Roncalli had three teams in the South Canterbury Basketball finals

Congratulations to the Boys and Girls Senior Varsity teams and the Junior Girls C Squad for progressing to the South Canterbury finals.

Our Boys Senior Varsity Basketball team beat Timaru Boys High 86-74 in the finals. A well deserved win. Congratulations also to our Roncalli Junior Girls C Squad winning the over all competition for 2021.

Here is an end of season message from our Head Coach, Chris Smeele. Thank you Chris for all of your hard work this season, we look forward to the next!

"I had the pleasure again to coach the Varsity and this year added the Jr Varsity boys.We had joint trainings through the season which supported numbers when injury’s and sickness would leave some trainings very light. This was great to continue to develop player and strengthen their fundamentals.The season for the Varsity team was exceptional with only a loss to the TBHS year 13 team, it was great to have Luca Shaw back in the team after a year away. We had two juniors step up with Sonny Hamilton and Harrison Laing, both showing their potential through the season. The growth of the team through the season was shown in the final against rival TBHS year 13. Even after a 2-and-a-half-week lockdown would not show any weakness in the team as we never look like losing the final, the team was focused and knew what they needed to do and went out and executed. The first half was tight on the score board, but we held the momentum going in to the second half. All season we struggled for pace in the 3rd quarter and this would not change in the final which saw as tied going into the 4th. The start of the 4th was fantastic the team forced turnovers which led to layups down the other end, big shots by Luca and Lachlan pushing out the lead. Caleb Houston had a tough assignment on defence and made every possession difficult and cleared the boards all night. Good energy off the bench from Harrison and William Mackle kept TBHS under pressure. Strong play from William Laing and Angus Rooney bringing the ball up the court through pressure and making great reads to find the open man and set the offence. Johred Taoey and Tyson Coombs even in limited minutes held the tempo and kept calm when given the opportunity on the court. Thanks for a great season team and wish Luca and Caleb all the best as their journey carry’s on to adulting.Jr varsity’s season was a tough one but one they never complained about. They were held in A grade which made every week a tough match up. Through the season we had player in and out due to sickness and injury’s so getting consistency was difficult. Stand out game of the season was against Geraldine where the lead see sawed back and forth all game but sadly didn’t end up in a victory. Standouts were Tye and Marshall Benson, never quit, give it all attitude was just what the team needed, Dominic Cockburn quiet but strong on the boards, Josh Gallagher putting his body on the line for the team, Krishna speed and huge strides had teams struggling to keep up. Most improved player was Sam Fauth he never missed a practice and improved every week, keep up the hard work. Special mention Alex Lister, great attitude and pushed himself every practice, you’re a pleasure to coach and look forward to continuing next season, PS; have you listened to a Metallica song yet?Big thanks to my manager Angela Harris for helping this season, also thanks to David and Kelby for implementing a new structure and culture, I have never seen so much activity in a season well done and let’s keep growing!"

Coach Smeele.