MAGS coach Daryl Cartwright
The Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade Qualifying Tournament has come down to the final four, the winner’s of the two semi-final games gaining entry to the elite top eight competition. Those games to be played at St Kentigern College on Sunday morning feature MAGS v St Kentigern College and Kelston Boys HS v Mt Roskill GS.
MAGS were without coach Daryl Cartwright, absent with a bout of food poisoning, but were still composed enough to secure top spot in Pool B. They were pushed all the way by a valiant Pakuranga College before eventually winning 80-63.
Second place in Pool B was decided by an exciting encounter between St Peter’s and St Kentigern College. St Peter’s led by the impressive Finlay Morris shaded the first half 38-33 but a Joel Vaiangina dunk edged St Kent’s ahead 54-53 at three-quarter time. The left handed centre continued to keep the score ticking over in the final quarter as the hosts forged a ten points lead with under five minutes to play. That lead was extended further in the final minutes, St Kent’s booking a semi-final berth with an 80-67 victory.
Kelston Boys High School dominated Pool A and like MAGS finished pool play with a 4-0 record. They were given a scare by Macleans college when the scores were locked 54 apiece early in the third quarter. However Kelston dominated the back end of the game to win 102-85. Later in the day they comfortably accounted for Avondale College 79-50.
Runners-up in Pool 2 was not decided until the final game of the day. The swarming Pakuranga College defence held Mt Roskill to just 8 points in the second period helping them to a 30-25 half-time lead.
Ironically Pakuranga were held to 8 points themselves in a low scoring third period as they hung on to a 38-37 advantage.
It was a single point game with 4 minutes to play but a pair of long threes from Zane Lueluaia-Hughes broke the game open and aided by Randy Sjafrie Roskill pulled off a 65-57 win to earn a semi-final play-off against Kelston on Sunday.
Day 2 Results
Pool A
St Kentigern 100 – Max Shorter 33, Joel Vaiangina 32 Macleans Coll 79 – Blake Van Uden 18, Sairaj Kuvelkar 17
St Peter’s 87 – D’Angelo Niupopo 25, Finlay Morris 20 Avondale Coll 69 – David Gatolai 17, Kennedy Nikolaison 13
Macleans Coll 85 – Blake Van Uden 25, Scott Pu 11, Alex Arthur 11 Kelston 102 – Linus Jakszt 48, Kale Lawson 15
St Kentigern 80 – Joel Vaiangina35, Kyle Robb 13 St Peter’s 67 – Finlay Morris 15, George Boersen 14
Kelston 79 Avondale 50
Pool B
Mt Albert 65 – Michael Gardner 22, Jack Morrison 16 Alfriston Coll 37 – Joel Singsam 18, Jakob Hura 7
Mt Roskill 108 – Randy Sjafrie 45, Zarne Lueluai-Hughes 36 Massey HS 78 – Roy Iro 25, Austin Cameron 24
Mt Albert 80 – Michael Gardner 17, Xjana Luamanuvae 11, John-Afi Stowers-Atafu 11 Pakuranga 63 – Devan Nathan 15, Christian Blanque 13
Alfriston 77 – Joel Singsam 34, D’troit Leef-Hama 13 Massey 74 – Austin Cameron 27, Emmanuel Tusa Fa’alili 15
Pakuranga 57 65 Mt Roskill
Standings after Pool Play
Pool A
4-0 Kelston Boys HS
3-1 St Kentigern Coll
2-2 St Peter’s College
1-3 Macleans Coll
0-4 Avondale Coll
Pool B
4-0 Mt Albert GS
3-1 Mt Roskill GS
2-2 Pakuranga College
1-3 Alfriston Coll
0-4 Massey HS
LACEY LOWDOWN 