pulled off a massive upset against the top dogs STAC, as well as coming close on another couple of occasions.

© The Ashburton Courier - 3 September 2020

MC Combined's Michael Hennings. Photo supplied.A chocka casualty ward and 80-odd points later, it was a severe lesson for Mid Canterbury Combined at the weekend.

Christchurch Boys’ High bore down on a depleted young Combined side with an 87-5 drubbing as they banked the necessary maximum to move into pole position in the UC Championship race.

Despite the heavy defeat, there was plenty of value gained from the experience, according to Combined’s pragmatic head coach Shane Enright.

“Even though this was the biggest loss of the 2020 season, we are all so proud that we never put up the white flag,” he said.

“Again, as a young team with 19 of the 22-man squad hopefully coming back to school next year, we will learn again from these experiences for the future.”

As has been the case all season, the visitors were not helped by a lengthy injury toll which includes Ben Middleton, Alex Barnaby, Fononga Lisala, Sam Ree and Cade Whittaker.

Alex Roderick is also gone for the season after he suffered a head knock during the weekend’s game.

Boys’ High raced out to a 29-0 lead after 25 minutes as the Christchurch team proceeded to command the breakdown.

Combined’s pack however fronted up at scrum time, despite conceding a significant weight advantage to the Boys’ High pack.

The visitors got themselves on the board after lock Pasi Hala tapped and went from close range to surge over.

Captain Michael Hennings also went close before the break when he picked-and-went from the scrum base, only for him to be held up.

“We talked at halftime that a lot of their points had come from our mistakes, missed tackles, ball lost in contact – and we weren’t that far out of the race.”

The hosts proceeded to up the ante in the second 35 as the score blew out.

Combined also lost hooker Josh Dunlea to the bin after taking an opposition player out in the air.

A handful of under-16 players made their UC Championship debuts off the bench.

Combined is back home this weekend where they will meet St Bede’s College.

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 1 September 2020

Mid Canterbury Combined face off with Christchurch Boys High School in the UC Championship today. Photo Robyn HoodThe hallowed turf of one of the country’s perennial rugby powerhouses awaits Mid Canterbury Combined today.

However both players and coaching staff are excited rather than daunted of the challenge ahead for the Combined 1st XV.

The side come face to face with Christchurch Boys’ High School on its number 1 ground today in their UC Championship round 11 matchup.

Despite only registering the one win this season, there had been plenty of positives to glean for head coach Shane Enright.

A fortnight ago they pushed competition leaders St Andrew’s to the brink, conceding a try late to go down by five.

They were well in the fight again last week against Shirley Boys before fading in the second half to lose 43-7.

“We’re still probably getting beaten on the outside,” Enright said.

“When it comes down to it, it’s probably still fitness and for us it’s just keeping those heads up.”

As far as opposition goes, it does not get much bigger for Combined than taking on Christchurch Boys in their backyard.

The school had produced dozens of professional players over the years with a total of 46 Old Boys going on to play for the All Blacks.

Combined captain Michael Hennings said the team was champing at the bit for the challenge.

“Looking forward to this one.

“Christchurch Boys have a high reputation so we’re just going to go there and give our best shot.”

Enright said it was going to be a great occasion for his troops in which none of the group had stepped foot on the revered school grounds.

“Not many people get to play on the 1st XV field,” he said.

“They’ve got a 400 man stand and it’s a great school with tradition.

“It will be a great experience.”

Schoolboy rugby will again be played behind closed doors with one spectator per player admissible.

“It’s a shame we won’t be able to go inside and have a look at the trophies and the sportspeople,” Enright said.

“That’s what you talk about when you think about culture and what history is about.”

Boy’s High remains in second spot on the UC ladder with just the two losses to STAC and Christ’s College this season.

Combined are in 12th spot ahead of Roncalli Aoraki Combined and Lincoln Combined.

Kick off at Christchurch Boys’ High is from midday.

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 28 August 2020