Giants, Saints entertain stadium crowd

Peter Jones

A boisterous crowd of around 900 packed Marlborough Lines Stadium on Saturday afternoon as a couple of National Basketball League heavyweights came to play.

The Nelson Giants and Wellington Saints squared off in their final pre-season clash before the national league begins next week, with the Nelson side coming out convincing 78-64 victors after leading from the early stages. Although both sides were short of their imported players, the annual match-up offered a chance for some of the lesser lights to showcase their skills and push for more game time.

Nelson Giants head coach Mike Fitchett was pleased with the effort of his charges, who looked the more prepared side after having the luxury of a couple of hitouts against the Canterbury Rams on the West Coast last weekend.

“I think this was the Saints first hit-out, but we were able to shake off a bit of rust last weekend,” said Mike.

“It is good that we showed some improvement today. I’m really happy with how we played – I wasn’t expecting the guys to play as well as that. We were energetic, aggressive and just stuck to our game plan.”

He was thrilled with the atmosphere in the stadium.

“The crowd was awesome. We have been coming here for a number of years and it was by far the best crowd we have had.

“You can tell that the Marlborough Basketball Association staff have been doing a hell of a job … the ‘sold out’ signs were up, so you can tell that the community is pretty engaged with basketball.

“It’s really cool to play a pre-season game with a bit of atmosphere, a real treat, good fun.”

The experienced Giants’ coach was wary of making predictions regarding their chances in the forthcoming NBL season.

“We hope to be in the semis again … we have a lot of returning players but our imports will all be new. We will start again and see how it goes.

“The league is really strong, there is not a weak team out there. Six out of the 10 teams will make it to the play-offs so I don’t know … toss a coin and pick six.”

Final score: Nelson Giants 78

Wellington Saints 64 (Quarter scores: 22-19, 22-8, 18-15, 16-22).

In a lively curtain-raiser, a Marlborough Magic combination took on a side from ABC Nelson and came out on top 89-80.