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Friday October 10, 2008

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Y-Kato, Y-Tak In Showdown

Semifinals are supposed to be close. But Waikato were not about to hear that on Thursday.

Pushed through by 35 points from guard Veshae Wilkinson and 16 points from forward Kalani Purcell and captain Rhaiah Spooner-Knight, Waikato romped to a 40-point semifinal win, 100-60, over North Harbour to reach under-15 girls final at the Oreo Under-13 & Under-15 National Championships in Rotorua.

Taipans Take Out Breakers

Joel Tiller, Sportal
An inspired Cains Taipans have claimed their third consecutive Australian NBL win in three trips to Auckland, beating the NZ Breakers 122-111 at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday night.

The Taipans poured in 70 points in the second half to complement a mighty defensive effort, the visitors shrugging off their miserable scoring woes against the Tigers with a 35 and 35 split in the third and fourth quarters.

Waikato De-Press Hutt

All week long, no team had managed to handle Hutt Valley’s aggressive press defence. That was until Waikato fronted.

With their offence able to effectively avoid the pressure for the first three quarters, Waikato held on for a 93-77 semifinal win over Hutt Valley on Thursday to get a shot at the under-15 boys title at the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships in Rotorua.

Waitakere Rolling On

They are the top remaining seeds and the Waitakere City under-15 girls certainly played like it on Wednesday.

With sixth man Reeunne Pinono top-scoring with 19 points, Faustina Maria adding 17 points and Penina Davidson chipping in with 13, Waitakere rolled to a 90-60 win over Nelson in the quarterfinals at the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships.

Harbour On The Radar

Since a first round pool play loss, the North Harbour under-15 boys squad has lived under the radar. And coach Tony Webster would rather keep it that way.

Unfortunately, his team produced an impressive 82-62 quarterfinal win over previously unbeaten Counties Manukau on day three of the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships in Rotorua on Wednesday.

Purcell Boosts Thunder

Tall Fern Natalie Purcell helped expansion team Logan Thunder to a winning debut as the Australian WNBL tipped off last weekend.

Purcell, filling an import spot in Brisbane after the demise of the Christchurch Sirens, impressed with 18 points (6/13 FG, 3/8 3pt, 3/5 FT), seven rebounds, an assist and a steal in 23 minutes as Logan defeated Perth Lynx 96-74 at home.

Breakers Stalwart Returns

Marc Hinton, Fairfax Media
Whatever NZ Breakers point guard Paul Henare has in store for himself over the rest of the Australian NBL season, it can’t be as tough as the last fortnight he’s just dealt with.

He can rest assured on that score.

Henare has missed the last two Breakers matches to attend to his five-year-old son Jackson who was involved in a nasty lawn mower accident that eventually saw the youngster lose half his foot.

Hawks Fly High

From fourth to first, the Hibiscus Coast Hawks under-13 boys team have battled, and beaten, the odds in Rotorua this week.

With a tournament-high 50 points from forward Jaylen Gerrand and an 81-56 win over North Canterbury on day two of the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships at the Rotorua Events Centre, Hibiscus marched through to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, topping pool C at 3-0.

Hutt Valley Surprise

Hutt Valley’s under-15 boys knew just how much to bend without breaking in Rotorua on Monday.

The Hutt almost gave up double-digit leads but held on for surprise wins over North Harbour and Canterbury on day one of the Oreo Under-13 and Under-15 National Championships at the Rotorua Events Centre.

A SS Tourney Teams

One got a national title. The other did not. But both went home with MVP awards.

Taumarunui High’s Waeana Ngarongo and Rotorua Lakes High’s Lisa Adams earned Most Valuable Player honours from the A Secondary Schools National Championships in New Plymouth on Saturday.

Re-Runs The In Thing

Re-runs were the In thing on Finals Day at the 2008 AA Secondary Schools National Championships – presented by Furnware – in Palmerston North on Saturday night.

Wellington’s St Patrick’s College went back-to-back with a 94-92 epic boys championship game with Hamilton’s Fraser High, while girls defending champs Church College repeated with a start-to-finish 87-55 rout of Rangitoto College at Arena Manawatu.

The Most Valuable Player awards also a mirror of 12 months ago, with St Pat’s guard Brook Ruscoe and Church’s Fijian international Letava Whippy putting back-to-back MVP medals round their necks.

AA SS Tourney Teams

With their second straight championships secured, St Patrick’s College and Church College were further rewarded with three players selected in the boys and girls AA Secondary Schools National Championships tournament teams on Saturday.

Two-time MVP Brook Ruscoe was joined by his captain Jake Ashby and inside powerhouse Tipene Friday in the boys tournament team.

Coach SafetyNet Launched

Basketball New Zealand, in a pilot programme with Sparc, officially launched its online Coaching Safety Net on Monday.

The programme introduces coaches to a code of ethics and basic safety concepts for players and coaches in basketball, available in a 30-minute online module on BBNZ’s website, www.basketball.org.nz.