Manawatū Secondary Schools Basketball Competition 2021

Unfortunately, the impact of Covid Alert Level changes meant that the season was cut short for our social grade Basketball teams.  However, four PNBHS teams contested finals on Friday 24 September.

The Premier Boy's grade final saw PNBHS Blue taking on PNBHS White, with PNBHS Blue taking the win.

In the Division Two Senior Boys final the PNBHS Junior A team took on Wairarapa College, with the PNBHS Junior A side taking the win in a keenly contested match.

The Junior PNBHS Pango team took on the Feilding High School Junior Premier Boys team in the final of the Junior Premier grade, with Feilding taking the win.

Earlier in the week, the PNBHS Premier A team had contested the final of the Premier Men's grade against the Feilding Oroua Jokers.  Unfortunately, the PNBHS Premier A side recorded their first loss for the season in the men's grade and consequently finished in second place for the season.

Match report: Secondary School Basketball Senior Premier Final - PNBHS Blue vs PNBHS White. 

The Battle of the Brothers was one heck of a game. How great it was to be witness to a game of basketball where there was mutual respect between the teams, competitive spirits out to play hard, play fair, but above all, relish in the game that they all love so much.

Many of the boys' parents were able to come down and watch the game in person rather than on a screen and provide a little bit of finals atmosphere. Those who couldn't make it, were able to watch on their screens at home.

Coaches and managers did not wish to split their loyalties between the teams so they took to the spectator side of the court and sat back to let the boys run the show. The Grand Final of the Manawatu Secondary School Premier League had our boys stepping up to make their own decisions, sort their own subs and patch up any bumps or bruises - for the entire game.

Blue Team took the early lead with White Team fighting back every step of the way. It was the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third that Blue started to make big gains and took the lead out to around 20 points. Blue was not aware at this time that White Team had the chat about boarding the 'Comeback Train'.

By the end of the third quarter, Blue Team found their brothers hot on their tails, closing the gap by ten points. Both teams engaged in some high energy team talks and we had a feeling that this game was going to come down to the wire. We were not disappointed - this was finals basketball at its best!

For the first half of the last quarter, neither team was giving in. Each time White made gains Blue took them away, with the gap remaining at ten points. With three or four minutes to go, the tide of the game began to change. The gap was eight, then six, then four, then five, then four. White called a time out - they had a plan. With time back on with only a minute to go, the gap was only two. Was White going to pull a 'Hastings Moment' on Blue? A foul awarded to White - one hit and one miss. The gap was only one. A foul awarded to Blue - one hit and one miss. The gap went back at two. White called another time-out with two seconds on the clock. It was Blue possession. Kaleb McDonald traced some sort of game plan on his palm - somehow, his brothers in blue understood what it meant. White team was in a defensive collective, ready to shut down any movements and look for the steal, to execute the immensely painful 'Hastings Moment'. The inbound was made, and a clean receive was followed by a quick run from danger when the final buzzer sounded.

The Grand Final Champions went to Blue Team. The comeback of the season went to White. The winners on the day were the parents and staff who got to witness our boys having fun, playing hard at the game they love, with and against their brothers.

Thanks again to all of you out there who were behind us all the way.  Thank you so much toTess for getting our whānau courtside for the final.  Thank you to Rouru and Julene for being the masters of the score bench this season.  Thanks to the team at Basketball Manawatu for all you do for basketball in this region.  Thank you also to our loyal sponsors, Property Brokers, Insurance and Mortgage Network, Proegear and Scafit.