The Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade competition resumed on Friday after the school holiday break.
Rangitoto College have been used to managing with a depleted roster this season due to a succession of injuries but this week there were more crosses in the absent column than ticks on the present register.
No fewer than six regulars were missing due to injury and representative duty and with coach Kenny Stone also absent Angela Perrott-Hunt was required to call on four debutants to bolster the Rangitoto ranks.
Ryan Laumatia scored a couple of early baskets for Mt Albert but a corner three from New Zealand U16 guard Obadaiah Paea kept Rangitoto in touch at quarter time – 16-14 to MAGS.
An And-1 play from Ethan Mandeno tied proceedings at 19 points each – the Rangi guard then scored again to move his team ahead.
Te Akau Pumipi scored 7 straight points for MAGS but they trailed 26-23 with 5:40 left in the second following a Mandeno three – Daryl Cartwright, back on board after Junior Tall Blacks duty, needed a timeout.
Xjana Luamanuvae-Su’a scored on the resumption, as did Jack Morrison, MAGS ahead 34-32 at the interval.
Mandeno led all scorers at the break with 17 points, Pumipi not far behind with 13.
MAGS, helped by triples from Sataan Tawera and Luamanuvae-Su’a began the second half with a 24-4 run to blow the game open at 58-36 with 5 minutes left in the third.
Harry Payne and Tommy Te Puni ended the run but Rangi had plenty to do at three-quarter time trailing 66-47.
Pumipi continued his impressive showing by opening the fourth quarter scoring, his inside presence a constant source of production for MAGS. At the other end Mandeno moved past the twenty points mark but a valuable MAGS win was never threatened.
Rangitoto 57 – Mandeno 27, Payne 9, Thornton 8, Paea 7
MAGS 81 – Pumipi 22, Luamanuvae-Su’a 17, Laumatia 10, Morrison 10
Rosmini College were also a little shorthanded, down three starters, for their visit to Macleans College but still had enough resources to come away with a 69-58 win
Sai Kuvelkar and Blake van Uden got Macleans underway but Kruz Perrott-Hunt, back from NZ Under 18 duty in Guam, nailed 11 first quarter points to give Rosmini the early advantage – 16-12 at quarter time.
That lead blossomed in the second with Reihana Maxwell-Topia claiming 9 points in the period to extend the Rozza lead to 37-23 at the interval.
The hosts got the better of the third period restricting Rosmini to eight points while van Uden and Alex Arthur shared 13 points to close the gap to eight points – 47-39.
Kuvelkar dropped his third triple of the game and van Uden added to his tally as Macleans threatened a come from behind victory in the opening stages of the fourth. However Jenkins (also a NZ U18 representative) steadied the ship with six points and Sean Murphy and Perrott-Hunt hit timely triples as Rozza kept their regular season title quest on track.
Macleans 58 – van Uden 25, Kuvelkar 18, Arthur 11
Rosmini 69 – Perrott-Hunt 19, Maxwell-Topia 11, Murphy 10, Jenkins 8
Kelston Boys now have one foot in the relegation cellar after being outgunned 87-30 at Auckland Grammar.
Grammar were missing Anzac Rissetto, on NZ U17 duty in the Philippines, but more significantly Kelston were without their talisman Kale Lawson and suffered as a result.
Matangi Prescott and Solomon Faapoi were the only real scoring threats for Kelston and they accounted for 13 of their team’s 18 points in the first half – a half in which they trailed 39-18.
It was a balanced Grammar effort with nine different scorers in the half led by Samson Aruwa with 9 points and Teancum McCarthy with half a dozen.
McCarthy and Thomas Whyte landed threes in the third and Tom Higgins scored 8 straight points as Grammar completely dominated the frame to lead 63-24 at the last break.
The final stanza was equally one sided as Grammar eased to a comfortable victory no doubt looking forward to a showdown with Rangitoto College next Friday in what promises to be one of the games of the season.
AGS 87 – McCarthy 19, Higgins 17, Aruwa 15, Andrews 9
Kelston 30 – Prescott 14, Faapoi 7
The Westlake Boys versus St Kentigern College game was postponed as both head coaches, Aaron Young (St Kentigern) and Zac Fitzgerald (Westlake), along with some players are overseas this week.
Boys Premier Grade Standings
9-2 Rosmini
8-2 Westlake
8-3 Auckland Grammar
7-4 Rangitoto
4-7 Mt Albert
3-7 St Kentigern
3-8 Macleans
1-10 Kelston
* Westlake and St Kentigern have a game in hand
In the Senior A competition the top two teams continued their winning ways. St Peter’s College got the better of Massey High (97-68) and Avondale College were too good for Northcote College winning 102-73.
St Peter’s got plenty of production out of Finlay Morris (32pts), Christian Fromont (25pts) and Gerard Boersen (16pts) but it was only in the final quarter, won 29-16, that they shook off a hard working Massey outfit.
Massey were led by Jason Cullen’s 15 points.
LACEY LOWDOWN 