Basketballers finish with a deserved win over city rivals
Photos: Justyn Hardcastle
UNIVERSITY OF YORK 49 vs. YORK ST. JOHN 43
BUCS Northern Conference 3B, Wednesday 4 March 2009
In recent weeks York men’s basketball firsts have put on some scintillating shows for the spectators in the dusty confines of the Sports Centre Main Hall and, carrying on that tradition, they didn’t disappoint in their final match of the season today against city rivals York St. John.
Today’s match-up took on a particular significance given this year’s cancellation of Varsity and two very evenly-matched teams shook off some sloppy early play to produce a second half of extraordinary excitement.
As is sometimes the way with derbies, the first half was tight and cagey, with York managing to take a slender two-point advantage into the break thanks to several threes from the in-form Robert Kazimierowicz, who had fourteen points on the night.
At the interval, the paucity of the first two quarters’ play had several fans ruing their decision to venture all the way to the Sports Centre on such a bitterly cold day, and stand-in referee Seb Taro-Groth even cheekily suggested to this reporter that he might have to randomly eject a player, such was his desperation to liven things up. But York came out for the second period – the score at 27-25 – and put on a basketballing clinic for their rivals. The home side found an infectious rhythm, instigated by the lean, mean rebounding machine of Jean Paul Niyongabo hauling down defensive boards against his taller, aggressive opponent at the centre position; and he was helped by some tough defensive play from rookie point-guard Petri Danielson, who belied his size to rack up an unhealthy number of steals over the course of the game. Most impressive though was the terrific ball movement through the whole team – something that captain Ronan Joyce has worked tirelessly to weave into York’s game over the course of the season.
But the game was only heating up for what would be a stunning finale. York, having struggled for inside points all game, lead by six points at 38-32 going into the fourth quarter and some excellent shooting from the impressive Ben Barrett saw them maintain the run as the minutes ticked by. The game turned on a fantastic piece of skill from big-man Brendan Moran, who spun on the baseline and threw up a stunning, fade-away jump-shot in spite of a hefty slap on the wrist. And when it dropped, sending him to the charity stripe for one more, the home bench rose as one in raucous celebration. Though he couldn’t make it a three-point play, Moran was rescued by a sublime Joyce tip-in, and the captain sent a roar towards the bench to confirm the significance of the newly-established ten point lead.
St. John were rattled and took a time-out with 3:15 remaining on the clock, still ten points down and with city pride at stake. And then it happened. That is when this reporter saw man fly. Ben Barrett spotted a fast-moving Saints player out of the corner of his eye and, as the unfortunate, unsuspecting victim took aim for what appeared the simplest of lay-ups, little Ben rose through the air, took due care to inspect the despicable dust-levels lingering on the top edge of the backboard, and came down again to smash the ball out of bounds. The crowd went wild – some people, whose nerves couldn’t bear such a thrashing, even threatened to leave the building – and the smell of victory wafted nauseously.
St. John responded in the only appropriate way; with a dunk. It may be a very rare occurrence at university level, especially in Northern Conference 3B, but this wasn’t any normal dunk, no; this was a dunk ‘straight outta Compton’, a Roker Park special, something only the Lebron Jameses and Kobe Bryants of this world are supposed have in their armouries. The York St. John Centre ran a fast-break and, with no regard for human life, defied those centuries-old Newtonian laws to slam the ball home right in the face of the fast-backtracking York defender. His team celebrated as if they had won the league, invading the court with customary fist-pumping, chest-thumping antics. The highlight reel had taken a severe battering, but more importantly, the visitors were right back in contention.
But it would prove to be too little too late in a highly strung final two minutes. The tension called for some experienced basketball, which was duly delivered by York captain Ronan Joyce, who directed his team superbly to a deserved 49-43 victory.
“We went into the fourth quarter with the kind of slim lead we have often thrown away this season so it was fantastic to get the win at the end,” said a jubilant Joyce. “We normally struggle in situations like that but today our pressing game worked perfectly and that was the key to securing the points.”
Joyce has done a stellar job with a very inexperienced group this year and his hard work should leave them in good stead for the coming seasons. “Many of the players out there today will be around for the next year or two years, so we are now in a strong position. We have really made a big improvement in BUCS this year after the disappointments in 2007-2008, and a third or fourth place finish [at the time of writing] is very pleasing,” said Joyce.
York Line-up: Dane Vishnubala, Ronan Joyce, Deniz Ekren, Dave Nalton, Nikos Stathopoulos, Petri Danielson, Jean Paul Niyongabo, Robert Kazimierowicz, Ben Barrett, Edward de Moraville, Brendan Moran, Marcus Johannson
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