Western News: April 09, 2019

WESTERN NEWS Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday April 9 2019 19
SPORTS
• By Gordon Findlater
ST THOMAS of Canterbury
College players had mixed
emotions after two penalty
shootouts at the New Zealand
secondary schools futsal
championships.
Both the school’s senior and
junior boys sides played grandfinals
in the space of two hours
at the tournament in Wellington
after advancing through pool
play and the knockout section.
In the junior final, St Thomas
and Wellington’s St Patrick’s
College finished at 2-2 following
normal and extra time.
St Thomas then suffered
heartbreak, losing the penalty
shootout 3-2.
“Our senior team were all
watching the game, as soon
as they lost on penalties they
came on and got everyone in a
big huddle and talked to them.
Each of the senior players was
comforting a junior player, it
was pretty cool to see,” said St
Thomas’ teacher Jacob Allen,
who heaped praise on the teams
coaches Shannen Vailuu and
James Vallance.
The senior team then turned
around the school’s penalty
fortunes. St Thomas opened the
scoring in the senior final against
Wellington’s Scots College
CHAMPIONS:
St Thomas’
senior side
celebrate
winning the
senior boys
title at the
New Zealand
secondary
schools futsal
championships.
Win and loss for St Thomas
when Aashish Rai drove home
a low free kick. They were then
reduced to four players for 2min
when Tom Stewart received a
second yellow card, allowing
Scots to equalise.
Locked at 1-1 after normal and
extra-time, St Thomas nailed
their first two penalties, courtesy
of Mika Rabuka and Seth
Simpson.
St Thomas’ goalkeeper then
pulled off a huge save which
allowed Rai to seal the win
when he scored the team’s third
penalty.
Earlier in the tournament
the senior girls title was won by
Rangiora High School.
Best ever result at
national basketball
tournament
• By Gordon Findlater
ST THOMAS of Canterbury
College’s junior 3 x 3 basketball
team have created history by
achieving the school’s greatest
ever result at a national
tournament.
The team came within a
whisker of claiming the title in
Tauranga being pipped by Hastings
Boys’ High School 13-15 in
overtime after the schools were
locked at 13-13 after regulation
time.
“To have success at the junior
South Island tournament last
year, and then follow that up at
a national competition, means
we are putting our school on
the map,” said coach Neville
Booker.
The squad of Hunter Adam,
ACCOMPLISHED
St Thomas’ junior
basketballers made
school history by
finishing second at
the national 3 x 3
secondary school
tournament.
Jack Coulthard, Louie Gordon,
Hugo Gonzalez and Harvey
Cogle got the week off to a great
start winning six of their seven
pool-play matches with a 10-15
loss to Hamilton Boys’ High
School their only blemish.
In the quarter-final, they defeated
Taupo-nui-a-Tia College
14-11 and then turned around
their pool play result to defeat
Boys’ High School 12-6 in the
semi-final.
In the final St Thomas’ trailed
by two with just seconds remaining
in regulation time before
Gonzalez hit a game-tying
shot from long range. However,
they were overcome in overtime.
St Thomas’ also competed
in the senior championship,
finishing 14th.