LACEY LOWDOWN

In the penultimate round of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade regular season there were wins for all the top four teams on Monday –three were by a substantial margin and the fourth a default.

Unfortunately Avondale College, already demoted to the Senior A competition next year, were unable to field a team against Mt Albert Grammar.

The local derby between Westlake Girls and Carmel College was something of a fizzer as Lake got out the gate in something of a rush -storming to a 37-6 quarter time lead – Sophie Dil quickly into double figures

Carmel made a much better start to the second as Tayla Dalton and Estelle Davidson made scores.

However poor transition defence hurt the Carmel cause and Rosie Dil and Jordyn Maddix took advantage to make easy baskets. That said a more even stanza ensued (26-24) – Lake ahead 63-30 at half-time.

Keeley Tini converted a couple of inside moves and Jess Moors did the same as Westlake began the third quarter strongly.

Dalton landed a long three and Emily Broomfield a neat basket but the Westlake advantage was still a convincing 74-36 after a Maddix trey.

Westlake guard Tabitha Leyson scored after her own steal at half court the lead 89-44 at the last break.

Millie Simpson scored ten points in the final quarter for Carmel who will retain their Premier Grade status if they beat Avondale College on Friday, Westlake now looking ahead to semi-final action.

Westlake 116 – Maddix 26, Tini 20, Moors 16, Shearer 10, S Dil 10, R Dil 10

Carmel 66 – Dalton 22, Broomfield 16, Simpson 14, Davidson 8

Massey High also scored 37 points in the first quarter against Rangitoto College. Three triples from Massey guard Ramona Fuaivaa were the highlights of the opening period.

Kaitlin Burgess, Mania Spooner and Bella Elgar shared all but two of Rangitoto’s first half points but with Kataleena Leslie posting ten points in the second stanza Massey led 56-38 at the break.

A dozen points from Shauna Povey ensured the momentum remained with Massey in the third as the lead extended to 77-52.

Burgess and Elgar continued their good work in the final period but Massey were relentless as they eased to a convincing 109-65 victory.

Povey, Schuster and Leslie each added threes in the closing minutes – Massey connecting with a total of ten on the night.

Massey 116 – Leslie 27, Povey 22, Schuster 21, Fuaivaa 15

Rangitoto 65 – Burgess 31, Spooner 8, Elgar 21

It was an even more one sided affair at Carmel College where Auckland Girls Grammar overpowered Orewa College 108-20.

Alex Still knocked down an early triple for Orewa but Teneva Ropati helped herself to ten points in a first quarter that concluded with Grammar 22-5 ahead.

It got worse for Orewa in the second as only Megan Hoare found the net – Zhanay Hettig and Mele Latu pushing the Grammar lead out to 51-7 at half-time.

With Mariah Ropati and Karma Skilton-Roberts joining in the scoring frenzy Grammar warmed up nicely for their top of the table clash with rivals Mt Albert on Friday.

Orewa 20 – Wentworth 6, Hoare 5, Pretorius 4

AGGS 108 – Latu 27, T Ropati 24, Hettig 13, M Ropati 12

Girls Premier Grade Standings

12-1 AGGS, Mt Albert

9-4 Westlake

8-5 Massey

5-8 Rangitoto

3-10 Carmel, Orewa

0-13 Avondale

Fittingly before the Auckland Grammar versus Rosmini College encounter began players and supporters from both teams observed a few moments silence in memory of the late Sir John Graham.

What ensued was a low scoring defence dominated affair won by Grammar 62-53.

Tom Higgins and Kruz Perrott-Hunt, teammates 24 hours earlier against Oklahoma University Sooners, opened the scoring for their respective teams.

Anzac Rissetto made a trio of inside baskets to take Grammar 13-7 ahead but a second foul benched the NZ Under 17 centre.

Sam Aruwa is not a bad replacement and he signaled his intentions with a forceful inside move – Matt Sokol did the same at the other end – Grammar ahead 18-12 at quarter time.

Rissetto picked up an untimely third foul early in the second – his replacement Aruwa keeping Grammar ahead 22-17.

Higgins and Elijah Andrews scored in transition to stretch the visitors advantage although a triple from Dance kept Rozza in touch – 30-24 with three minutes to play in the half.

Thomas Whyte had the last say in the half draining a corner three to give Grammar a 37-30 interval lead.

The score froze in the opening 3 minutes of the second half as turnovers dominated proceedings. Aruwa was the first to get the scoreboard moving before his block and that of Rehana Maxwell-Topia on consecutive possessions getting the crowd involved.

Rissetto returned to the game but in an instant was benched with a fourth foul. Peter Jenkins finally found the basket for Rosmini and with Sokol landing a triple the hosts were only down 40-35.

Campbell Green went coast-to-coast and with Aruwa dominating in the paint Grammar stretched out to 45-35.

Sokol landed a corner three – Rozza trailed 49-41 at three-quarter time.

An Aruwa tip-in stretched the Grammar lead to a dozen – a Higgins left hander a further two.

Rozza guard Terrence Abdon connected from afar – 55-44 with 6:30 on the clock.

The smaller Rozza lineup were struggling to contain the Grammar forwards and Rissetto took advantage from the foul line but clocked out with five minutes to play after incurring a fifth foul.

Abdon landed a floater and Grammar coach Dave Mackay needed a timeout with 4:50 to play but Grammar still 9 points ahead.

Whyte and Andrews continued their excellent defence on the Rosmini guards and Aruwa his fine work inside thus ensuring Rosmini were unable to make a telling run in the final quarter.

Sir John would have given good marks for effort and commitment but perhaps given extra homework for precision and execution – Grammar deserved victors 62-53.

The win moved Grammar ahead of Rosmini into second place on the ladder – the points differential between the pair just four points.

Rosmini 53 – Sokol 14, Dance 14, Jenkins 9, Abdon 7

AGS 62 – Higgins 16, Aruwa 15, Rissetto 11, Whyte 6, Green 6

Mt Albert Grammar wrapped up fifth place on the table with a solid 75-57 victory against St Kentigern College.

A couple of Jonty Vink baskets gave Mt Albert an early 5-0 lead and they were never headed thereafter.

Vink scored ten points in the first half to counter the eight from Max Shorter as MAGS led 30-23 at half-time.

MAGS dominated the third period (27-15) with multiple scorers led by Ryan Laumatia and Manu Dorcil inflicting damage on the St Kent’s defence.

In the fourth stanza Shorter and Zac Chan both converted their third triples of the game but 11 straight points from Xjana Luamanuvae-Su’a snuffed out any remote chance of a St Kent’s comeback

MAGS 75 – Luamanuvae-Su’a 15, Laumatia 14, Vink 12, Morrison 10, Pumipi 10

St Kentigern 57 – Shorter 22, Hyland 11, Chan 9, Jones 7

Westlake Boys proved too strong for Macleans College winning 92-68 with Reuben Fitzgerald scoring 23 points for the hosts ahead of a showdown with Rangitoto College on Friday.

An even opening period favoured Westlake 25-21 with that advantage extended to 50-39 by the interval. Matt Cairns-Hita lit up the scoreboard in the second quarter nailing four treys for hosts Westlake – Harrison Roper and Alex Arthur prominent for Macleans.

Blake van Uden scored 9 points either side of the half-time interval but inside points from Thabo Manyere and yet another three from Cairns-Hita made it 71-48 in favour of Lake at the last break.

Michael Babaran score 8 final quarter points but Jackson Port and Reuben Fitzgerald landed more triples and there was just time for Cairns-Hita to hit(a) his sixth triple of the night to seal a comfortable win.

Westlake 92 – Fitzgerald 23, Cairns-Hita 20, Manyere 12, Hidalgo 9

Macleans 68 – van Uden 16, Babaran 15, Arthur 13, Roper 10

Also comfortable winners were Rangitoto College who accounted for Kelston Boys 77-51 out west.

Harry Clarke led the Rangitoto effort with 20 points, Logan McIntosh (14pts), Caleb Langridge (11pts) and 8 points each from Jarrod Thornton and Joon Back did the bulk of the damage. Unfortunately no other details about the game have been received.

There is still plenty to play for in the final round of games on Friday. St Kentigern College and Macleans College will battle it out for 6^th/7^th place with the loser facing a play-off game to avoid relegation to the Senior A competition.

The regular season title is also still up for grabs with the top three teams Rosmini, Westlake and Auckland Grammar all still in contention.

Boys Premier Grade Standings

10-2 Westlake

10-3 Auckland Grammar

10-3 Rosmini

8-5 Rangitoto

6-7 Mt Albert

3-9 St Kentigern

3-10 Macleans

1-12 Kelston

* The outstanding Westlake v St Kentigern fixture will be played on Monday August 14th.

Orewa College beat Avondale College 74-41 in round 12 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier grade competition consigning Avondale to relegation from the top grade.

Despite the win Orewa will likely join Avondale in having to work their way through the Premier qualifying tournament early next year unless they win their remaining two games.

Seven first quarter points from Janke Pretorius propelled Orewa to an 11-8 first quarter advantage extended to 32-17 at half time as Arianna Henare and Hannah Wentworth went to work – Maclani Michael scored ten first half points for Avondale.

Orewa put the game out of reach in the third amassing 28 points helped by triples from Pretorius and Megan Hoare plus 8 points from Wentworth – 60-28 at three-quarter time.

Maria Whiu scored for Avondale before but Pretorius, with a couple of left handed drives, restored a thirty points advantage for Orewa in the fourth.

The athletic Michael scored a deft basket in traffic and Grace Nweke demonstrated some shot blocking and rebounding prowess before Wentworth bedded the Orewa win with a triple.

Orewa 74 – Pretorius 21, Wentworth 17, Henare 13

Avondale 41 – Michael 16, Whiu 10, Lemisio 6

Westlake Girls and Massey High held an identical 7-4 record heading into their top four clash at Massey.

Westlake had won the earlier encounter between the two teams last term and it was a repeat of that result on Friday as the visitors again prevailed winning 74-63.

Shauna Povey and Ramona Fuaivaa converted early threes but Westlake were given a flying start by Keeley Tini, Emme Shearer and Jordyn Maddix – the three NZ internationals scoring all of Lake’s points as they opened a 30-21 first quarter lead.

Mareta Davidson became the fourth Westlake scorer in the second but a balanced Massey scoring effort trimmed the Westlake advantage to 41-40 at the break.

A couple of Maddix triples widened the margin and although Terina Aratangi landed a late third quarter trey for the hosts they trailed 59-51 with 10 minutes to play.

Kataleena Leslie scored six final quarter points for Massey but Shearer, the game’s leading scorer, bettered that with a dozen of her own to guide Westake to the win and with it third spot on the ladder.

Massey 63 – Povey 16, Leslie 13, Fuaivaa 10, Aratangi 8

Westlake 74 – Shearer 27, Tini 24, Maddix 15

Mt Albert Grammar kept abreast of AGGS at the top of the table after registering a comfortable 112-67 victory at Carmel College.

Mt Albert began brightly chalking up a 30-16 first quarter lead – unusually eight different players registered at least one basket in the opening period – Tessa Talo-Tomokino leading the charge with 8 points.

Carmel fought back in the second, led by 10 points from Tayla Dalton, to shade the quarter 20-18, trailing 48-36 at the break.

Any prospects of the MAGS lead being further eroded were quickly dismissed as the hosts won the third frame 30-9 before cruising home in a high scoring fourth period (34-23).

Talo-Tomokino and Trinity Paeu each scored double figures in the third and with Rikki Fiatau joining that pair with a twenty points haul the result was never in doubt.

The free scoring Dalton finished with 27 points for Carmel backed by Emily Broomfield and Georgia Green who both made double figure contributions.

MAGS 112 – Paeu 34, Talo-Tomokino 27, Fiatau 20, Manase 9

Carmel 67 – Dalton 27, Broomfield 11, Green 10, Cattermole 8

Information from the Auckland Girls Grammar School encounter with Rangitoto College is sketchy although I can report AGGS were dominant winning 94-55.

A 22-11 quarter time lead was doubled by half-time (42-22) with Grammar only giving up a further 11 points in the third as they eased to an eleventh win of the season.

Kaitlin Burgess scored 18 points for Rangi with Ella Moore and Centaine Noon-Duckworth adding 11 points each. Unfortunately I don’t have the individual scorers for Grammar.

However I can report with a degree of certainty that Mt Albert entertain Auckland next Friday (August 11^th) – the winners will claim the regular season title.

Girls Premier Grade Standings

11-1 AGGS, Mt Albert

8-4 Westlake

7-5 Massey

5-7 Rangitoto

3-9 Carmel, Orewa

0-12 Avondale

With two rounds to go in the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade the regular season title battle is still wide open but the relegation fight has become a three horse race.

Mt Albert were indebted to a 33 points haul from Xjana Luamanuvae-Su’a as they recorded a 79-70 win at Macleans College. The win secures Premier League status for another season for MAGS but leaves Macleans in a three-way scrap with St Kentigern College and Kelston Boys for top flight survival.

The win, Mt Albert’s fourth on the bounce, looked in doubt when they trailed by six points at the mid point of the third period. However they stopped the Maclean scoring flow to edge ahead 52-50 at three-quarter time and were never headed in the fourth as Luamanuvae-Su’a, Ryan Laumatia and in-form forward Te Akau Pumipi took charge.

Earlier the trusty duo of Blake van Uden and Alex Arthur gave the home side a good start despite a salvo of threes from Luamanuvae-Su’a. He hit four in the opening stanza alone connecting with 7 from 12 on the night.

Michael Babaran scored the last 5 points of the first half for Macleans, his team 35-33 ahead at half-time.

Van Uden, Harrison Roper and Sai Kuvelkar gave Macleans the edge early in the third but 10 points from Laumatia either side of the third quarter break stole back the initiative much to the relief of the travelling MAGS supporters.

Macleans 70 – van Uden 24, Arthur 17, Kuvelkar 10, Babaran 7

MAGS 79 – Luamanuvae-Su’a 33 Laumatia 19, Pumipi 13, Vink 6

As usual Rangitoto College were players down on their excursion over the Harbour Bridge to take on Auckland Grammar.

Good news for Rangitoto fans is that Dan Fotu is finally fit and ready to take the court – bad news is that he is currently in Houston representing the Asia Pacific team at the prestigious Adidas Nations Tournament. His absence and that of others brought the travelling Rangitoto team numbers down to six.

Needless to say they struggled against an in form Auckland Grammar that moved out to a 16-8 quarter time lead.

A triple from Logan McIntosh and 9 points in the second period from Harry Clarke helped Rangi but threes in reply from Rua Winitana and Elijah Andrews plus half a dozen points each from forwards Sam Aruwa and Anzac Rissetto stretched the Grammar advantage to 42-26 at the break.

The third period was shared 21 points apiece and although Ethan Mendeno landed a trio of threes the all round scoring threats (five players scoring in double figures) possessed by Grammar ensured a home win was never in doubt.

AGGS 79 – Aruwa 18, Rissetto 12, Higgins 12, Winitana 12

Rangitoto 59 – Clarke 21, Mandeno 15, McIntosh 9, Langridge 7

Another team with just six players were St Kentigern College and they, like Rangitoto, found the going a little tough at Rosmini College going down 79-38.

Peter Jenkins scored a brace of early baskets to help Rosmini to a 7-0 opening salvo. Max Shorter got the score moving for the visitors but a Kruz Perrott-Hunt triple pushed the Rozza lead out to 17-4 requiring St Kent’s coach Aaron Young to call a timeout.

Ryan Jones scored after the restart and Shorter landed a three but a corner three in reply from Terrence Abdon gave Rosmini a 24-9 quarter time lead.

Jenkins again opened the scoring in the next stanza and with turnovers proving costly coach Young was forced to burn his second timeout with his charges 34-9 down.

With just those six players to call on Young’s options were limited but Martin Gan did take St Kent’s into double figures – it was an improved showing in the second but Rozza still led 46-20 at the interval.

A dozen points from Jenkins led the first half scoring –Shorter with 9 points the main contributor for St Kent’s’.

Abdon took the margin past thirty points and although Shorter kept pegging away for St Kent’s Mitch Dance made 8 points in the quarter and the advantage was 63-27 at three-quarter time.

Back to back baskets from Thomas Hyland ended something of a scoring drought in the early stages of the fourth – a sweet drive from Marvin Williams-Dunn and a version with a higher degree of difficulty from Abdon were the highlights in the fourth as Rozza look forward to entertaining Auckland Grammar in a top of the table clash on Monday.

Credit to St Kent’s for a tireless effort, as they had to manage without Shorter in the final quarter after he twisted an ankle.

Rosmini 79 – Jenkins 16, Dance 14, Abdon 12, Williams-Dunn 10, Perrott-Hunt 10

St Kentigern 38 – Shorter 14, Hyland 12, Jones 5

Kelston Boys remain with one foot in the relegation cellar after being thumped 128-56 on their home court by Westlake Boys. Unless they win both their remaining games – and other results go their way – they will be relegated from Premier Grade at season end.

Westlake achieved the win without forwards Thabo Manyere and James Moors. Moors is also, like Fotu, attending the Adidas Nations Tournament in Houston but the presence of the Lake big men was hardly missed as the guard trio of Reuben Fitzgerald, Marc Malingin and Josh Hidalgo ran amok combining for 84 points.

Surprisingly with such a one sided scoreline the teams were tied 26 points apiece at quarter time as George Taulagi and To’o Mase kept pace with the Westlake guards.

After that it was one-way traffic in favour of the visitors.

Kelston 56 – Prescott 15, Mase 15, Taulagi 10, Brooking 6

Westlake 128 – Fitzgerald 34, Malingin 26, Hidalgo 24, Winter 14

Boys Premier Grade Standings

10-2 Rosmini

9-2 Westlake

9-3 Auckland Grammar

7-5 Rangitoto

5-7 Mt Albert

3-8 St Kentigern

3-9 Macleans

1-11 Kelston

* Westlake and St Kentigern have a game in hand.

There are a full round of games on Monday August 7^th with the regular season concluding Friday August 11^th.

In Senior A St Peter’s continued on their merry way with a 98-32 romp against an under strength Western Springs.

Christian Fromont (24pts), Phoenix Leupolu (22pts), Boston Schuster (12pts) and Finlay Morris (11pts) led the way for St Peter’s. Ike Conway was the best for the Springs with 10 points.

McDonald’s Thompson and Whelan Round Nine Recap

Shirley Boys’ just managed to put away a pesky Rangiora High team 63-58. The Spartans needed every one of Sean Kelly’s points, as he scored 23, despite shooting an uncharacteristic 0/7 from deep. Joel Jeffrey had 15 points and two blocks in the Spartan win. St. Bede’s fell to Ashburton 102-60, but had an excellent game from Richi Lugtu (14 points), while Tom Hughes did a little bit of everything as he finished with 12p 13r 6a.

St. Thomas took the number one qualification spot in Division II after beating Hillmorton 70-58. This game was tied at 36 each after two quarters, but STC had an 11-2 run early in the third quarter to grab the lead. Hillmorton was able to cut this to two points early in the fourth, but never able to completely close the gap. Izaac Beever had 23p in the win, while Jacob Sue (17p) and Sam Irving (11p) provided some needed firepower. Hillmorton was paced by Ihaia Kendrew (27p), with Maoluma Sakaria the only other Tiger to hit double figures (10p).

Middleton Grange played their deferred game against Christchurch Girls’ High on July 25, and thanks to a balanced attack, came away with a 69-55 win. Megan Ellis (19p), Aimee Book (16p) and Sofia Kennedy (15p) made up for a relatively quiet game from Lauryn Hippolite (8p). CGHS were led by the duo of Olivia McIntyre and Alana Wouters (14p apiece) and Sapphire Wairau’s 10p.

The playoff picture is starting to clear up in each competition. Division I of the Thompson Trophy Competition has a few spots sorted: Cashmere and Burnside are #1 and #2 respectively. Shirley or Christ’s College will take third and fourth, while Ashburton is locked in as #5. The final three qualifiers are all set to be decided, with St. Bede’s being the only team eliminated. Division II looks similar, with STC, Hillmorton, Papanui, Cathedral College and Kaiapoi locked into spots one through five. Riccarton, Ellesmere, and Hornby will take spots 6-8 in some order, while Linwood and Lincoln will play for 9^th and 10^th place.

The Whelan Trophy still has two rounds to play, with only four teams making the semi-finals. So far, only Middleton Grange and Rangi Ruru look particularly safe (but not mathematically guaranteed yet). Division II has three teams qualified. Avonside Girls’, St. Margaret’s and Ellesmere are all safe, while the fourth team will be one of Villa Maria, Hillmorton or Lincoln.

All Results:

Whelan Division I

Ashburton 70-36 Rangiora

Kaiapoi 72-59 Cashmere

Rangi Ruru 83-79 Christchurch Girls’ (overtime)

St. Andrew’s 66-53 Burnside

Ladder

Whelan Division II

St. Margaret’s 65-49 Lincoln

Ellesmere 52-47 Villa Maria

Avonside 57-41 Hillmorton

Ladder

Thompson Division I

Shirley 63-58 Rangiora

Burnside 87-54 St. Andrew’s

Ashburton 102-60 St. Bede’s

Cashmere 99-64 Christchurch Boys’

Ladder

Thompson Division II

St. Thomas 70-58 Hillmorton

Cathedral 106-66 Lincoln

Ellesmere 62-52 Linwood

Ladder