Auckland Counties Manukau scored the first 15 points of the U17 Boys Final, seven of them to Connor Woodbridge, before Nathan Curran put Harbour on the board.
A scoring burst from Isaac Letoa drew a time out from ACB coach Leyton Haddleton, 20-11 with 3:40 in the first period remaining. ACM in the lead 25-17 at the end of the first stanza.
Lesae Coe got things rolling for ACM in the second quarter. A third foul by Liam Thornton sent him to the bench to further hinder Harbour’s progress. An ACM scoring procession extended their lead to 38-21 before a pair of Brayden Inger buckets partly reduced the arrears. ACM led 44-32 at half time, Coe (9pts) leading a balanced scoring effort, Letoa’s 14 points keeping Harbour afloat.
ACM point guard Ken Smith landed his third triple to take his team to a 53-37 lead, Semisi Tu’uefiafi was playing a useful hand off the bench.
Harbour coach Kenny Stone needed a time out to stem the scoring flow, the lead 63-43 with 4 minutes remaining in the quarter. ACM didn’t have both hands on the trophy at three quarter time but they certainly had one, ahead 75-53.
A 6-0 Harbour run prompted an ACM timeout but the lead was still twenty points. Harbour didn’t throw the towel in but neither were they able to threaten the ACM lead in the final period.
Inger and Letoa were outstanding in a losing cause for Harbour. The Aruwa brothers, Sioeli Valangina and Smith were the pick of a polished ACM performance, coach Haddleton and three of his returning players going one better than runners-up in 2013
. Final score: Auckland Counties Manukau 1 102 – Valangina 25, Smith 16 (4/7 threes), Samuel Aruwa 16, Coe 11.
North Harbour A 79 – Letoa 26, Inger 19/ 10 rebounds, Zack Te Puni 12.
Otago beat Canterbury 81-70 in the 3rd/4th play-off game.
LACEY LOWDOWN 