Cashmere High School, against whom they had previously lost. In front of a big crowd at Cashmere, the team, led by Wil de Geest (who finished with 18 points), were ahead 47–35 at half-time. Unfortunately, the home team had a big second half and with seconds to go managed to tie the score 73–73. After winning many close games throughout the season, College was on the wrong side of a buzzer beater three hit by Cashmere and, with time expiring, went down 76–73. College won the traditional Otago Boys’ High School fixture 87–78. Josh Book contributed an impressive 45 points, including nine 3-pointers, while Nale Fifita chipped in with 14 points and 21 rebounds. The team went to Auckland for some extra games early in Term 3. This proved valuable, with games against St Kentigern, who went on to win the national title later in the year, Macleans College and Auckland Grammar School, who would go on to finish 10th at nationals. The highlight of the trip was the game against Auckland Grammar. The boys played hard, eventually taking them down 91–82 in overtime, which was an impressive result. Another highlight of the trip was a training session with former New Zealand Breakers coach Kevin Braswell. The South Island tournament started well. On day one the boys demolished Waitaki Boys’ High School 80–68 and Lincoln High School 132–79, setting up a big day two in the so-called “pool of death”. Unfortunately, day two wasn’t so easy, with the boys going down fighting but losing to Middleton Grange 57–74 and StAC 62–92, which meant that the top 8 and nationals was now out of reach. The boys showed real character through the disappointment, however, and went on to win their next four games against Papanui High School, St Thomas’s, Christchurch Boys’ High School and Rangiora High School by an average of 30 points, to finish 9th in the South Island – the 3rd highest finish in College history.
Thanks to Year 13 students Mason Whittaker, Aidan Palmer, Conner Jenkins and Tom Davidson for all their effort through their time at school. We wish them all the best for the future and thank them for their part in building the foundation for College basketball. The team was very well coached by highly committed head coach Ben Sheat and assistant coach Ed Book, assisted by video and performance analyst Fox Gray. Ben and Ed spent countless hours developing the play book, coaching, planning, strategising, mentoring the boys, and developing team spirit and culture. Thank you, too, to Kirsty Howatson for her outstanding refereeing, and to Sarah and Ben Davidson for their invaluable help at tournament. The team is looking in great shape for next year – and as Ben Sheat starts as a Physical Education teacher at College in 2020, he will be available more frequently to support and guide the basketball boys.
stop the team from giving it their all. The scoring percentage steadily lifted and a full court press started a streak of three big return wins (20–25 points over finalists St Andrew’s College) to finish 3rd in the grade. During tournament week, the boys competed in the Southern Cup in Christchurch. Despite being in a tough pool and lacking a centre, the team surprised by beating Shirley Boys’ High School well in their first game. Next was a closer win over Kaiapoi High School. As pool winners the team faced Rolleston College next, going down in a hard fought game by 10 points. Then came a good win over Hagley College, which earned a return game against SBHS. It was closer this time, but College came from behind to win and secure 5th place overall after only losing once. Rob Churchill Senior B Coach SENIOR BLACK BASKETBALL Manager: Dr Briar Wait Team: Fergus Beadel, Gus Coates, Jack Graham, Alex Hemens, Christopher Ireland, James Larkin, Aidan Lynch, Maxwell McCullough, Oscar Noble-Adams, Ryan Oorschot, Sam Rutherford The Senior Black basketball team won seven out of eight games in the Boys Open Division 3 Section 2 and finished the round robin competition in top position. While they were very much a social team, they had a competitive streak and gave every Friday night game 100 per cent. One of their key strengths is that they worked together as a team and all players got their hands on the ball. Early in the season a very comfortable 66–14 win against Christchurch Boys’ High School highlighted the way in which the team worked well together right from the start. Other games were well matched, and a fun and friendly competition against St Andrew’s College Senior Yellow led to a 61–50
Dr Mike Field MiC Basketball Ben Sheat Senior A Coach
SENIOR B BASKETBALL Manager: Nicole Billante Coach: Rob Churcher Team: Alfie Baker, Jackie Ban, Will Bennetts, Jack Churcher, Timothy Ding, Charles Goodwin, Charlie Hanson, Lachie Henderson, Sumin Jung, Si Jun Lee, Max Marsh, Oscar Nott The Senior B team played regular season in the Canterbury Basketball U20 club competition under the UC Club banner. It was a tough start to the season, as Round 1 had an unexpected high number of injuries and illness, and it wasn’t until early Round 2 that we fielded a full squad. Despite the challenges, the team’s commitment, culture and engagement remained strong. While Round 2 started with three losses, they were all by under six points. Despite the close games, this sadly put the team out of the straight final play-off, but didn’t
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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