On Tuesday this week our senior boys’ basketball teams represented John Paul II High School at the West Coast Senior Boys Basketball competition.

Senior A - The competition was held at the Westland Recreation Centre, and schools participating included Greymouth High School, South Westland Area School, Westland High School, and Buller High School. Congratulations to our Senior A team, who won the competition. 

Senior B - Trish Lockington (coach) and Jack Byrne (player)

Game one for the JPII Cardinals B team was against Greymouth High School A team. The Cardinals started off strongly, only trailing by 5 points at quarter time. Tiaki Anderson had a great awareness and work rate defensively and assisted with breaking the GHS press. The final score was 25-63 in favour of GHS with our top scorers being Jude Paneda and Jack Byrne.

The second game was versus Buller High School and Jude Paneda again led the team in scoring, contributing 15 points - including three consecutive triples! Terence Guilder stepped up offensively with 7 points and impressed with his tireless defense. Levi Calder crashed the boards gaining some key rebounds and Brian Collins played great defense resulting in several steals. Buller won this game 49-32.

In their third and final game the Cardinals faced off against South Westland Area School for 5th and 6th place. The boys were determined to win; they consolidated their lead 22-13 in the second quarter through their assists, steals and passing options. Relentless defense by all six players in the third quarter meant that SWAS didn’t score. Brian excelled in this game with 16 points and numerous steals, and our Cardinals team went on to win 54-22.

The Cardinals only had six players for the day, but they all displayed great tenacity, teamwork and sportsmanship against opposition teams with eight to ten players.

This was an enjoyable tournament for everyone involved and a fantastic opportunity to improve whilst playing against different competition. A massive thanks to Maddy Crawford (GHS sports coordinator) and all referees and officials who assisted. Special thanks to Sammi Fahey the JPII referee who refereed capably and confidently.

Congratulations and well done to the JPII A team on their tournament win and their outstanding play.