It was another standout performance from Riley Sa for College A on Tuesday night. Photo supplied.Ashburton College’s A Boys’ Basketball team registered another frustrating loss in Thomson Trophy this week, as their season begins to build into a case of what could have beens, as opposed to what is.

Playing St Thomas College at the Oxford Street Stadium on Tuesday night, College headed into the match with confidence off the back of some strong recent efforts.

The emphasis was again on their help defence with man-to-man defence as well which had improved markedly in recent weeks.

The game started evenly as both sides got a feel for the match, before the home side gained a good advantage as they executed their game plan well, pulling away from St Thomas who were forced into calling an early time-out.

That time-out stemmed the flow somewhat, but College still took a good lead into the end of the first quarter, up by eight at 30-22.

College picked up where they left off in the second but soon into the quarter the game started to break down for the locals.

A drop in intensity in defence saw the visitors exploiting gaps, and they edged into the lead 43-46 at the halftime break.

St Thomas came out firing in the third and upped their defensive intensity, and College became guilty of easy turnovers.

At one stage, St Thomas led by 20, but College got back into the match to trail 63-77 at the end of the third.

With everything to play for in the fourth, College took to the court focused.

They chipped away at the lead with some smart plays and dragged the score back to a seven point buffer before unforced errors returned, and some poor shot options and St Thomas took advantage to win the game 83-93.

Riley Sa was yet again the shining light for the College side.

Good on the drive and tireless on defence, he stood out with 27 points for the match.

Kambell Stills chipped in with a solid 14 while James Reid continued his good form with 14 points as well.

Coach Brian Kerr said his side played well for the majority of the match.

“A lack of discipline on their offence and the issues around their help defence re-emerged, he said.

“This allowed St Thomas to not only overcome a deficit but to also put a 20 point spread on the College team, meaning once again they had to play catch-up basketball.”

Kerr was impressed with the way his side fought back to get back into the game, but simple mistakes again lost that momentum and ultimately the match.

“Simply a frustrating loss when again, this game was for the taking,” he added.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 21 August 2020

Diego Quispe-Kim. Photo suppliedTwo of the region’s tennis community have scooped further accolades at a recent awards ceremony.

Fourteen-year-old court sensation Diego Quispe-Kim and current Mid Canterbury Tennis head coach Jack Tiller both picked up prestigious gongs at the Tennis Canterbury Awards, held at Wilding Park a fortnight ago.

Quispe-Kim, who plays for the Fairton Tennis Club, secured Junior Player of the Year.

Ashburton’s head coach Jack Tiller (22), who has been with Mid Canterbury Tennis for just over a year, also received recognition by clinching the Club Coach of the Year award at the ceremony.

Mid Canterbury Tennis said it was the first time that the association had picked up a double at the event.

It has capped an impressive year for the duo.

Touted as a tennis prodigy by many knowledgeable local pundits, Quispe-Kim, who is a national champion in his age bracket, was awarded Outstanding Junior Sportsperson at the Mid Canterbury Sports Awards in June.

Tiller was also nominated in the coaching field at the recent Mid Canterbury event.

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 21 August 2020

A beaming Shania Harrison-Lee is in her element during the second day of the TSMC open championships on Saturday. Photo Robyn HoodLocal shooting ace Shania Harrison-Lee has held off stiff competition to again rule the roost.

The 18-year-old national representative was the top gun at the Target Shooting Mid Canterbury (TSMC) Open Championship in Ashburton at the weekend, winning the top 10 open competition.

Her score of 199.15 edged strong challenges from Charlotte McKenzie (198.13), Nick Stewart (198.13) and Jesse Henriksen (198.12).

Both Stewart and McKenzie topped their respective grades earlier in the competition.

Coronation member Stewart won the A grade with 390.19, following two double target rounds of 195.11 and 195.08.

Fellow club member McKenzie secured the B grade spoils with 395.24, and then backed it up with a runner-up place in the top 10 open and a win in the B, C and D grade top 10 to seal a superb showing at the event.

Organisers were forced to wait until the last minute on Friday before deciding to go ahead with the two-day event, after an update was delivered by the Government around Covid Alert Levels.

“We were delighted to see some of our newer juniors taking the opportunity to experience open shoulder to shoulder competition,” TSMC president Nina McKenzie said.

“It was great to have shooters travel from other areas to compete, and in some cases win grades.”

Harrison-Lee was top shooter in the Master grade following a total score of 399.29 (200.15, 199.14) across the four target shoot.

The Cashmere club’s Jesse Henriksen recorded a score of 392.20, and Sandy Bennett placed third with 390.15.

Further down the grades saw Leonie Clayton score 385.15 to take out the C grade and Madison Tourle with 373.06 topped the D grade.

It was a big weekend of local shooting with the Phoenix Target Shooting Club’s open championships also held on Sunday.

Harrison-Lee followed her TSMC result with a top 10 open win at the Phoenix championships, while McKenzie completed a superb weekend of shooting with a top 10 BCD victory.

By Adam Burns © The Ashburton Guardian - 20 August 2020