Monthly Archives: March 2017

Mar 07 2017
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College Hoops, Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Beck and St Mary’s advance to conference final

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Stella Beck drives to basket

The Saint Mary’s Gaels women’s basketball team used a big second half to defeat BYU Provo Cougars 59-49 and advance to the West Coast Conference Championship game for the first championship appearance since the 2010-11 season.

The output from the opposing two Tall Ferns in the contest was immense.

Stella Beck put together an impressive stats line for the victorious Gaels. The Gaels leading scorer this season collected 9 points, captured 7 rebounds, dished 4 assists and added 3 steals and a block in 32 minutes of non-stop action.

Senior Kalani Purcell was one of two BYU players in double figures scoring 15 points, the power forward also adding 9 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists and a block as the Cougars attempted in vain to return to the conference final.

The Gaels outscored BYU 39-22 in the second half and also out rebounded the Cougars 50-25 and kept BYU scoreless in the final period for more than the first five minutes.

Saint Mary’s will face top seeded Gonzaga in Tuesday’s conference final.

 

Mar 05 2017
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns, Uncategorized

Kenny and ‘Cats’ keep title

Jarrod Kenny was the last Kiwi standing in Australia after Perth Wildcats emphasised their play-off supremacy to sweep Illawarra Hawks 3-0 in the best of five NBL Grand Final series. Perth retained its title with a 95-86 victory on Sunday on the back of a stunning 45 points from import Bryce Cotton. The win extends Perth’s record number of championships to eight.

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Kenny joins a select band of Kiwis that have won two Australian NBL titles. The former Westlake Boys stand out doesn’t produce stunning numbers for the Wildcats, he scored just two points in game three, but he fills his role as back up to captain Damian Martin in style. An unselfish facilitator and resilient defender Kenny is the perfect foil to the ‘Cats’ talisman and has played a significant part in Perth’s success over the past two seasons.

Perth Lynx were unable to duplicate the men’s success as they exited the Women’s National Basketball League play-offs at the semi-final stage in a tie also played on Sunday

Having levelled the three game series in Perth on Friday the Lynx were looking to return to the final having finished runners-up last season. It was not to be as they were defeated 81-63 by Dandenong Rangers.

Tall Ferns guard Toni Edmondson again had the ice cold shooting hand, going zero from four – having shot 2 of 12 on Friday. The Cantabrian did accumulate 6 rebounds but the Lynx will now have to lick their wounds and prepare for the 2017/18 season, as Dandenong go on the face Sydney University Flames in the Grand Final.

Mar 04 2017
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Now there are two

Just two Kiwis remain active in the Australian Men’s and Women’s National Basketball Leagues and they are both wearing the red of Perth.

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Jarrod Kenny and the Perth Wildcats look certain to retain their NBL title having gone 2-0 up in the five game Grand Final series against Illawarra Hawks and Toni Edmondson and Perth Lynx are one win away from returning to the WNBL Grand Final.

The Wildcats produced a composed performance in Wollongong on Wednesday winning 89-77, the same score line that decided game one.

Kenny played his part in marshalling the scoring threat of Hawks shooting guard Rotnei Clarke whilst also managing 4 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in game two.

Game three is back in Perth on Sunday.

 The Lynx will also return to the court on Sunday to play the deciding semi-final game against Dandenong Rangers. On Friday the Lynx tied the best of three series at one apiece with a 91-71 victory on their home court.

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Edmondson had a shooting night to forget converting just 2 from 12 scoring attempts but her length and athleticism aided the Lynx defence that restricted Dandenong to just 10 points in the final frame. Lynx led 63-61 at the three-quarter mark but powered away in the fourth. Edmondson finished with 4 points, 3 rebounds and a pair of steals.

 On the Eastern coast Townsville Fire was defeated 76-61 by Sydney University Flames. The defeat means, for Micaela Cocks and Chevannah Paalvast, their dream of a three-peat is over. Having won the last two WNBL championships the Fire were no match for the Flames beaten convincingly in both semi-final contests.

It wasn’t a night to remember for the Kiwi pair with Paalvast not taking to the floor and Cocks failing to score for the only time this season. She did manage three rebounds and a steal but the season has ended on a disappointing note for the two Tall Ferns guards.

Mar 02 2017
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College Hoops, Tall Ferns

College conference championships begin for three Tall Ferns

Most of our college based Tall Ferns and Tall Backs conclude regular season conference play this week. However three Tall Ferns are involved in championship action beginning on Friday (NZ time).

The West Coast Conference teams St Mary’s and Brigham Young Provo (BYU) take to the court at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

On the strength of edging St Mary’s Gaels for second spot in the regular season BYU benefit from the bye on Friday and will suit against the winners of the San Diego/Portland game on Saturday.

 The 2017 WCC Defensive Player of the Year and All-WCC first team member Kalani Purcell will be a key player for the Cougars as her regular season numbers illustrate.

 

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She led the conference with 2.7 steals per game and finished second with 1.5 blocked shots per game. The honour also highlights what has been another complete-game season by Purcell, the NCAA’s active leader in rebounds with 11.6 per game.

The senior forward contributed 13.1 points and 5.3 assists per contest and registered a league-best 10 double-doubles in 18 conference games.

Also named in the WCC first team was Stella Beck. She and St Mary’s Gaels face off against Santa Clara on Friday.

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Beck has led St Mary’s in scoring nearly all season at 13.9 points per game, 14.2 in conference play. She’s posted double-figure scoring in 22 of 27 games played.

Beck boasts the best field-goal percentage in the entire conference at 55.6 percent and is among the WCC’s top-20 in scoring (eighth), rebounding (t-17th, 5.4 rpg), assists (12th, 3.2 apg) and steals (t-10th, 1.6 spg).

Penina Davidson and the University of California, Berkeley is also in championship mode but the Golden Bears have a tough draw in the Pac-12 tournament being held at KeyArena, Seattle.

Seeded 8th the Bears take on No 9 USC in the first round on Friday but the winners face top seed Oregon State 24 hours later.

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Davidson starred with 17 points and 9 rebounds for Cal when the teams met in early February – Cal won 63-56.

Davidson has had a fine season averaging 5.7 rebounds per game (2nd best for Cal); she was also second in blocks (1.0 bpg) and averaged 7.1 points per outing during the regular season.

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