William Joyce in action for College. Photo supplied.The first game of the night was the current competition leaders Newlands taking on the ever-improving College side, who were in search of their third win in as many days.

College started the better as they settled into their work, again utilising their half-court man-to-man defence.

It took Newlands a while to settle but when they did, they managed to draw it back to 20-18 in favour of College.

The second quarter initially saw a good start by Newlands, however College were able to increase their defensive intensity as well as speeding the game up to push the lead out to 41-33 at the end of the half.

The third quarter was evenly matched as both teams went basket for basket.

Newlands would go on a mini-roll, just for College to return the favour.

College led 63-53 going into the final quarter.

Newlands needed to score early to set the momentum, however it was the College boys that set the tone.

They struck early and regularly to push the lead out, however Newlands kept fighting.

A College time-out caused the floodgates to open up as College broke away.

Newlands fell away and College ran out comfortable winners 95-73.

Riley Sa found his long-range shooting to go with his excellent driving to finish with 32 points, while Kambell Stills had another top night at the office, grabbing numerous rebounds and being deadly from mid-range to finish with 22 points.

Liam Sullivan had a nice return to form combining some good drives with hitting from range.

For Newlands, It was Randy Buenafe leading the way with 22 points, Marc Juntilla with 17 and Sam Rodgers with 14.

The second game was between Wildlife and MSA Team Donkey, and it turned out to be a cracker of a match.

The first quarter opened with MSA Team Donkey making the early running.

However, Wildlife managed to stay close but trailed early 22-17.

The second quarter started off well for Team Donkey as they found their combinations to score, while Wildlife struggled to find the basket.

Team Donkey took their lead out to 43-33, but then things went wrong for the defending champs.

Wildlife found another gear and went on a roll to only trail 43-42 at the break.

After the break, Wildlife continued on as they’d finished the second quarter and next thing they had powered to a 63-44 lead.

Finally Team Donkey managed to find the basket, only for Wildlife to reply twice in kind to push the score out to 67-46, but they still trailed by 14, 67-53 at the end of the third.

Come the fourth stanza and Team Donkey were far from done.

They matched up and were making Wildlife work hard for their baskets, stringing together better plays, and began creeping towards the Wildlife score.

Soon it was down to single figures and momentum had definitely swayed.

However just as they had looked unlikely, Wildlife were able to pick up a couple of tough baskets to keep them at bay.

With 11 seconds on the clock, Team Donkey trailed 79-75, however Wildlife pressured hard on the ball which stopped them from scoring a quick basket to give themselves a chance to press and to try and turn the ball over.

They could only manage a last second three-pointer which took the final score to 79-78 to Wildlife.

For Wildlife it was Sam Pearce leading the way with 25 points, in a top all-round performance.

Emiliano Guerra was strong on the drive and delivered a couple of crunch baskets when needed. He finished with 23 points.

Sean Hunter added 14 points to the tally.

For MSA Team Donkey Fotu Hala showed his all-round skills, whether it was from range, the drive or the assist. He finished with 23 points. Cam Butler toiled hard for his 20 points and Pip Johnston finished with 15.

So, two major upsets in one night showing how tight this competition is.

The final round is next week and all to play for, as Newlands take on MSA Team Donkey and Nomads play Wildlife to finalise the standings before the finals crossovers beginning September 9.

 © The Ashburton Guardian - 28 August 2020

Thomas Patterson had another strong game for College. Photo supplied.Three games in three days should be a tough physical and mental battle.

Not for Ashburton College, apparently, as their boys’ A side managed to pick up three wins from three matches across consecutive days this week.

It started with victory over Burnside High School on Monday night, stretched into success over Riccarton High School on Tuesday and then was capped off with victory over Newlands in Wednesday night A Grade basketball at the Oxford Street Stadium.

Monday night’s success was arguably the most satisfying.

Beaten by nearly 30 points earlier in the season when the two sides first met, they managed to correct the anomaly and post a strong victory against a very good side 75-71.

“Every boy that took to the court contributed well, which was especially evident on defence,” coach Brian Kerr said.

The match hinged on a strong beginning, and that’s exactly what College produced in front of a silenced Burnside crowd.

With strong offense and some crisp passing College took control and led 20-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Extending the lead out to 18 early in the second they were challenged by a Burnside fightback, but still went into the half time break up by 13, 42-29.

That in itself was a huge turnaround from the opening encounter between the two sides, and the challenge became holding off an expected big finish from the hosts.

Burnside started the third quarter strong and began to break down the lead and reduced the margin down to nine at one stage.

A time-out for College offered a chance to regroup and they finished the quarter well, up 60-47.

If they were strong early in the third, then Burnside went into beast mode in the fourth and really piled the pressure on College, and eventually got the score back to 73-71 in favour of College with 39 seconds left.

A series of mishaps and time-outs followed before Thomas Patterson scooped up the loose ball and darted down the court to wrap the game up with an easy lay-up.

Patterson was one of the strongest on the court for the match.

With 24 points next to his name, he was just as good on defence as he was at the other end of the court.

Riley Sa was naturally strong again with 14 points, while Jacob Swan was very good again with 12 points.

On Tuesday night the side was back in Ashburton taking on Riccarton High School, looking to pick up where they left off the previous evening.

Up by 12 at the end of the first quarter College looked in control, and a comeback from Riccarton in the second almost derailed the match.

But again, a time-out worked the oracle and once more College found their feet to lead 41-35 at the half-time break.

Strong in the opening stages of the third, College went on a 13-4 run and took a 64-53 lead into the final quarter.

But Riccarton weren’t done with.

They drew the score back to within six through some smart play and through some defensive mishaps from College, but another time-out again proved telling as College grabbed some key plays in the final minutes to win 82-76.

Kambell Stills was the standout for the side; with numerous rebounds and strong from mid-range he claimed an impressive 31 points.

Patterson backed up his work from Monday night with a 14 points haul while Riley Sa finished up with 12 points.

Apart from a couple of lulls in their defensive intensity, it was another good overall performance,” Kerr said.

“When the fast break was on they took it, when it wasn’t they ran their offensive structures.

“They were more consistent in finding the open man as well as generating more assists which is a highlight of a team starting to sync.”

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 28 August 2020

AshHutt Girls 1st XV Rugby 2020. Photo suppled.A strong section of the AshHutt 1st XV girls have been rewarded with representative selection.

A total of 11 players from the combined Ashburton College and Mount Hutt College team have been selected for the Secondary School Girls Country squad named earlier this week.

The group of 26 is also made up of players from the Waitaki Girls’/St Kevin’s and Geraldine teams who play in the secondary school under-18 competition.

The Country team is set to face a Secondary Schools’ Town selection in Timaru on September 13.

The Town squad is made up of players from Timaru Girls’ High School, Craighead and Roncalli teams.

The AshHutt 1st XV were scheduled to play the 3rd and 4th place playoff of the Aoraki competition on Wednesday, however the game was scrapped.

The final between Craighead and Timaru Girls’ High School was given the go ahead.

The following AshHutt players were selected for the Country Squad:

Forwards:

Grace Bleach

Steph Geeson

Megan Hurley

Emma Rollinson

Gemma Taylor

Madison Trusler-Clark

Backs:

Lani Brightwell

Roi Makutu

Lauren Taylor

Naumai Terekia

Neesha Thompson

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 27 August 2020