It was always going to be a tough choice for Samuel Pawson this year but he has no regrets after giving up Wakely Shield rugby for Hawke's Bay rep basketball.
"I'm enjoying it lots ... I'm still playing rep cricket in summer," said the Tamatea Intermediate pupil last night after his Bay A team remained undefeated during the Central Zone Under-13 tourney at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale.
However, the Saracens No8 player got a wake-up call yesterday in their match against Palmerston North before scraping home 55-52 after a comfortable 52-47 victory over Wellington A in the morning.
"They [Palmy] were beating us all the time but then we started to play with a lot more enthusiasm," Pawson said, adding coach Shane Brown whipped out his clipboard at halftime as they trailed by about 15 points and, between doodling, urged them to bring out their A game.
"With 30 seconds to go we were beating them by two but then they levelled but in the last few seconds we kept scoring."