Basketball team City Hawks put on winning display

The City Hawks scored a major coup over competition leaders Whangaruru when they won their Super Six Basketball clash 82-69.

Saturday's loss was the first of the season for Whangaruru, and sweet revenge for the Hawks who lost their previous encounter this season by five points and sit in second spot on the ladder.

The start of the game was marred however, when Whangaruru player Caleb Henare was sent off for using improper behaviour towards referee Peter Marshall. The incident at Kensington Stadium will be seriously reviewed by the Super Basketball League judiciary this week.

It was not the ideal beginning to the game but it was soon sidelined by a thrilling basketball game between the top two teams in the competition.

City were without key players point guard Kane Rudolph and centre Warrick Siddell but pulled together as a team and reaped the rewards.

New recruit Ethan Benedict from Cleveland recently moved to Whangarei and has made an impact on the court for the Hawks.

The small forward shot consistently and worked hard on getting rebounds throughout Saturday's clash, as did Jonno Lawson. The versatile six foot five power forward, who has a huge physical presence on the court, defended well, Hawks' top scorer Travis McIlroy (39 points) said.

There was plenty of hustle in the game, and McIlroy suffered a bruised hip in the first quarter when he fell on the knee of Whangaruru's Carmen Hetaraka, but despite the injury played on.

There was nothing in the game at half time, with the Hawks just leading 47-45 and at the end of the third quarter things were still tied up at 62-62.

It was the fourth quarter however, when the Hawks pulled away - shooting 20 points to Whangaruru's seven.

When Hetaraka, who was scoring a lot for Whangaruru, was fouled out, the wheels seemed to fall off, McIlroy said.

A knee injury to key player Aaron Saddler in the third quarter did not help Whangaruru's cause either, he added.

McIlroy said his side were delighted they had toppled the competition leaders in a hardened battle, where his team really pulled together as a unit and the young players stepped up.

In other matches played this weekend, Raumanga and Portland fought it out in a rematch of last season's grandfinal.

Defending champions Raumanga, currently in third spot on the table, dominated Portland from early on, winning 87-62. Portland took a while to fire, and were on the back foot after the first quarter down 22-14, and by half time Raumanga had extended their lead to 50-26.

Portland topscorer Hayden Bird helped Portland claw their way back in to the game shooting 29 points, while Raumanga's Herb Smith (21), Corey Te Tai (20) and Scott McDonald (20) all contributed to their victory.

In Friday night's clash, Maunu who are fourth on the points table defeated cellar dwellers Kaikohe 87-75. Ethan Penney impressed, topscoring for Maunu with 35 points, while Hayden Hill backed him up with 22 points.

For Kaikohe, a team with massive potential but who remain winless this side of Christmas, brothers Arahi and Atama O'Donnell performed well, scoring 23 and 25 points respectively.

The second round of the Super Six Basketball League resumes on January 14, with seven round robin games, followed by two weeks featuring semifinals and the final.