BARBER Boys White has convincingly defeated St Mary’s Orange, 50-32 to begin its reign as the kings of the Hamilton Basketball Association division one men’s competition.

In front of a very good crowd at Hamilton Indoor Leisure and Aquatic Centre that was treated to some outstanding basketball on Wednesday night, the Barber Boys took control of the contest from the outset as Aaron Glare and Nate Krause controlled the tempo of play.

Barber Boys White got out to a handy lead in the first half before a time out was called for St Mary’s Orange to regroup and compose itself.

The shooting from St Mary’s Orange improved as Deacon White started to find his range and by the time of the next time out, the scoreboard was a little more respectable with the Barber Boys White leading 19-13.

The gap started to widen even more as Barber Boys made the St Mary’s players shoot from outside, such was the defensive pressure being applied inside the key.

The “Twin Towers” of Nathan Hardingham and Shai Bunworth dominated the boards in defence and ensured that the St Mary’s Orange shooters were unable to score easy lay-ups.

At the siren for halftime, Barber Boys were in front 23-16 and that margin would have been greater if not for a three-point shot mere seconds before the siren from St Mary’s.

The second half started with defence being the key for both teams as the shooters for each side found the target hard to find.

Except for the odd basket in the first four minutes of the half the scores remained static, but once Barber Boys found the range the score mounted quickly.

So dominant was Barber Boys White that the game was over as a contest less than halfway through the second half as St Mary’s failed to make the most of the scoring opportunities on offer.

As the final siren was about to sound, St Mary’s Josh Hallam landed his second three-point shot of the game to make the final score 50-32 in favour of Barber Boys White.

Nate Krause and Jakob Greeves lead the scoring for Barber Boys with 12 points each, while Deacon White was the only St Mary’s Orange player to reach double figures with 11 points.