Senior A vs Old Boys – an all-star face-off
18 Sep 2020
In a nail-biting finish after a neck and neck game it was the Old Boys who pulled through, taking a 97–95 win at the inaugural Old Boys vs Senior A basketball match on Saturday 8 August.
The gymnasium was packed with family, friends and supporters keen to see some exciting talent on the court.
The Old Boys’ team featured current Rams player Mason Whittaker, fresh from Sal’s NBL showdown in Auckland; former Rams player Max Darling, who has played two seasons professionally in Croatia and has just signed a three-year deal with the Wollongong Hawks in the Australian league; Will Harrison and Max de Geest, both back in New Zealand from the US, where they are on basketball scholarships – Will at St Lawrence University, New York, and Max at California State University, Long Beach; along with Tom Crutchley, Hunter Aarts, Rupert Whyte, Sam McGuire, Ben Thomson, Henry Patterson, Will Lovell and Flynn Mann (captain), and coaches Tony Mann, Andrew Harrison and Brian de Geest.
The match proved highly entertaining and competitive, especially with the Patterson, Harrison and de Geest brothers playing on opposing teams, trading baskets and showing no mercy. It was close all the way. The Senior A team held the lead going into the 4th quarter, but in the end, it was the Old Boys who managed to scrape the win.
A huge thank you to game day sponsor Upright Solutions and to everyone who made the event happen, as well as to the Old Boys for travelling from all over the country to don the black singlet and make it such a great occasion. There is a lot of enthusiasm to make this event part of an annual celebration of College basketball – a popular and growing sport.
