During the first week of the school holidays Westlake Boys Premier Basketball Team competed in the Secondary Schools National Tournament in Palmerston North. Having qualified as the 3rd seed, we were placed at the top of Pool C. Pool C included two teams from Zone 2 (Mid North Island), Rotorua Boys and Hillcrest, two Zone 4 (South Island) teams, Christchurch Boys and Burnside and another local Zone 1 team, Liston. Being placed in a strong pool was going to be tough from day one.
The team had a thrilling run to the final but were eventually thwarted by a good Rangitoto side, who prevailed to take their maiden title. It was a gallant effort from the Westlake Boys’ premier side that saw them beaten by the better team on the day.
Well done to Isaac Letoa and Matt Freeman in making the Tournament Team this year.
Credit to all staff and students for a good season and we look forward to what 2016 has in store for the next talented crop of young basketball players at Westlake.
Read all the match reports below.
Monday Pool Game 1: v Hillcrest (Hamilton), 94-62
In our first game against Hillcrest, it proved to be a game of two halves. The boys took a long time to shake the rust off and only managed to hold a slim lead at the halftime. From the start of the second half, the boys looked like a different team, pushing the lead past 20 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter the boys kept pushing the lead out, and all 12 players were able to get a lot of court time.
Monday Pool Game 2: v Liston (Auckland), 95-74
Liston was a familiar team having already played them twice earlier in the season. They came at Westlake hard from the start and it was a close game. It was not until the 3rd quarter that we were finally able to grind them down and start getting a buffer on the scoreboard. After a long, physical game that all our squad got to play in, we came away with a 21 point win.
Tuesday Pool Game 3: v Christchurch Boys, 84-78
After coming away with two wins the day before, we were looking to make it three from three in our only game on Tuesday against Christchurch Boys. Right from the tip-off we knew that Christchurch Boys it was an intensely close game throughout the whole way. Our boys got ahead with a 10 point lead behind some great defence and offensive ball movement, only to see CBHS go on a run of their own to tie it back up. It was a game of runs and they kept coming back at us with some outrageous 3-point shooting. In the final minutes of the game we were able to gain a slight lead, and through great defence, rebounding and clutch freethrow shooting we were able to close the game out, 84-78.
Wednesday Pool Game 4: v Rotorua Boys, 71-83
We knew Rotorua Boys was going to be our toughest pool game, as they also held a record of 3 wins going into Wednesday morning. Both teams really wanted to get a win so they would get the better crossover into the quarterfinals. As soon as the game started we could see the desire the Rotorua Boys had, they were hungry for the ball, pack rebounding and getting a lot of offensive and defensive rebounds. Even though they were playing a hard defence, we were still able to get points on the board and keep the game close. After putting more pressure on the ball carriers our guards started to cause some disruption to RBHS and get some key turnovers. It was close at the half, but RBHS came out of the break firing and they put on a double digit lead by the end of the 3rd quarter. Even with a much improved effort on both offense and defence in the 4th quarter, Westlake could not get back into the game. Rotorua kept pushing hard and took the win, 71-83.
Wednesday Pool Game 5: v Burnside (Christchurch), 91-90
In our final pool game we had the 2nd Seed from the South Island, Burnside High School. They had not had a great tournament so far and were looking to try and play the spoilers, giving us a second loss in pool play. They almost succeeded! Again we were playing against a Christchurch team that could not miss from behind the 3-point line. After an intense game against Rotorua Boys earlier that day, the boys were having to bring a lot of effort to hold off Burnside. The boys worked hard on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, but could not create a good lead.
The boys kept grinding away until late in the 4th quarter when we got a very timely put back from Greg Vukets and some great ball movement led to a baseline jumper finished off by Matt Freeman. On the other end Burnside kept battling away scoring 3-pointers and getting back points of their own. After a turnover by Burnside, Westlake were down one with 30 seconds to go. Westlake kept calm on the baseline inbounds and Corey Annandale got a good look cutting to the basket, unfortunately it did not drop but quick thinking and scrambling by Joel Coffey and Vukets, meant Westlake still had control of the ball. Vukets threw a great pass to a cutting Freeman who was hammered going to the hoop, he kept composed and knocked down both foul shots to put Westlake up one. In their final chance to score Burnside put up a long 3-pointer that rattled of the rim and was secured by Annandale, and the team walked away with a one point win through to the quarterfinals against the Tournaments number 1 seed Middleton Grange.
Thursday Quarter-final Game: v Middleton Grange (Christchurch), 91-86
This was a huge game for both teams, 1st and 3rd seeds facing off at the quarterfinal stages, as the winner would go through to the semis and the other would only be able to playoff for 5th-8th. After having a few shaky games earlier in the week, Westlake came to play. It was a game of runs in the first half with our boys getting the better of it through, some fantastic rebounding and ball movement on offence. Westlake looked in control up 12 at halftime, behind a great offensive effort from Matt Freeman, but we knew we could not be comfortable as Middleton Grange could make a run at any stage.
That is exactly what they did in the 3rd quarter; behind an increased effort and desire that Westlake could not match, they went on to win the quarter 34-12, turning the 12 point deficit into a 10 point lead. They continued to fire at the start of the 4th quarter and pushed their lead to 16 points. With under 7 minutes to go and 14 points down it looked all but over for Westlake, but the boys came out of a timely timeout called by Coach Phil Campbell as a revitalised team. They went on a defensive and scoring tear, tighten the screws on Middleton Grange. Led by Freeman on offence, he made a huge 3-pointer and a few key drives to get Westlake going.
Defensively Westlake could not have done better, forcing several turnovers in the front court behind some great defence on the inbound pass led by Logan Hunt and Isaac Letoa. Middleton Grange threw the ball out twice and got it stolen numerous times, helping Westlake cut into the lead. A huge 3-pointer by Hunt put Westlake behind by 4 with 1 minute to go. He then hit another 3-pointer to put us 1 behind. Straight away on the inbounds, Hunt stole the ball and got hit on the layup, making both freethrows to finally take the lead. Freeman then kept his brilliance up on offence making a key shot to put Westlake up 3. Middleton finally answered with a 3-pointer to tie up the game for the final time, as Freeman iced the game with 4 made freethrows and other jump shot, taking his points total up to staggering 47 points. After looking down the face of defeat, Westlake pulled out the win 91-86.
Friday Semi-final Game: v Fraser (Hamilton), 101-99
Both teams had made it through very tough quarter-finals the previous day. Westlake pulling back a huge deficit in the 4th quarter against the number 1 seeded team and Fraser getting an overtime win against a tenacious Onehunga team.
Westlake was determined to make its fourth National Final in a row. Fraser was keen to get back into the final, after having won it all in 2010, behind a very experienced team. It was an incredibly tight game throughout, with both teams making runs at each other, only to see the other team fight back. Westlake had the ascendency at the end of the second quarter, finishing strong to take an 8 point lead at the break. Again in almost a repeat of the day before, Westlake got out played in the 3rd quarter. Fraser did not want to back down and brought their brand of tough, physical play to the game and out muscled us in the 3rd.
Westlake came into the 4th quarter looking more like the team in the first half than the 3rd quarter. They took back the lead, behind some great pressure defence from the guards, Isaac Letoa, Logan Hunt and Greg Vukets, huge effort on the boards by the big men, Joel Coffey, James Moors and Thabo Manyere and another unbelievable offensive display by Matt Freeman. With the boys hitting their shots and big back-to-back 3-pointer by Freeman and Letoa, we were up 8 points with just over a minute to go. Fraser fought back inside and pulled back the game to 3 points. With an opportunity to tie the game and the clock winding down, Fraser looked to hit a 3-pointer.
Westlake needed to play hard defence and make sure there was a hand up on any shot, unfortunately on a hard closeout by Freeman he fouled the 3-point shooter. Fraser’s Jethro Taylor coolly hit all 3 freethrows to tie the game up with 5 seconds to go. Coach Phil Campbell called a timeout and drew up a sideline out of bounds play to try and get Matt Freeman and his hot hand the ball. Letoa inbounded the ball to Freeman and he took two dribbles towards the baseline and pulled up with two guys draped all over him and drained the game winning basket! Behind this Westlake had booked its ticket in the National Final for a fourth year running. Matt Freeman had another huge game of 50 points and 15 rebounds, to back up the 47 points he score a day earlier in the quarterfinal. Isaac Letoa had a great all-around game with 19 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds and Logan Hunt played superb defence and hit some very key 3-pointers once again.
Saturday Final Game: v Rangitoto College, 63-80
In a very familiar finals match up it saw the two teams from the Shore take on each other once again. Westlake and Rangitoto had met four times previously, with Westlake taking the first two games and Rangitoto the last two.
Westlake was looking to add its 6th National Basketball title to its name, after having won back to back in 2012 and 2013 and narrowly losing by 5 points in the previous final. Rangitoto wanted to gain its first National Basketball title, and avenge their 2013 Final loss to Westlake. Right from the tip-off Rangitoto showed they really wanted the win. They moved the ball well and utilised Tai Wynyard well inside. Westlake could not find the shooting stroke it had in the past two games, and struggled to keep up with Rangitoto’s fast start.
Rangitoto managed a lead of 13 points by the end of the 1st quarter, and even with a much improved 2nd quarter Westlake was still behind by 9 at the half. Our boys tried to get the game back, but the ball would not drop and it looked like the last two games and all the effort needed to pull out wins was final catching up with them. Rangitoto pushed the lead back out into a double digit lead and it stayed that way right until the final whistle. It was a disappointing way for the week to finish for the boys who had put so much effort in to give themselves the chance to win it all again. Westlake’s Premier Team had keep the finals streak alive but ended runners-up in New Zealand for a second year in a row, getting oh so close to another title.
All boys had a great tournament and contributed well. The six 7th form boys: Logan Hunt, Matt Freeman, Joel Coffey, Corey Annandale, Alex Yang and Adam Talma, had a great last hurrah in the Westlake uniform showing outstanding leadership. The younger boys, Isaac Letoa, Greg Vukets, James Moors, Thabo Manyere, Scott Telfer and Jake Tawhiao, will all be keen to come back and try and go one step better next year!
Matthew Freeman, after an exceptional tournament being an offensive beast was named in the Tournament Team, showing why he is one of the best high school players in the country. He has been a great player for Westlake Basketball over the past three years, leaving with a National title and three finals appearances. Isaac Letoa, also had a great tournament and was selected for the Tournament Team as well, showing that he is one of the best guards in the country and will be a forced to be reckoned with in 2016. Logan Hunt led from the front all week, playing some fantastic defence and hitting some big shots. He has been a stalwart of Westlake Premier Basketball for four years and in that time has won two National titles and has played National Finals every year. A huge achievement in a great high school basketball career.