The Harbour Boys B team suited up for their second game of Day One playing an athletic and physical Palmerston North team.

The boys got off to a slow start as the pressure defense that Palmerston North applied resulted in turnovers. In the early stages it seemed that Palmy were always one step ahead in their passing and defense and Harbour were just a tad late with their choices.

Tyler Martin and Joon Back linked up nicely for a lay up then Ethan McClelland knocked down a wing three. Palmerston North called time out up 18-9 with 2.39 left in the first quarter to halt the run.

Kobe Chapman from Palmerston North was very impressed with numerous drives to the hoop and post ups that the B team couldn’t contain. His size and strength played a big role in the early lead for his team.

Sean Murphy drained a three off of a nice play then Ben Spencer-Powell drove to the hoop to get the bucket and the foul on a quick fast break.

Martin then hit a three pointer from the carpark as the first quarter buzzer sounded to bring Harbour back to only a three point deficit after one period of play, 21-18.

Jay-D Foley-Wilson opened the second quarter with a lay up however, Palmerston North were able to pressure the Harbour guards into costly turnovers which extended the lead to 32-20 before Harbour called time out.

Martin hit another impressive shot for Harbour with a step back mid range jumper which was followed up with a second McClelland three pointer off of Murphy’s dish. The nice shooting wasn’t able to keep the score close however as Palmerston North finished the first half up 47-32.

The third quarter continued much the same for the Harbour boys as the Palmerston North team continued to press full court creating multiple turnovers and difficult possessions for the Harbour offense.

Palmerston North also began aggressively getting into fast break situations themselves getting easy open buckets three times in a row off of Harbour freethrows. Inbounding the ball to a guard who would pass ahead for a sprinting wing to finish.

The lead quickly blew out and Harbour had much difficulty scoring in either the half court or fast break. Tyler Martin continued to impress with confidence oozing from him. Vincent Trasmontero also dazzled on one play giving his defender three quick cross over moves that wowed the crowd which saw his defender frozen to the spot.

The final quarter started with Harbour down big time, 72-38, only managing six points in the third. Unfortunately they were unable to bring the score back and ended up going down 92-51 at the end of regulation.

In the first game of the day the B team kept it close with Hawkes Bay but were undone by foul trouble to several key members of the team. The final score was 73-58 in favour of the Bay team.