Cardinals sign off by winning club title
QEC and we’ve been together more or less ever since,’’ Kells said. ‘‘We decided, because it was getting a bit harder every year and we were getting older, to call it a day.’’
It had been hoped they would keep going until their kids could take over, but they are still too young and could revive team in a few years.
QEC was the strongest school in Manawatu in those days.
They were originally coached by Joe Frost and the core of the team have been players like Callum Brock, Darron Larsen, Selwyn Baxter and more recently Kaine Hokianga, Paul Bristol and Tia Temata-Frost, although Frost didn’t play this season.
Most of them have played for the Manawatu Jets over the years or been on the fringes.
In Wednesday’s final, Slow Break made a slow start and were down 21-9 after the first quarter, but roared back to be level at 27-all at halftime. It was all Cardinals after that, as Slow Break scored only 18 points for the rest of the game, while Cardinals scored 19 in the final quarter alone.
Hokianga scored a game-high 25 points, and both Brock and Bristol scored 11 points. Ben Valentine and Kent Mori did most of the scoring for Slow Break, with 19 and 11 points respectively.
Palmerston North High School
Girls’
won the women’s final for the first time, beating
71-58. Nicole Cutler led the way for the schoolgirls with 24 points and New Zealand age-group rep Maia Watling had 14 points, as Girls’ High recovered from 17-14 down after the first quarter.
Girls’ High scored 24 points in the second quarter to Mumba’s 12, to take a 38-29 halftime lead.
Girls’ High then scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and Mumba could only manage six, as the score blew out at the end.
Rosa Antunovic top scored for Mumba with 17 and Charlie Stenberg had 16.
P-Town Crooks won the social final, beating PCA 72-50.
Mumba Hinds
In the intermediate finals, Ross Intermediate School won the year 7 and 8 girls final, beating Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School Tall Blues 29-24.
Monrad School MonStars beat Ross Intermediate School Aces 49-45 in the year 7 and 8 pool one final.
Intermediate Normal Jets beat the Intermediate Normal Airs 26-19 in the year 7 and 8 boys pool two final.
In the mixed pool one final, Te Kura Kaupapa Aihe beat Roslyn School Breakers 21-20.
In the mixed pool two final, Cornerstone Christian School Wildcats beat Bainesse School 59-29