Rams Finish 3-0 at the Westside Blitz

This past week saw the Canterbury Rams head west for the Westside Blitz preseason in Greymouth. The team played 3 games across 4 days, ultimately finishing in second place. A special thank you goes out to Kelvin Fisher for organising such an action-packed event. 

The Rams’ first opponent of the Blitz was the Sal’s NBL’s newest franchise, the Whai. Kaia Isaac led the way scoring 28 points and dishing out 7 assists, including back-to-back and-one plays in the fourth quarter. Taylor Britt got to the basket at will en route to 23 points and the highlight of the game came in the final few moments with a ferocious poster from 16-year-old Mana Martin! The Rams closed the game out 78-74. 

“That week was a huge success for us. We learnt a lot more about ourselves and the other teams in the NBL,” said Head Coach Judd Flavell. “We also started to establish a little bit of an identity. We talked about an identity prior to arriving at the Blitz and it’s great seeing us come through the other side of that with a picture of what we can do and what we can be. Obviously a lot of big pieces are still missing but this was a great indicator of what the Rams of 2024 can be.”

Game two saw the Rams face off against the Southland Sharks in an overtime thriller. Mana Martin came to play, scoring 18 points on 7/11 shooting. 15 points from Max Darling and the overtime heroics of Aidan Tonge contributed towards an 84-81 victory over the Sharks. 

“I’m really happy with seeing the guys like Kaia taking a step up in leadership – we’ve started to see that in the preseason,” continued Flavell. “We had people that had put on a Rams singlet for the first time – younger guys. Watching Tama and Mana, those two in particular played big minutes and really stood up and were able to compete at that level but I also saw moments from everybody else including Will, Ihaka and Hugo. Those young guys are going to have big seasons. Josh Nickel has worked hard getting into shape over the offseason and it’s paying off for him. He hasn’t had a lot of time and exposure in the NBL but he’s given me the confidence that if I need to put him in there, he’s ready to deliver”

Before the tipoff of our last bit of preseason action, Ihaka Cate represented the Rams in the Westside Blitz Slam Dunk Contest. Competing alongside Auckland’s Jackson Kiss, Nelson’s Kaleb Chamberlain, and Taranaki’s Carlin Davison, Cate put on a show by throwing down a two-handed reverse and a self alley-oop slam off the backboard. 

The Wellington Saints were our final preseason matchup and Assistant Coach Liam Connelly stepped up to the plate for this game, taking on head coaching responsibilities. “It was a really fun and fast paced game to be a part of,” said Connelly. “We had excellent leadership from key members of our group, and a number of our younger players were able to really show the impact they can make at this level.”

Mana Martin followed up his breakout performance with a 19-point showing and 17-year-old guard Tama Isaac took a step forward, finishing with 14 points and 4 assists. Our Canterbury mainstays showed out too in the 106-84 win against the Saints. Max Darling nailed 5 triples and Aidan Tonge built off the momentum of his previous game, recording 20 points and 6 rebounds. 

“We spoke before the game about the fact that we wanted to continue to establish ourselves as one of the most hard working groups in the league that takes pride in all the little things,” added Connelly. “Our guys really care about that and they made sure to make the most of that opportunity, ensuring this game was another key step forward for us.”

Despite going undefeated over the week, the Rams narrowly missed out on the Westside Blitz title due to a point differential tiebreaker with the Taranaki Airs. Regardless, the Westside Blitz was a major success for the team in preparing for the season ahead. 

Buy tickets for our home opener against the Nelson Giants on March 27th and be there to witness the unveiling of our 2023 championship banner!