We are only three weeks into the Auckland Secondary Schools Basketball season but already the newly formed Senior A competition is proving a hit.
My only beef, and it’s a minor one, would be the name of the competition. If the top eight teams in Auckland are playing in the Premier grade let’s have the next best eight playing in the Premier B Division, therefore creating A and B Premier divisions and providing more clarity to the structure of the Auckland High School basketball scene.
The Boys competition in particular is throwing up a large number of close games and encouragingly, very few blow-outs.
In week one the teams were feeling their way and there were some one sided encounters but in week two St Peter’s College, Avondale College, Manurewa High and Massey High all recorded victories but the margin was 6 points or less in three of those games.
Moving on to last Friday and the heaviest defeat was suffered by Liston College going down by 20 points to Northcote College although Liston only trailed by three points at half-time.
St Peter’s had to fight for the win against Manurewa eventually winning by 14 with Avondale only just squeezing past Pakuranga College (80-74) and there was an even tighter win for Western Springs College getting past Massey (84-80).
Manurewa dug themselves a hole in the first quarter at St Peter’s giving up 33 points to trail by 17 despite 10 points from Dominic Wallace.
It was raining threes on Manurewa as the hosts converted seven in the period via Christian Fromont, Luke Buckingham and Gerard Boersen.
Manurewa had much the better of the second quarter as Pafe Momoise went to work reducing St Peter’s lead to 41-31 at the break.
Fromont was back in the groove in the third draining another trio of triples (he hit seven in the game) but 6 points apiece from Wallace and Momoise kept the margin at ten points (62-52) at the three-quarter mark.
The same two suspects shared 19 points in the fourth but Boersen, Finlay Morris and Whititera Parata ensured it would be a third straight win for St Peter’s.
Score: St Peter’s 89 – Fromont 25, Morris 21, Boersen 14. Manurewa 75 – Momoise 31, Wallace 29, Alan Alani 9
Photo courtesy of Kelly Vivian at Spinnerchild Photography
Also digging themselves a first quarter hole was Liston College. Like Manurewa they conceded over 30 points in the opening quarter trailing 35-19 to Northcote College.
Miggy Falqueza and Jack Burton were the main beneficiaries of some suspect Liston defence logging 24 points between them in just 10 minutes.
Both would go on to record 30 point games as would Liston’s Dru Leusogi-Ape and he scored 11 second quarter points to drag his team back into the contest – down just three points, 47-44, at half-time.
The third quarter was a scoring frenzy with 66 points amassed in the period. Unfortunately Liston couldn’t maintain the momentum built up at the back end of the first half and they gave up 38 more points as Oliver Hayward and Dylan Courtney supported the good work of Falqueza and Burton.
Daysh Takimoana and Lev Prokefyev each scored 8 second half points for Liston but Northcote were untroubled in the closing stages as they logged a first win.
Score: Northcote 111 – Falqueza 36p/12r, Burton 35, Hayward 13p/16r, Courtney 12 Liston 91 – Leusogi-Ape 30, Prokefyev 13, Takimoana `12, Saxon 9
Senior A Standings
3-0 St Peter’s
2-1 Avondale, Manurewa, Western Springs
1-2 Northcote, Pakuranga, Massey
0-3 Liston
LACEY LOWDOWN 