With semester one in the books and semester two under way there is plenty that has happened since my first blog of the year. Some classes have come to an end with new ones to look forward to. The Hawks basketball season has come to an end as well.
The Hawks season finished as fast as it started it seems but through the fast paced action fans were not disappointed. The goal for this year was always to win the championship game and with last year’s result of losing in the semi-finals showed that as a team and an organisation we had made steps in the right direction. This year we finished second overall with 14 wins from 18 games. This was a huge achievement for the team and really showed the positive effects from all the sacrifices we had made as a team. This year also displayed some of the top talents in basketball with two of our imports being named to the all-star 5 (five best players out of all the teams in the league).
With our teams huge success from this year’s league we had the opportunity to move on to the final four which was held in Christchurch at Horncastle Arena. This was a great achievement from the squad but we knew that we still had big games on the way. For our semi-final game we took on the home town team Canterbury Rams with the team finishing in third place just behind us. The Rams were a well-oiled machine with many of the team members receiving such accolades as coach of the year, guard of the year and also best defender. So we knew we had a battle on our hands. The biggest advantage that the home side had was their fans which we knew we had to keep at bay to give us a chance at moving onto the finals. Fortunately for us after 40 minutes of playing and after a close affair by both teams we managed to hold the Rams off for a 74-68 win.
Now on to the very next day…
The finals were upon us and it had us vs the Wellington Saints which had an undefeated season as of yet. This had the top two teams squaring off. To start the game we had everything clicking as a unit and found ourselves with a handy lead to go into the half. The second half however, talked of a different tale as we failed to connect on shots we had made all year long. In the end it was a close encounter with the Wellington Saints winning the Final. Although it is hard to lose in the Finals upon reflection the season was a major success. Placing second in a couple of years after having a winless season is majorly impressive to say the least. Also having the opportunities we had in the Finals and with a different blow of the whistle here and there could have had us celebrating the clubs second championship. Although it was not to be.