Opunake women win first Coach McKean tournament

Basketball Taranaki 

The inaugural Coach McKean Memorial Tournament was held at the TSB Stadium on Saturday 4 March and Sunday 5th March.

Men's and women's teams from Basketball Taranaki member associations - Stratford, Opunake, Hawera and New Plymouth - came together to play for the ‘Town of Origin’ Coach McKean Memorial Awards.

The women's final saw Opunake come against New Plymouth, a team they had beaten by 20 points earlier in the day. Both teams were coached by fiercely competitive veteran NBL players - Angelo Hill (Opunake) and Aaron Bailey-Nowell (New Plymouth) - which only added spice to the game.

Opunake took out the title 81-77 in the closely fought battle. Their 14 three pointers could have taken the wind out of New Plymouth’s sail who could only manage 5. However, a strong battle in the paint against New Plymouth’s bigs helped offset Opunake’s outside shooting machine. New Plymouth stayed in the game by putting away 22 free throws (Amber Ormond 14) versus Opunake’s 7.

Players in double points were: Opunake (Eva Langton 20, Beth Cook and Arna Bright 14). New Plymouth (Raquel Sampson 25, Amber Ormond 17, Lauren Tewhata 15 and Vanessa Weir 14).

A well-deserved overall MVP award went to Eva Langton from Opunake.

The men’s final went into overtime after a clutch 3 pointer from Morgan Trott on the buzzer to level up the game 96-96. Four games in two days combined with the overtime period, saw New Plymouth East fade in the last five minutes against a huge Stratford line up who won the game 112-99.

The game was most notable for two players combining to score 93 points between them. Logan Dicker’s 50 point haul for New Plymouth showed just how unstoppable he is if he’s given the slightest opportunity. Logan’s tally included a massive 10 shots from beyond the arc and he would have had a good claim for MVP had the game gone the other way.

Coach McKean protégé and Stratford captain Quintin Bailey, led his team to victory with an equally impressive 43 points. Right from the get go, Stratford bought into the ‘Town of Origin’ concept: bringing players back from outside the region to help them on their path to victory; and preparing well for the tournament. For his efforts, Quintin was deservedly awarded MVP for the men’s final.

Players in double figures included: Stratford (Quintin Bailey 43, Brad Anderson 22, Morgan Trott 19 and Cameron Trethewey 18) New Plymouth (Logan Dicker 50, Ben Carlile-Smith 17, Sam McKinstry 12)

Coach’s wife Rachel McKean, who watched all games on both days commented that “it was an amazing weekend and I know Steve would have been excited by it all.”