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THE TARANAI<IAN
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THE TARANAI<IAN
slowly against the hustle of the opposition, but soon established a clear pattern of play and carne away with a 72-44 win. The second game was late on the first day, and the team was sufferi ng from the travel and the short spell between games, which made the game against Hastings Boys' High School tough going. In a somewhat scrappy encounter we outlasted the opposition 58-48.
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By the time day two arrived, the team were back to their best. In the final pool game against Napier Boys' High School the team perform ed well on both defence and offence, and at the beginning of the 4th quarter made a significant break demoralising the opposition and leading to a 78-43 victory.
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The second game that day was against Hamilton Boys' High School in the semi-finals. The team was very keen to exact some revenge for the loss that they suffered in Hamilton in the traditional fixture earlier in the year. In another very good all-round performance the team did not allow Hamilton to find any real rhythm and we had a very satisfying 71-57 win. That brought us all to the final on Saturday. We faced Napier Boys' High School again as they had beaten Palmerston North Boys' High School in the other semi-final. The team had some confidence given our pool win against Napier, but the final was a very different game. We were unable to dominate the boards or take our free throws successfully, and these problems led to a lack of rhythm, which meant we could never dominate the game. We led very narrowly at the end of each of the first three quarters, but in the 4th we fell behind and eventually had to concede defeat 56-63. However, second in such a competition is a very fine effort on which the team should be congratulated. Further congratulations go to Tim Cleaver and Tim Doyle for making the tournament team.
Back Row: Middle Row: Front Row:
Ist V Basketball lim Doyle, Todd Fisher, Matthew Corbett Mr D Bublitz (Asst Coach), Nicholas Vincent, Mr JCleaver (Coach), Josiah Wall, Mr T Heaps (Manager) Yu Ishikawa, lim Cleaver, Gabriel Davies (Captain), Kyle Manu, Michael Taylor
Tim Doyle and Kyle Manu who replaced Baxter, Vincent and Wu. v St Patrick's College lost 35 - 39 v Palmerston North BHS won 52 - 26 won 74 - 12 v Rongotai College Semi-final: 48 - 45 won v Wellington College Final: 46 - 47 lost v St Pat's Came 2nd.
Inter-school This year we had two Inter-School fixtures apart from the Super 8. The first was against Auckland Grammar in Auckland on 18 May. NPBHS got off to a slow start in this game, lacking cohesion in its half-court offence and man-to-man defence. A missed shot led to Grammar dictating the pace and tempo throughout the first half. Grammar took advantage of loose defence and they were able to lead the game by up to 25 points going into the final quarter. Fortunately the NPBHS team was able to salvage something out of the game by continuing to mix up defences and play with more intensity. A renewed determination saw NPBHS close the gap to within 9 points.
Top scorers for NPBHS were Tim Doyle with 18 points and Tim Cleaver with IS points. A win to Auckland Grammar by 76 - 59. . The same team played Hamilton BHS at Hamilton on I June. An outstanding shooting performance by Hamilton's NZ age group rep guard led to an extra time defeat of NPBHS. Despite NPBHS trying different strategies to get the ball in other Hamilton players' hands, the Hamilton team managed to hold on to win the game. NPBHS did have a chance to seal this game with 2 minutes to go and leading by 2, but we missed opportunities and allowed Hamilton to take control. The NPBHSteam played with passion and intensity and they were a little unlucky not to come away with a win. Tim Cleaver led the scoring for NPBHS with a season high 35 points. Solid contributions from Matt Corbett, Jason Rolfe and Gabriel Davies ensured that NPBHS gave itself every chance to win the game. A win to Hamilton Boys' in extra time by 74- 68.
Super 8 Tournament From July 27-30, the Super 8 Basketball Championships were held in the Hastings Sports Centre. The tournament commenced with the three games of pool play. The first was against Tauranga Boys' College where the team started
In 2006, we look forward to the Super 8 being held in New Plymouth.
New Zealand Secondary Schools Qualifying (Zone 3) Tournament The Central Premiership was played this year in New Plymouth during tournament week, August September 2-9. The I st V team was joined by Nick Vincent and Josiah Wall.
about 2 and a half minutes on the clock. They could, however, not maintain this form and in the end we lost 70-76. The result of this was that we had a local derby against Francis Douglas MC to decide who went to the nationals. The team were not to be denied and in what turned out to be a lopsided encounter, we won 91-43, thereby qualifying for the nationals. The remaining game was to decide 5th and 6th-we were up against Hastings Boys' High School, whom we have beaten during the Super 8. This time, however, we did not play well ; in fact, out poorest game of the tournament, losing 57-6 1 and so coming 6th. However, our major goal was accomplished and we took our place with 23 other teams in Napier for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships.
New Zealand Secondary Schools' Championships On Monday September 26, in Napier, the I st V Basketball team, without Tim Doyle but with Nick Vincent and Brendan Baxter, began its campaign in the NZ Secondary Schools Boys' Basketball Championships. The week began with pool play and our first opponents were the strongest team in the pool, Nelson College who defeated us 7558. In our second game of the day we came up against the other team from the pool who would make it into the top eight, Rangitoto College. We gave them a good game, but they prevailed 83-69. Tuesday brought a change in fortune with a win in the one game of the day against Tauranga Boy§' College, 54-52. We had our remaining two pool games on the Wednesday; the first against Church College saw the team make a strong effort, but again we were on the losing end, 80-69. The second game of the day was crucial if we were to end up in the middle eight, but our opponents, St Patrick's College caught us in our poorest performance and we went down 6 1-38. On the Thursday, in the first of the crossovers we came up against Morrinsville College. The game started late because of a damaged hoop which took 50 minutes to replace and when we eventually got underway we found ourselves in a very tight struggle for the entire game before we lost 66-53. This brought us through to play Hamilton Boys' High School, and in a,game where we were far more cohesive, we won 80-47.
Monday began with the first two of our four pool games. It was a difficult pool, with the prospect for an even more difficult crossover. First up was Havelock North High School, whom we beat comparatively easily I 02-33. They were followed later in the day by Freyberg High School and this was a much closer encounter, the winning margin being 63-35. Tuesday brought us up against Wellington High School where we were quickly able to establish a pattern of play that our opponents could not match, winning 74-44.
This meant that on the last day we were playing for 21 st place and our opponents were Northcote College. By this stage of the week, with a number of the team carrying injuries, we were fairly exhausted and we could not prevail, losing 72-65, so coming 22nd. This placing is no disgrace; the team gave committed performances all week and showed that they could compete against the best in the country.
The last game of the day was the key game; our opposition were a frequent foe, Wellington College. Right until the end of the game, it could have gone either way, but Wellington held their composure better for a 70-62 win.
The following players were awarded Tiger Jackets this year: Tim Cleaver, Tim Doyle, Jason Naumann, Jason Rolfe and Michael Taylor.
This meant that in the first of the crossovers we were to play Mana College, who had been 2nd in the national championships in 2004. The team played with great spirit, but found themselves down by about I 5 points at the beginning of the last quarter. They were not daunted and proceeded to claw their way back to lead by I with
Honours
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The award for the Most Improved Player in the I st V (Peter Lay Trophy) was awarded to Jason Rolfe.
Provincial Representation Taranaki Under 18: Tim Cleaver, Jason Naumann, Michael Taylor, Matthew Corbett, Todd Fisher, Jason Rolfe and Nick Vincent.
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