Basketball thriller: Westville finish strong, Kearsney hold on
An 8-point lead after the first quarter; an 18-point lead at half-time; 11 points ahead going into the final quarter; then the Kearsney College firsts’ wheels almost came off.
The Westville firsts basketball team were not done yet; upping the pace they won the final stanza 28-20 but in the end it was just a three-pointer too far to make up; the Kearsney lads edging them out by 77-74 to take the honours.
Tracey van den Aardweg feature image: Ryan Wimbush of Kearsney College firsts and SA U16.
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It was a classic finale to the 2018 basketball year.
The top performers for Kearsney were Dillon Wimbush (35 points) and Max Hastings-Brown (12).
The big numbers for Westville came from Cameron Best (20 points), Jude Joseph (12) and Jed Hayman (11).
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MATCH ANALYSIS
Kearsney started well, finding fluidity on offence and scoring freely.
Westville didn’t appear to have an answer for the Kearsney offence, but also managed to score easily on Kearsney’s defence.
Kearsney closed out the first quarter 23-15 ahead.
Max Hastings-Brown of Kearsney College firsts basketball & SA U16 doing his thing against Westville. Photo Tracey van den Aardweg
The second quarter was much the same, with Kearsney outscoring their opponents, but also allowing easy baskets to be scored against them.
Kearsney went into half time with a commanding 43-25 lead.
There was not much change in the third quarter, with Kearsney comfortably 57-46 ahead.
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The fourth quarter was a different ball game.
Westville upped the tempo and found their scoring rhythm.
Kearsney made some silly defensive errors and allowed Westville to shoot free throws and cut significantly into their lead, while not being able to make their own free throws.
The quarter almost saw Kearsney lose a game in which they were in total control for most of the match.
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It was a valuable lesson to the Kearsney players not to underestimate their opposition and to remain focused until the final whistle.
Kearsney managed to hold on to a 77-74 win.
* Two Kearsney basketball players, Max Hastings-Brown and Ryan Wimbush, have been selected for the SA U16 basketball team to participate in the African Union Sports Council Zone 5 Games, to be held in Gaborone, Botswana during December.
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