LACEY LOWDOWN

The NBL Grand Final featured the Southland Sharks, playing in their first final having only joined the league in 2010, up against three times champions the Nelson Giants.

There were some intriguing questions entering the game: Could the Southland guards contain the prodigious Josh Pace? Who would win the battle in the paint, Mika Vukona and Erron Maxey or Brian Conklin and Leon Henry? Which coach would secure his first NBL title, Paul Henare or Liam Flynn? Would Phill Jones playing in his 350^th NBL game win his fourth title?

After some early sparring it was the Southland Sharks that gained the upper hand in the first quarter despite having Reuben Te Rangi benched after a couple of soft fouls. Brian Conklin engineered 11 points, the Sharks ahead 28-16 at quarter time. The Giants were still off the pace early in the second period, outscored 18-4 by a rampant Sharks outfit and trailed 49-23 when Dan Peck sunk a long range three. Reuben Te Rangi converted an alley-oop play off a Martin pass to underline the Sharks dominance and the Giants meek defence. Phill Jones converted a brace from behind the three point line but his team trailed 59-35 at half time, the Sharks appearing to have both hands on the trophy never mind one. Kevin Braswell led all scorers with 17 points, the Sharks shooting a mighty impressive 64% from the floor.

Josh Pace scored the first 6 points of the second half and Sky TV made the mistake of putting a microphone inside the ensuing Sharks time out – Paul Henare was not holding back in the huddle. Further points from Pace and a pair of baskets from Vukona, Henry benched on four fouls and suddenly the lead was reduced, 66-49 to the Sharks and the Giants sensed a recovery. The reliable Conklin scored a couple of baskets, Te Rangi a three and a pair of  buckets from Gareth Dawson resulted in the Sharks dominance reinstated – Southland ahead 79-54, coach Henare a little more relaxed.

The Giants began the last quarter with a 9-0 run but when Phill Jones fouled out with 6:16 remaining and his team still 20 points in arrears the resistance of the Giants appeared to be over. However Ruscoe and Maxey made baskets, the Sharks offence dried up and with 3:43 remaining the Sharks lead was just 11 points. Maxey 3 points, the lead only 8 points under 2 mins to go. Henry relieved the pressure with a fast break lay up and then a score in the paint – Southland hands on the NBL trophy for the first time but a lot tighter than imagined at half time. Final score Southland Sharks 92 ( Braswell 24pts, Conklin 21pts, Henry 15pts) Nelson Giants 81 (Pace 18pts, Maxey 18pts, Vukona 17pts).

The NBL Final Four series held at Pettigrew Arena, Napier opened with the top seeded Wellington Saints taking on the Southland Sharks, followed by the Nelson Giants against the Otago Nuggets.

The Saints (14-2) were contesting their 20^th semi final, the Sharks (11-5) playing in their first ever semi. Although the Saints began as firm favourites having won both of the regular season contests between the two teams it was the Sharks who were the quickest out of the blocks. Luke Martin was at his penetrative best scoring seven first quarter points to help his team to a 24-19 lead. Outstanding Sharks defence limited the Wellington shooters to just 14 points in the second period, Leon Henry helping greatly by limiting the effectiveness of Bryant Markson and garnering 6 rebounds in the process. He also connected with back to back threes in the closing stages of the period to help the Southlanders to a 44-33 half time lead. Corey Webster led the Saints scoring with 8 points, Martin the best for Southland with 11points.

Wellington opened the second half with a predictable 10-3 run, an emphatic Rick Rickert prompting a time out from Sharks coach Paul Henare. Advice from the coach and consecutive ‘and one’ plays from Henry steadied the ship for Southland and re-established a ten point advantage, 55-45. Another mini surge from Wellington on the back of a smart Casey Frank defensive play followed by a three had the Saints in touch at three quarter time, 58-50 behind.

Two minutes into the final quarter Reuben Te Rangi converted a lay-up off a turnover and coach Pero Cameron called his team into a huddle for what many thought would be a game defining time out – the champion players in the Saints line up would surely take charge and assert their authority? What happened was barely believable as the Saints committed three consecutive turnovers gifting six points to their opponents and a 16 points advantage, 68-52 with 6:23 remaining. Scores from Lindsay Tait, Webster and Frank gave the Saints fans a little hope but a three from Braswell, a floater from Te Rangi and a Brian Conklin dunk sealed an emphatic, deserved upset 81-66 win for the men from the deep south. Henry and Conklin scored 19 points each and Te Rangi 15 points for Southland, Webster contributing 19 of the Saints points. A couple of stats underlined the Saints problems; they committed 21 turnovers and shot a paltry 2 from 13 from the three point arc.

The second semi final featured the Nelson Giants and the Otago Nuggets who had finished the regular season with an identical 12-4 record. The Nuggets handed out a thirty points hiding to the Giants early in the season, the Giants winning a much tighter encounter, 87-82 last month. The game turned out to be a story of Josh and Josh as Messer’s Bloxham and Pace played a major part in securing the Nelson Giants a place in the final. The Nuggets started well and were ahead 23-22 at the first break, 44-38 at half time. Brendon Polyblank (17pts) and Akeem Wright (15pts) were terrific for the Nuggets early on, the Giants getting into a little foul trouble trying to contain Otago big men in the paint. The third quarter was another tight affair, the Giants shading it by a couple of points to trail by just four points 63-59 entering the final quarter.

In the final quarter the Giants defensive tyros Mika Vukona and Erron Maxey led a great Giants effort, capped by the shooting of Pace and Bloxham as they outscored the Nuggets 28-9 to secure the win. Pace with his unorthodox shooting style accumulated 25 points and Bloxham connected with three of his five threes in the final period to finish with 17 points. Phill Jones looked hungry for another, perhaps final shot at the title and added 10 rebounds to 12 points. Final score 87-72 in favour of the Giants.

The final round of the NBL regular season began with the two top teams clashing at the TSB Arena in Wellington on Friday night. The Saints (14-2), on an eight game winning streak entertained the Southland Sharks (11-5), themselves on a seven game streak. Both teams were assured of a spot in next weekends final four play-offs but there was still a little psychological advantage to be gained.

The Saints, still without the injured Lindsay Tait led at the end of each quarter but with their advantage just 82-77 entering the last period a Sharks victory remained a possibility. However, the Sharks could not get closer than the five points margin at the start of the fourth quarter, the Saints recording their fourteenth win of the season. Bryant Markson stepped up for the home team contributing 30 points, Corey Webster amassed 23 points and Rick Rickert his habitual double double (13pts/12 rebounds). Leon Henry, 30 points on the back of 12 from 18 from the floor was terrific for the Sharks. He was ably supported by Brian Conklin, (21pts/10 rebounds), Reuben Te Rangi 16 points and Kevin Braswell 19 points.

Super Saturday featured four games the first of which saw the James Blond Super City Rangers host the TBH Jets. The highlight of the first quarter was an athletic put back dunk by Patrice Bolstad, the Rangers most consistent player of the season, over Nick Horvath. The Jets were ahead 27-21 at the quarter, 47-37 at half time and a commanding 79-61 with one period remaining. Houston O’Riley (12 pts), the Rangers captain scored a flurry of points in the final period to reduce the deficit to ten points but Marcel Jones (32pts), Horvath (17pts/17rebounds) and Jeremiah Trueman (13pts) ensured there would be no upset, the Jets winning 99-84 to finish fifth on the ladder with a 9-7 record. Although the Rangers (2-14) ended up collecting the wooden spoon they showed evidence that with the experience gained in this campaign they can be more competitive in 2014. Duane Bailey (17pts) was strong for them as was Carl Buck (15pts).

There was a quadruple overtime thriller in New Plymouth where the Taranaki Mountain Airs hosted the Otago Nuggets. The scores were locked at 93 all at the end of regulation time, only five points apiece were scored in the first extra five minutes but twenty eight points were shared in the next period. Once again in the seventh period of play neither team could establish anymore than a single shot lead. Eleven points from Jack Leasure including three triples, one of them on the buzzer, forced this remarkable game into yet another period of extra time. It looked as if  Antoine Tisby had finally won the game for the Nuggets as he coolly aced a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining to put the visitor’s ahead128-125 before Leasure nailed the three. In the longest games in NBL history, it was the veteran Mark Dickel who had the final say in the eighth period of play. He scored nine points in the period including seven from seven free throws to finally bring the game to a conclusion in favour of the semi finals bound Nuggets, final score 145-137!! Jack Leasure scored 41 points yet still ended up on the losing team. Link Abrahams and Ethan Rusbatch for the Airs and Dickel, Antoine Tisby, Akeem Wright and Hayden Allen all had twenty plus scoring games. I was breathless just watching the live stats!

Southland Sharks lost their second game in 24 hours defeated119-100 in another high scoring affair in Nelson. Perhaps suffering from the exertions of the night before the Sharks got off to a sluggish start and were 63-44 in arrears at half time. They did have the better of the third period but never looked like overturning the Giants who cruised to the win, taking their home record to 7-1 and overall 12-4. The Townsville Crocodiles bound pair of Josh Pace (24pts) and Brian Conklin (28pts) were outstanding for Nelson and Southland respectively. Nelson also had three players snare 22 points each – Erron Maxey, Mika Vukona and Phill Jones who in a timely return to form sunk 4 from 5 from behind the three point arc. Kevin Braswell scored 29 points for the Sharks but it was not to be their night.

The final game pitched the Bay Hawks against the Waikato Pistons, seventh versus eighth. It was the higher placed Hawks who prevailed 93-83, the Pistons leaving themselves too much to do after trailing 46-28 at half time. The Hawks (5-11) have had a disappointing season but led by Darko Cohadarevic (23pts), Everard Bartlett (19pts) and 15 points/12 rebounds from Paora Winitana were too strong for the Pistons. Zack Atkinson had his customary double double (20pts/ 12 rebounds) for the visitors and Tai Webster and Garrius Holloman contributed 17 points each but it was not enough to gain Waikato their third win of the season.

The final four series will be held at Pettigrew Arena, Napier next weekend.

The first semi final next Saturday will feature the Saints versus Sharks, followed by the Giants against the Nuggets. The final will be played on Sunday, all three games to be covered live by Sky television.