Hero photograph
U15 Basketball
 
Photo by SBHS

Under 15 Basketball Champions

SBHS —

Congratulations to the boys who won the U15 Basketball Final, doing SBHS proud!

The Boys U15 final was played between the two teams which have been dominant all year, St Thomas of Canterbury College and Shirley Boys’ High School.

Shirley got off to a strong start thanks to baskets from Tautahi Briggs and Boppy Halaifonua. 

Tanae Lavery opened the scoring for St Thomas’s with a three, followed by a couple of nice mid-range jump shots. 

Shirley had a clear game plan, at every opportunity forcing Lavery to work hard to get the ball up the court, while using their size and strength in the half court to force outside shots. 

In reply, St Thomas’s were happy to sit back in Half court defence relying on their help defence and looking to Fast break. 

By end of the quarter, Shirley had stretched their lead out to 12 points with all five  starters scoring including nine points from Halaifonua, while Lavery was carrying St Thomas’s as their only scorer. 

The second Quarter produced more of the same with Shirley pressing and forcing turnovers, but struggling to convert. Shirley’s size and strength started as show as Lavery found it hard to get close to the hoop, missing several opportunities to convert both free Throws from fouls earned from his efforts. Ryan Wood and Gregory Rodger both came up with big blocks for Shirley while St Thomas’s finally had a second player on the Score Sheet with Big Man Sam Gallagher converting underneath. Shirley had pulled further away at the half leading 34–18 restricting St Thomas’s to just nine  points in the quarter.

Shirley Coach Jamie Graham was looking for more of the same in the third as they continued with their press. Lavery started the third strong for St Thomas’s after looking tired at half time with 3 buckets. 

However, this quarter belonged to Greg Rodger and Shirley. Playing on an injured ankle he scored 10 points in the quarter and had numerous blocks as they finished the third quarter leading by a commanding 22 points at 49-27. St Thomas’s coach needed to find something extra from his players and went to a full court match in the fourth. His team responded with great support from the side-line lifting their intensity. Lavery, after being subbed off for the first time at end of the third, scored three almost identical baskets in a row, showing great balance and control, driving on right, but euro stepping through the defence and finishing reverse with his left hand. St Thomas’s had a sniff with the lead well under 20 but the experienced.

Jamie Graham quickly had a timeout to talk it over with Shirley. Following the timeout, and after a quiet game offensively, Joshua Lacey carried on the momentum for St Thomas’s with seven points in the fourth. While Shirley seemed to stop playing offence with some poor shot decisions, Kane Thomson finally sunk any thoughts of a comeback by St Thomas’s scoring seven points in the fourth including a big three with around four minutes left on the clock for Shirley.

A tired Lavery could do little as Dylan Weaich worked hard to deny him the ball. The game finished 59 – 43 to Shirley. 

Overall, Shirley seemed to go deeper and were to big and strong for the valiant St Thomas’s side, Shirley’s Tautahi Briggs named MVP for the final.