The men’s open grade was at its wildest and woolliest in Week 7.
Two-time defending champions the Setting Suns under Matt Tong held off a defiant, feisty Bruvs crew 53-50 in overtime of game two at the YMCA on Monday night.
The size and experience of the legendary Reggie Namana, Mike King, Sean Hovell and Fabio Geranazzo were a critical factor in the result.
Close to the basket, the bigger, wider, older team was hard to stop.
The younger team made the first big bucket of game two with Ainsley Waititi-Leach scoring from the wide right-side of the backboard versus Fabio Geranazzo for 7-2 to the Bruvs, and the Suns played to their strengths from the outset: there could be no better example provided than King’s tap-pass across the key to Geranazzo, low-left, for 11-7 to the Suns.
With 10 seconds to play in the third quarter, Bruvs leftie Qkylau Leach hit a three-point shot from the right corner for 40-31 but in the fourth quarter, the Setting Suns clawed their way back into the contest.
Tong said: “First we had to battle just to stay in it out there, keep our heads, then establish momentum off the back of some good defence and bring it home.”
The Setting Suns’ power game allowed them to draw level 50-50 at the end of regulation time: they struck the first blow when Namana found King on the fly with a two-handed overhead pass for 52-50.
With 8 seconds left in the two-minute overtime period, Namana hit the second of two free throws for 53-50.
Monday night began with a rugged battle to quicken the blood: the Astros 59-58 win against the Kiwi Lumber-Jacks.
Jacks guard Izaiah Kerisome, with sublime footwork, skipped by and around Astros’ defender Lavelle Rangihuna to make a superb lay-up for 34-28 in the third period. It was a quarter during which referee Ollie Tong made three excellent rulings - first, on a foul; second, on a violation by a player shooting a free-throw (it was an airball, so automatically a turnover to the opposition) and enforcing the metre gap between the inbounder and defender in court.
Ben Greaves of the Astros was outstanding in game one, hitting a three-point shot from the wing, stepping back to hit a jumper and also on the baseline.
For the Lumber-Jacks, Leigh Watene, who opened the scoring in the fourth period, made an amazing three-point play for Jacks 46, Astros 51.
With 25 seconds left, the gruelling contest wanted for only one thing: a match-winner.
That was Shaarn Ratima of the Astros, who, 12 feet from the hoop, left side of the floor on a warm evening with 150 fans in, made the jump-shot for 59-58.
The late game was a gut check for Hawaiiki Hou.
Missing player-coaches Quentin Solomon, his son the promising Xavier Pivac-Solomon and one of the GBA’s true titans in Rongomai Smith, a young Hawaiiki Hou crowd battled bravely against the Hustlers.
The Hustlers beat Hawaiiki Hou 66-34.
Te Haeora Kerekere-Puke, with a mighty move left side, scored for Hawaiiki Hou 28, Hustlers 55 and Tuwhakaea Kerekere-Puke made a splendid finish for 32 to 61.
In between times, Kaea Swann of the Hustlers drove down the lane to score, hit a trey from the left wing and his teammate Rylan Tuwairua-Brown - from a distance of 25 feet - hit a bank shot off the square, right-side, for 66-34 on the full-time buzzer.
Club Basketball score-board
Monday, September 30
Gisborne YMCA
Week 7, GBA Men’s Open Grade
Kiwi Lumber-Jacks 58 (Rewha Rameka 21, Kenneth Smith 11, Izaiah Kerisome 10, Leigh Watene 9) Astros 59 (Kelly Rangihuna 16, Ben Greaves 14, Logan Mason-Takoko 12). Q1 Kiwi Lumber-Jacks 15-10, HT 32-26, Q3 Astros 45-39.
Setting Suns 53 (Reg Namana 16, Michael King 13, Matt Tong 11, Fabio Geranazzo 5) Bruvs 50 (Devin Waititi-Leach 18, Qkylau Leach 11, Ainsley Waititi-Leach 10). Q1 Bruvs 16-12, HT 24-23, Q3 40-32.
Horouta beat Raiders B by default.
Hustlers 66 (Jovan Potter 17, Elijah Swann 12, Caleb Swann 11, Aaron Sarcia 8, Jesse Irie 4) Hawaiiki Hou 34 (Te Haeora Kerekere-Puke 16, Tuwhakaea Kerekere-Puke 10, Josh Keelan-Andzue 6). Q1 Hustlers 20-4, HT 31-20, Q3 53-26.
