SPORT Basketball
MiC: Ben Sheat
Tom Harrison, Matthew Lewis, Cameron McCarthy, Fletcher Miller, Vili Pale, Hamish Patterson 2020 was a season of challenges both on and off the court. As basketball trials got underway the country went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The team got used to training at home and meeting on Zoom. Eventually, when the boys got back to school, the team slowly built back up as the season began. We started with two tough pre- season games, beating Middleton Grange School, but losing to a strong St Bede’s College team we would meet three more times throughout the year. Early on in the season, the team travelled up to Nelson to play some extra games against Nelson College and Waimea College. It was a great team building opportunity. The games were played in front of large crowds and all four games had great energy. The team managed to beat Waimea twice, and win one and lose one against Nelson. The Thomson Trophy competition was one of the most balanced for many years. The team managed to go through round one undefeated, comfortably beating Riccarton High School, Rangiora High School, St Thomas of Canterbury College, Shirley Boys’ High School and St Bede’s. This meant the team made round two, from which the top two teams would qualify for nationals and the semi-finals. After a great performance, the team came away with an emphatic win against Middleton Grange. Then, with the whole country again facing Covid-19 alert level 2 restrictions, the next
team was impressive all season long, pushing some of the top teams while dominating their grade. The Junior A team, as was the case for many sports teams, had their tournament cancelled. We managed to pull together a three game trip to play Waitaki Boys’ High School, St Kevin’s College and Timaru Boys’ High School, however, while also playing Cashmere High School and St Bede’s College at home. There was plenty of great promise for the future evident through all of the games. One highlight during the season was our inaugural Senior A vs Old Boys match, with the crowd treated to an outstanding game all round. The Old Boys’ team included Max Darling and Max de Geest. Eventually, the Old Boys took the win after a neck and neck game, with the Senior A team missing a shot on the buzzer to go down. In general, it was a great season, and one which the basketball community can be proud of. Thanks to all the coaches, team managers and staff who helped make this challenging season happen. Lastly, well done to the boys, who showed courage and embraced adversity to create one of the most successful seasons on the court in College basketball history.
As for all sport, 2020 brought new challenges, which changed the look of the basketball season and saw it become one of the most challenging and bizarre seasons we have had. In late March, as we were running basketball trials, the school closed, New Zealand went into lockdown, and the season halted. On Monday 27 April we were back at school and our socially distanced training bubble groups could begin. Once we got started, we had 160 players across 17 teams in the basketball programme. This presented considerable depth and many selection headaches, which was a great problem to have. The Senior A team built on last year’s strong season, winning the Thomson Trophy for the first time and winning the South Island invitational tournament. There was some disappointment, however, as both the South Island and national tournaments were cancelled – especially as the team had qualified for the nationals for only the third time in College history and the first time since 2017. Friday night basketball also had its challenges, with most of the season, including the finals, played without crowds and behind closed doors. Our Senior B and Senior Grey teams won their respective competitions. The Senior B won division one for the first time since 2004. Saturday basketball also had a long time where they played without crowds. For the first time we had two U15 teams to go with our two U17 teams and U23 team. The U17 Black
Ben Sheat MiC Basketball
SENIOR A BASKETBALL Manager: Dee Miller Head Coach: Ben Sheat Assistant Coach: Ed Book Team: Hunter Adam, Josh Book, Nic Book, Jordan Braithwaite, Jacob Clements, Wil de Geest, Nale Fifita,
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Register 2020 Sport
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