Newspaper Article 1957 – HB Team’s Successes

HB. TEAM’S SUCCESSES

The Hawke’s Bay basketball team met with a considerable amount of success at the New Zealand tournament at Timaru, and three of its players, Mrs C. Bartlett, Misses M. Esler and L. Carr, gained places in the North Island team. The team was beaten by narrow margins only and the coach, Mrs Rona McCarthy, has good reason to feel proud of her charges.

The weather was fine for the opening game against Southland, and Hawke’s Bay played a good clean game to win 24-16 after leading 15-9 at the interval. C. Bartlett was outstanding in this game and the shooting of M. Esler and J. Templeman was of a high order.

Manawatu were outclassed in all thirds, the Hawke’s Bay centres playing particularly well. J. McLaren gave a good display and again the shooting of M. Esler was remarkable. She scored 21 out of 28 goals. M. Kilkelly suffered an injury and was replaced by M. Stuart, who played well. The final score, 28-16 was a good indication of Hawke’s Bay’s superiority.

Canterbury, the ultimate Cup winners, were definitely a better combination than Hawke’s Bay, but against Wellington, Hawke’s Bay deserved their win. In this game Z. Poole and S. Coombes played brilliantly. At half-time Hawke’s Bay led 16-13, and in the second spell they drew away, shooting 12 goals. L. Carr was the main key in the centre. The final score favoured Hawke’s Bay by 28-19.

Cold and wet weather ruled for the game against Tauranga, which Hawke’s Bay won 19-16. Prominent players in this game were M. Kilkelly, S. Lassen, Z. Poole, C. Bartlett and S. Coombes.

The game with Otago was an exciting one, with Otago winning 25-21. Hawke’s Bay missed nine shots against Otago’s two in this match. L. Carr was of great assistance to the centres.

In the Auckland match both sides were off in their shooting. Seven minutes from the end the score was 13-all, but Auckland made a successful rally and won 19-14.

Feature of the game with Wanganui was M. Esler’s shooting of 13 of the side’s 17 goals. At half-time Hawke’s Bay led 12-9, but they lost form in the second spell and were beaten 20-17.