The quarter final match up looked tricky for the Harbour Boys A team. They had lost their final pool match so would be up against top of pool four Canterbury Metro Red .

The refereeing was the talking point throughout the start of the game as the incredibly quick whistle put Harbour off and had Canterbury shooting freethrows the majority of the first quarter.

Jared Thornton and Taylor Yang had two fouls each in the opening minutes sending both to the bench.

Miggy Falqueza and Logan McIntosh scored heavily for Harbour showing their experience from last year’s A team both were a part of. McIntosh and Dominic Chen drained threes for Harbour who trailed 37-32 at the end of one.

Another Chen three opened the second quarter and McIntosh followed suit a few minutes later. Thornton was able to get back in the game and make a difference rebounding and being an inside deterrent.

Reimar Cruz played tremendously well on defense putting immense pressure on the Canterbury guards and Harbour was able to get steals from the resulting poor passes.

McIntosh emphatically denied a layup attempt with a chase down block that pinned the ball to the backboard. The second period finished with the gap at one, Canterbury up 62-61.

Falqueza started the third with a three and Harbour began scoring with ease. The refs were talked to at half time by one of their mentors who must have suggested putting their whistles away as the game started to look like proper basketball in the second half.

The A team was able to push ahead to a 12 point lead through a solid quarter of pressure defense and great thinking and patience on offense. Entering the final period Harbour were up 93-81 after winning the third 32-19.

The final quarter saw Harbour’s aptly named ‘Beast’ take over. Jared Thornton dominated inside as the Canterbury team wasn’t able to match his skill, athleticism, and size.

He had at least ten points in the period including a MONSTER two handed dunk off a steal at half court that brought the supporters and the bench to their feet. The dunk also impacted Canterbury who looked dumbfounded and never could lift to make a run after the jam.

Final score ended with Harbour going to the semi final with a 11-97 victory.