Basketball.

Trembling and weak-kneed after defeats at Touranment, and with four of our number new to senior A grade, a sorry nine walked on to the field to open the season against Kia Ora, last year's champions. Our narrow win of 15-14 surprised the onlookers and exhilarated us to such a pitch that we have continued winning.

How long we will continue to win while attendances at practice are so poor is hard to say. The score would indicate that we have improved, but anyone knowing the standard of the teams played will realise that this is not so. Really we have shown no improvement since the beginning of the season, while the two strongest teams remain to be played. Individually the players are good: lack of full practices is the trouble.

Margaret Pilcher is a good acquisition and is playing brilliantly in the centre, while the regularity of Margaret Gibbons' goal-shooting is almost uncanny. Joan Young, Marie Walker and Roma Hore are all playing well among the newcomers to the B team.

The B's have so far this season met with little success, and perhaps would improve if they took as their motto "Adaptation and bias passing."

And a word to both teams: Wake up! Lose our title of "second-spell teams."

This week's bouquet for academic lore goes to the Capping Book editors. who ascribed to Tennyson the lines:

Be good, sweet maid.

And let who will, be clever.

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