LACEY LOWDOWN

In the fourth round of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier competition Auckland Girls Grammar and Mt Albert Grammar remained unbeaten whilst St Kentigern College notched their first win of the season.

Premier competition best performances from Rosie Dil (19 points) and Emma Pugh (17 points) helped Westlake Girls overcome local rivals Carmel College 91-65.

Merita Davidson scored the first basket of the game, an 8-0 run pulled Westlake ahead 19-9, extended to 26-13 at quarter-time.

Estelle Davidson and Tayla Dalton got the scoreboard rolling in the second quarter for Carmel but Jordyn Maddix and Izzy Pugh replied in quick succession for the hosts. – Carmel coach Gareth Teahan needed a timeout as his team fell 35-17 behind.

Dalton’s triple and Georgia Green’s lay-up improved Carmel’s position although Westlake were in the ascendancy, a brace of baskets from Sophie Dil taking them to a 53-31 lead at the break.

A Jess Moors transition basket and inside baskets from Emma Pugh took Westlake out to 64-39 at the mid-point of the third period, an up tempo spell of basketball ended with Westlake ahead 76-47 at three-quarter time.

Charli Blackman connected with a baseline jump shot and Dalton took her season’s tally past a hundred points as Carmel scored the first six points of the final spell. The Westlake scoring stalled for a while but they were never in danger of forfeiting the two competition points – Maddix and Rosie Dil capping the win with late triples.

Westlake 91 – R Dil 19, E Pugh 17, J Maddix 16, S Dil 9

Carmel 65 – T Dalton 32, E Broomfield 7, C Blackman 6, G Green 6

For Mt Albert Grammar there was the satisfaction of a come from behind victory and on the other hand Massey High will be smarting from an opportunity lost after MAGS won a tight encounter 84-81 on their home court.

Massey led at every quarter break including a 64-57 lead at the three-quarter mark. Forward Yzabelle Taveo put in a terrific shift notching 11 of her 22 points in the final period but it wasn’t quite enough to hold off the fast finishing hosts.

Jada Manase made her fifth triple of the game in the final period, Sharne Pupuke-Robati made a dozen points and Tessa Tamo-Tomokino seven points as Mt Albert outscored Massey 27-17 over the closing ten minutes to pinch the win and remain unbeaten in 2018.

Earlier the opposing No 8’s Manase and Shauna Povey exchanged threes to get proceedings underway. Ramona Fuiavaa made eight points in the opening quarter to accompany Povey’s 11 points as Massey forged a 24-16 lead.

Pupuke-Robati scored twelve second period points but Taveo and Laticia Jost ensured Massey led at the main break holding a 49-38 advantage.

The third frame was a pretty even affair. Manase added to her three-point tally, as did Fuiavaa, a tasty prelude to a hectic final quarter.

Mt Albert 84 – S Pupuke-Robati 28, J Manase 17, T Talo-Tomokino 13, M Kelly 12

Massey 81 – S Povey 25, Y Taveo 22, R Fuiavaa 14, K Leslie 6

In the battle of the promoted teams St Kentigern College, the Senior A champions in 2017, picked up their first win of the season beating St Mary’s College 70-57.

Auckland Girls Grammar School made it four wins from four outings with a decisive 77-57 victory against Rosmini College.

The competition takes a two week break as many of the players will be involved in U19 Nationals at NSEC over the coming weekend.

Premier League Standings

4-0 Mt Albert, Auckland Girls Grammar

2-2 St Westlake, Massey, Rangitoto

1-3 St Kentigern, St Mary’s

0-4 Carmel

Senior A Results

Mt Roskill v Botany Downs result unknown

Epsom 84 Birkenhead 65

Orewa 48 Pakuranga 60

Diocesan 45 Avondale 56

Senior A League Standings

3-1 Pakuranga

3-0 Epsom

2-1 Birkenhead, Mt Roskill

1-2 Orewa

1-3 Avondale

1-1 Botany Downs

0-4 Diocesan

In the fourth round of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier competition there were wins for St Kentigern College, Rosmini College, Auckland Grammar and Mt Albert Grammar.

A large crowd, that included distinguished Lake alumni Matt Freeman and Jack Salt, witnessed a high paced local derby between old foes Rosmini College and Westlake Boys on Friday night.

Marvin-Williams Dunn opened the scoring for the visitors ahead of a prompt Paora Winitana reply for the hosts.

Eight straight points for Westlake from point guard Tom Cowie, including a long three, took them to an early 14-7 lead.

Mennenga chipped in with a pair of triples as Lake moved out to 24-11 extended, much to the delight of the raucous home support, to 30-17 at quarter time.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt dominated the opening bars of the second period, chiming in with eight straight points, as Rosmini closed to within seven points.

Basketball Without Borders bound Taine Murray landed a triple and when Jayden Boucher scored after a trademark steal Rozza were within two (34-32) and Lake Head Coach Zac Fitzgerald required a timeout.

Dylan Wilkie and Ethan Clarke scored after the re-start but the hot hands belonged to Kainoa Lepoa.

The Rosmini guard produced an avalanche of threes – four in quick succession – to give the visitors their first lead of the game, extended to 54-45 at half-time. Cowie and Lepou each had sixteen points in a fast paced first half.

Mitch Dance (10 points in the third quarter), making his first appearance of the season, took the Rosmini lead into double figures early in the third frame, threes from Lepou and Murray pushed their advantage out to 69-53.

Winitana nailed a three late in the third but Rosmini held sway at the three-quarter break with a 78-63 lead.

Joseph Hylton got the travelling Rosmini fans on their feet with a two handed flush early in the fourth – Lepou’s sixth triple holding Westlake at bay.

The impressive duo of Cowie and Mennenga kept Westlake in touch, a 6-0 run dragging it back to a 13 points deficit (90-77) with five minutes to play.

Westlake guard Josh Kooiman made a couple of nice plays but Murray, Dance and Perrott-Hunt kept the pressure on the home defence – 99-82 with three minutes to play.

Mennenga’s dunk sparked a late flourish from the hosts but it was Rosmini that headed back down Taharota Road with the spoils of victory.

Westlake 93 – S Mennenga 34, T Cowie 31, P Winitana 12, E Clark 6

Rosmini 103 – K Lepou 24, K Perrott-Hunt 21, M Dance 20,T Murray 16

A combined 49 points from the guard pairing of Ethan Mandeno and Ethan Skelton wasn’t enough to secure a first win of the season for Rangitoto College – they were beaten 84-74 at Auckland Grammar School.

As last week Rangitoto got off to a slow start and found themselves 21-9 down at the first break – half a dozen points from Ilaisa Tela setting Grammar on their way.

Rangi closed the gap in the second, albeit only by two points, as Skelton torched a trio of treys and Ben Spencer-Powell weighed in with a triple also. Tela and Isara Nua led the Grammar scoring effort as they led 40-30 at the break.

Teacum McCarthy scored six points for Grammar in the third but Tommy Te Puni, Obadaiah Paea and Mandeno led a strong fight-back from Rangi as they closed to within four points at three-quarter time (59-55).

Anzac Rissetto and Nua combined for 18 fourth quarter points as Grammar sealed a third win of the season – Rangitoto still searching for a first win in the 2018 campaign.

Auckland Grammar 84 – I Tela 23, I Nua 20, T McCarthy 16, A Rissetto 10

Rangitoto 74 – E Skelton 26, E Mandeno 23, O Paea 12, T Te Puni 6

Also looking for a first win are Avondale College. Heading into the final quarter of their game at Mt Albert Grammar they trailed 55-38 and would have anticipated making a late charge.

However the exact opposite happened as they were blown away by the hosts, conceding thirty points in the final period, eventually losing 85-43.

Nathan Wilson scored ten of his game high 21 points in the fourth quarter carnage, Dakota Stephens putting the icing on a third MAGS win with a late triple.

The opening quarter was dead even with the two teams splitting 24 points. Jaga Mete and Armand Donaldson shared the Avondale scoring load in the first half but Rishon Royce and Chayse Pinono ensured MAGS entered the half-time break with a 35-28 lead.

MAGS extended their lead in the third although Jack Childs and Donaldson did keep the visitors afloat ahead of the final break.

Hopes of a late Avondale charge well and truly sunk in the last quarter.

Mt Albert 85 – N Wilson 21, C Pinono 20, R Royce 11, R Laumatia 8

Avondale 43 – A Donaldson 15, J Childs 12, J Mete 10

The battle of the ‘Saints’ was won by St Kentigern College as they comfortably beat visitors St Peter’s 92-61 with guard Zach Chan nailing an eye catching eight threes in the process.

Six early points from Shalom Broughton helped the home side to a handy 15-9 first quarter lead.

Whititera Parata (11 first half points) was prominent for St Peter’s but Chan connected with three of his triples in the second stanza to propel St Kent’s to a 34-27 lead.

The third frame was decisive as the home side peeled off 30 points – four more from beyond the arc from Chan and seven points from Max Shorter took the game away from St Peter’s.

A 64-46 advantage to St Kent’s was added to in the fourth – Gabriel Nolan sinking the twelfth triple of the game for the hosts. Phoenix Leupolu battled away for St Peter’s but it wasn’t their night going down for a second loss of the season.

St Kentigern 92 – Z Chan 24, S Broughton 21, M Shorter 17, T Chester 10

St Peter’s 61 – W Parata 19, P Leupolu 17, B Schuster 8, I Franklin 6

League Standings

4-0 Rosmini

3-1 Auckland Grammar, St Kentigern, Mt Albert

2-2 St Peter’s

1-3 Westlake

0-4 Avondale, Rangitoto

Senior A Results

Massey 64 Liston 84

Northcote 80 Pakuranga 55

Western Springs v Macleans result unknown

Kelston 71 Birkenhead 63

The third round of Auckland Secondary Schools Premier basketball was played on Monday. In the Girl’s competition there were wins for Mt Albert Grammar, Auckland Grammar, Westlake Girls and Massy High.

Mt Albert Grammar made a sluggish start at Rangitoto before winding in the hosts to win 83-68 thanks in part to 27 points from Tessa Talo-Tomokino. The New Zealand U17 guard made no fewer than eight threes in an outstanding shooting performance. She was ably supported by Jada Manase who was also in fine shooting form making 23 points.

Robyn Blackstock and Gracie Hasler-Ewins have returned to the Rangitoto lineup after a twelve months sabbatical and the pair were prominent as Rangi forged a 22-19 opening quarter lead.

Talo-Tomokino began her shooting display in the second and aided by Manase they took MAGS to the narrowest of leads at half-time – 40-39.

MAGS dominated the third stanza with Sharne Pupuke-Robati reeling off eight straight points to help her team to a 62-51 lead at the last break.

Bella Elgar and Hannah Wentworth kept the Rangi scoreboard ticking over but Monica Kelly and Talo-Tomokino ensured a third straight win for MAGS.

Rangitoto 68 – G Hasler-Ewins 16, H Wentworth 15, I Elgar 14, R Blackstock 12

MAGS 83 – T Talo-Tomokino 27, J Manase 23, M Kelly 18, S Pupuke-Robati 13

Massey High built a 16-6 lead against Carmel College but were pegged back to 18-16 at quarter-time.

A couple of inside baskets by Yzabelle Taveo initiated an 8-0 Massey run to open the second period – the run broken by Charlotte Blackman.

Taveo continued to penetrate the Carmel defence and took her first half tally to 14 points as Massey led 35-22 at the interlude.

Dalton opened the second half with a trio of baskets necessitating a timeout from Massey coach Aaron Leslie.

Full court pressure defence from Carmel paid dividends as they closed to 39-33 at the mid point of the third period.

Povey landed a corner three and Kataleena Leslie an inside basket as the visitors re-established a ten point buffer.

Massey ahead at the three-quarter mark with a 51-37 lead

Leslie scored six points in an 8-2 run that took the Massey lead out to twenty points but Carmel replied with three consecutive scores from Georgia Green.

Terina Aratangi knocked down a three for Massey (62-48) but Emily Broomfield and Dalton kept Massey on their toes until the end of an entertaining game.

Carmel 60 – T Dalton 26, E Broomfield 13, G Green 11,

Massey 69 – Y Taveo 19, K Leslie 17, S Povey 14, T Aratangi 7

Both teams entered the contest without a win in their first two games but it was Westlake that broke their duck winning 88-41 at St Kentigern College.

Misaki Chen and Renee Flay scored all the early points for St Kentigern but they fell 20-8 behind at the quarter mark and 40-18 by half time.

It was a balanced scoring effort by Westlake led by forwards Sophie Dil and Mareta Davidson.

Westlake completely dominated the third period – six points apiece from Jess Moors, Jordyn Maddix and Dil stretched the Westlake advantage to an unassailable 69-27 at three-quarter time.

St Kentigern 41 – M Chen 11, R Flay 8, N Leishman 8

Westlake 88 – S Dil 15, M Davidson 12, R Dil 12, J Moors 12

Auckland Grammar proved too strong for newcomers St Mary’s, leading from start to finish with an emphatic 73-37 away victory.

The game began with a reasonably close first quarter (14-10) but Grammar began to assert their dominance in the second period to lead 31-23 at half-time. Elianna Tuaiti had 10 points for the visitors at the break – Leata Te Nana-Williams the best for St Mary’s with seven points.

It was one-way traffic in the second half as Mele Latu and Zhanay Hettig controlled the boards and dominated the scoring. Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu battled away for St Mary’s and Safenunuivao Te Nana-Williams landed a late three but the hosts were a long way off the pace in this one.

St Mary’s 37 – J Kailahi-Fulu 10, Z Kailahi-Fulu 9, L Te Nana-Williams 9, S Te Nana-Williams 6

AGGS 73 – M Latu 24, E Tuaiti 18, Z Hettig 13, H Blakey 8

League Standings

3-0 Auckland Grammar, Mt Albert Grammar

2-1 Massey, Rangitoto

1-2 Westlake, St Mary’s

0-3 Carmel, St Kentigern

Senior A Results

Botany Downs 65 Orewa College 55

Birkenhead 68 Avondale 41

Epsom 58 Mt Roskill 44

Pakuranga 65 Diocesan 40

The third round of Auckland Secondary Schools Premier basketball competition was played on Monday and with the way results have gone to date it appears to be the most open race for some seasons to claim a top four play-off spot.

Only Rosmini College remains unbeaten after pulling away in the second half to beat Avondale College 108-77. Rosmini were led by guard Kruz Perrott-Hunt who tallied 34 points.

Rosmini guard Terrence Abdon scored the first five points of game followed by a brace from Taine Murray making it 9-0 and Avondale coach Kevin Goodwin needing a timeout.

Armand Donaldson (18 points in the first half) got Avondale on the scoreboard with a couple of baskets.

However a series of turnovers forced Goodwin to burn his second timeout inside the first five minutes as Rosmini darted to an 18-6 lead. Jaga Mete and Jack Childs reduced the arrears as Avondale trailed 27-22 at quarter-time.

Perrott-Hunt opened the second quarter scoring to initiate a 10-0 start for the hosts before a Mete steal and dunk cut the Rosmini advantage to 37-28.

A Kainoa Lepou triple and a Reimar Cruz drive extended the Rosmini lead (54-34) although Avondale had the better of the closing stages of the first half. A three from Preston Karatau and six straight points from Donaldson meant the visitors were just eleven points adrift (57-46) at the break.

Karatau’s jump shot and a score from Zakiah Puia looked promising for Avondale before Marvin Williams-Dunn notched a couple of baskets.

Perrott-Hunt landed a pair of threes either side of seven straight points from Sean Murphy as Rosmini took control of the game to lead 79-61 at three-quarter time.

Donaldson returned to the fray after sitting out for a long spell due to foul trouble. He and Mete kept the score ticking over for Avondale but not at the same pace as Rosmini who made it three wins from three outings.

Rosmini 108 – K Perrott-Hunt 34, T Murray 22, S Murphy 13, T Abdon 12

Avondale 77 – A Donaldson 22, J Mete 21, P Karatau 9, K Eteru 8

New boys on the block St Peter’s College secured their second win in four days with a hard fought 75-72 win against local rivals Auckland Grammar.

The win was built around a strong third quarter performance from St Peter’s who, after leading by just two points at half-time (35-33), stretched their lead to 56-44 with ten minutes to play. A combined 14 points from Phoenix Leupolu and Luke Buckingham fuelled a 21-11 advantage to St Peter’s in that period – a three from Isaiah Franklin also helpful.

Ilaisa Tela and Anzac Rissetto led a frantic Grammar recovery in the fourth but St Peter’s hung on for a first-time victory at senior level against their near neighbours.

It was a performance that delighted St Peter’s head coach Leyton Haddleton.

“I’m just really proud of the effort that boys put in. After the game on Friday I was concerned the team may come out flat.

“The game itself was a very physical battle and to stay disciplined under pressure shows a lot of character of the team. The turning point of the game was at the end of the third quarter where we managed to get all the loose balls and convert them to points. Every win at this level is precious so we will take that momentum to Friday against St Kent’s,” Haddleton added.

Earlier three triples from Leupolu propelled St Peter’s to a 16-13 quarter-time lead. Tela led the scoring effort in the second period as Grammar closed to within two points (35-33) at half-time.

St Peter’s 75 – P Leupolu 27, L Buckingham 20, W Parata 9, J Errey 9

AGS 72 – A Rissetto 28, I Tela 20, T McCarthy 11, D Boyd 6

Thirty-two points from Max Shorter ensured St Kentigern College protected home court advantage with a 94-84 win against Westlake Boys.

A late first quarter three from Shorter gave St Kentigern an 18-13 lead at quarter time. A collective four threes in the second quarter from Paora Winitana, Jackson Port and Ethan Clark for Westlake was countered by a trio of treys from Zac Chan to keep the hosts ahead 44-34 at half-time.

St Kent’s built on that advantage after the break as Chan took his tally of triples to five and Shalom Broughton and Shorter continued to find their way to basket – the lead was a healthy 73-52 with ten to play.

Westlake made a strong showing in the final stanza as Tom Cowie (21 points) and Sam Mennenga (19 points) ensured St Kentigern had to work hard for their second win of the campaign.

St Kentigern 94 – M Shorter 32, S Broughton 17, Z Chan 17, L Kerr 10

Westlake 84 – T Cowie 21, S Mennenga 19, P Winitana 15, J Port 9

Harry Payne returned to the Rangitoto College lineup for their home game against Mt Albert Grammar. The Under 17 World Cup bound shooting guard scored 28 points but it wasn’t enough to prevent MAGS recording an 88-74 win.

Rangitoto dug itself a big hole in the opening quarter giving up a massive 31-9 advantage to the visitors as guards Chayse Pinono and Sataan Tawera led the Mt Albert onslaught.

A barrage of threes from Brady Fox, Payne and the Ethan’s, Mandeno and Skelton, helped Rangitoto reduce the arrears but they still trailed 51-32 at half-time.

The scoring slowed in the third – six points from Nate Wilson the main feature.

Wilson and Theo Younger shared 14 points in the final quarter as MAGS protected their twenty-points three-quarter time advantage to record their second win of the season.

Rangitoto 74 – H Payne 28, E Skelton 17, E Mandeno 14, B Spencer-Powell 7

MAGS 88 – C Pinono 17, N Wilson 14, S Tawera 13, R Laumatia 10

League Standings

3-0 Rosmini

2-1 St Peter’s, St Kentigern, Auckland Grammar, Mt Albert Grammar

1-2 Westlake

0-3 Rangitoto, Avondale

Senior A Results

Macleans 100 Northcote 80

Birkenhead 69 Massey 85

The second round of the Girl’s Auckland Secondary Schools Premier competition on Friday produced wins for Mt Albert Grammar, Auckland Grammar, Rangitoto College and Massey High.

Despite 38 points from Tayla Dalton Mt Albert Grammar were too strong for Carmel College winning 94-62.

Carmel made the better start in the early exchanges against Mt Albert as Izzy Cattermole and Qaizden Stephano made baskets.

The visitors hit back later in the period as Sharne Pupuke-Robati and Moanekah Va’ai found their range – MAGS edging an open first stanza 24-19.

Opposite No 7’s Va’ai and Emily Bloomfield sparked their teams early in the second Va’ai a couple of deft assists, Bloomfield a neat inside basket.

Dalton scored a couple of baskets but a Jada Manase three plus a steal and score extended the MAGS lead. Pupuke-Robati led all scorers with 20 points at half-time as MAGS took a 50-23 advantage into the break.

It was all Carmel, and Dalton in particular, as the hosts started the second half well. The Carmel guard scored 13 straight points for her team but was eventually subdued by the defensive efforts of her North Harbour teammate Tessa Talo-Tomokino. Tomokino also scored half a dozen points in the period as MAGS entered the final ten minutes 83-43 ahead.

With a short turn around before another round of games on Monday both coaches gave opportunities to their bench players in the final period.

That gave time for the likes of Valana Pupuke-Robati and Danae Tait to open their Premier scoring accounts.

 Carmel 62 – T Dalton 35, E Broomfield 8, G Green 6

MAGS 94 – S Pupuke-Robati 24, J Manase 21, T Talo-Tomokino 19, M Va’ai 15

The closest game of the round was at St Mary’s College where visitors Rangitoto gained a narrow 64-55 win.

Rangitoto welcomed back Gracie Hasler-Ewins and Robyn Blackstock; Hasler-Ewins contributed a valuable 13 points to compliment double-digit efforts from Bella Elgar, Maania Spooner and Hannah Wentworth.

St Mary’s were well served by Zaaliyah Kailahi Fulu who top scored with twenty points. There were also good contributions from Riana Matiseni and Jazz Kailahi-Fulu.

St Mary’s 55 – Z Kailahi-Fulu 20, J Kailahi-Fulu 12, R Matiseni 10

Rangitoto 64 – I Elgar 21, G Hasler-Ewins 13, M Spooner 12, H Wentworth 11

Defending champions Auckland Girls Grammar were far too good for Westlake Girls winning 79-42.

Tabitha Leyson landed an early three for Westlake but AGGS were quickly out of the blocks compiling a 25-13 first quarter lead on the back of 8 points from Mele Latu.

Latu connected with the third of her four triples in the game in the second quarter. Laetitia Tuaiti and Tyla Tuala also landed from deep as Grammar eased to a 52-26 half-time advantage.

Mareta Davidson scored six points for Westlake in the third but a combined 13 points from Latu and Tuaiti gave Grammar a massive 72-37 lead at the last break.

The one-way traffic continued in the fourth with Zhanay Hettig helped herself to six points to complete a dominant AGGS performance.

AGGS 79 – M Latu 22, E Tuaiti 17, Z Hettig 14, T Tuala 9, H Blakey 9

Westlake 42 – M Davidson 14, R Dil 9, P Manolas 8, J Maddix 5

It was equally one-sided at Massey High as Shauna Povey (28 points) led the hosts to an 82-46 win over St Kentigern College.

Laticia Jost scored six points in the opening period as Massey led 20-14.

Povey, Terina Aratangi and Alyesha Schuster each made triples in the second as Massey extended their advantage to 40-24 at the interval.

Tash Leishman with 8 points was the best for St Kentigern at the break.

Renee Flay scored eight second half points for St Kent’s but Massey continued to pull away to a convincing win on the back of a balanced scoring performance – eight players made contributions in the final quarter alone.

Massey 82 – S Povey 28, L Jost 13, T Aratangi 12, A Schuster 8

St Kentigern 46 – N Leishman 11, E Halliday 9, R Flay 8, K Munro-Nonoa 7

Week Two of the Canterbury Secondary Schools McDonald’s Thomson and Whelan Competitions are completed, with some fantastic support evident for the school basketball teams across the region.

Our two matchups selected for Game of the Week did not leave anybody disappointed – Christchurch Girls’ just fell to Rangi Ruru in overtime, while St. Andrew’s won by a solitary point in their matchup with Shirley Boys’.

Rangiora and the Middleton Grange Gators had a double header involving both genders, and the Whelan game – with the Phil Burns Cup on the line – was a back and forth affair. No team led by more than six points at any stage of the game, and the score was tied or changed hands 29 times throughout!

Gators’ Katie Jo Van den Bogaert (23p) and Sofia Kennedy (17p) converted some tough buckets in the closing stages of the game to help the Gators leave with a 71-67 win. Rangiora was paced by the trio of Jemma Hughes (11p) Elsie McRobb (11p) and Holly Monopoli (10p).

The Avonside Lady Eagles did not give themselves any favours – ceding a large first half lead to Lincoln, but turned the defensive clamps on in the second half, as Samantha McCrone was the only player to approach double figures for the hosts (9p). Molly Cockburn and Megan Shannon both had 17 apiece in the 65-37 win for Avonside.

On the boys’ side, Kaiapoi was similarly too strong for Lincoln, with four players hitting double figures for the visitors: Kam Currey (22p), Ross Divall (16p), Arjun Bisht (13p) and Ryan Sangster (11p). Lincoln had some tremendous numbers, but struggled for points outside of their top four scorers: Cody Wareham (20p), Kyle Koster (19p), Jamie Atkinson (11p) and Jonathan Allan (10p).

The Gators boys also hosted Rangiora, and made the visitors struggle to get any points – holding them to only eight in the first quarter. Rangiora did close the gap to only eight points after three quarters largely on the back of Jack Exeter’s 27p and Lachie MacFarlane’s 14p, but could not get closer than this, falling 82-69. Ah Li Fenika (19p) led the way for Middleton, with Ben Carlile-Smith (17p), Jarred Burnett (15p) and Harry Roth (12p) all reaching double figures as well.

The Cashmere Boys team was not troubled by the newcomers to Division I from Hillmorton as they held on to the Dowson Cup with a comprehensive 125-57 win. St. Bede’s gave Burnside all they could handle, with Caleb Conyers hitting 7 from 12 from behind the arc as part of his 36 points. Tom Hughes scored 18 himself, only to just fall short 88-84.

Report from James Lissaman.

 Week Two Results

Whelan Division II

St. Margaret’s 70-24 Hillmorton

Avonside 65-37 Lincoln

Papanui 50-44 Marian

Ellesmere 51-50 Villa Maria

Burnside 56-52 Te Pā o Rākaihautū

Whelan Division I

Rangi Ruru 68-65 Christchurch Girls’ (overtime)

Middleton 71-67 Rangiora

Ashburton 94-63 Cashmere

St. Andrew’s 60-49 Kaiapoi

Thomson Division II

Papanui 86-78 Cathedral

Ashburton 73-62 Linwood

Kaiapoi 96-63 Lincoln

Hornby 85-79 Rangiora New Life

Riccarton 79-64 Ellesmere

Thomson Division I

Burnside 88-84 St. Bede’s

St. Andrew’s 80-79 Shirley

Middleton 82-69 Rangiora

Cashmere 125-57 Hillmorton

Christchurch Boys’ 74-52 Christ’s

The second round of the Boy’s Auckland Secondary Schools Premier competition on Friday produced wins for Auckland Grammar, Rosmini and St Kentigern but the story of the round belonged to newly promoted St Peter’s College.

St Peter’s collected their first ever win in Premier basketball downing defending champions Rangitoto College 80-60 on the back of 23 points from Whititera Parata. The St Peter’s skipper scored 10 points in the final quarter to ensure a 60-46 three-quarter time advantage wasn’t squandered.

Rangitoto guards Ethan Skelton and Ethan Mandeno ticked off some early points but St Peter’s made the better start leading 25-11 at the first break – threes from Luke Buckingham and Isaiah Franklin useful contributions.

Rangi, benefiting from six points from Obadaiah Paea, trimmed the advantage in the second but it was still a healthy 43-26 in favour of the hosts at half-time.

Franklin knocked down a triple early in the second and eight straight points for Phoenix Leupolu helped counter a three from Skelton and a burst of scoring from Paea.

Mandeno scored ten final quarter points but coach Leyton Haddleton and his charges would not be denied their historic win.

St Peter’s 80 – W Parata 23, P Leupolu 19, I Franklin 11, L Buckingham 10

Rangitoto 60 –E Mandeno 19, O Paea 11, E Skelton 11, A Coppin 6

It was standing room only in the Tom Gerrard Gymnasium where a good size crowd witnessed Rosmini beat Mt Albert Grammar 82-75 despite a late charge from the visitors.

Rosmini seemed to be cruising to a comfortable win as they built on a ten points three-quarter time advantage (62-52).

The fourth quarter began with six players sitting on five fouls, all but one of them in Rosmini colours.

To compound their problems Reihana Maxwell-Topia, after making a corner three, had to be helped from the court after sustaining an ankle injury. However another three from Terence Abdon gave the home side a 76-58 lead at the mid point of the fourth and a seemingly unassailable lead.

MAGS had other ideas – Chayse Pinono, Nathan Wilson and Ryan Laumatia made consecutive scores as the visitors closed to 76-66 with two minutes to play.

An in-bounds turnover by Rosmini was seized on for a triple by Pinono and when Laumatia took his game tally to 17 points the Saints led by just five points (76-71) with 1:10 to play and needed a timeout.

From the restart the hard working Jason Miteff scored inside and Taine Murray (19 points) capped a break out performance to restore calm in the Rosmini ranks and break the MAGS resistance.

Defence dominated the early proceedings before Laumatia made seven straight points to give MAGS the early lead.

Abdon and Murray hit threes for Rosmini to edge ahead 26-21 at quarter time.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt opened his account at the start of the second frame but livewire forward Wilson was causing the hosts plenty of trouble with his tenacity on the offensive glass.

A couple of Marvin Williams-Dunn transition baskets, on the back of sloppy turnovers from MAGS, took Rozza out to 32-26.

Mittef’s And-1 play looked to be the last score of the half but Sataan Tawera made a rare 4-point play to pull MAGS within two at the break (39-37).

A Thomas Morgan corner three began the second half scoring but Laumatia’s And-1 play tied the scores at 44 apiece four minutes into the half.

Murray’s jump shot restored the Rozza lead and when Perrott-Hunt sored a breakaway dunk MAGS coach Daryl Cartwright needed a timeout to settle his troops.

Clarke Aiono and Laumatia responded with eight points on the bounce for MAGS but threes from Williams-Dunn and Murray gave Rozza that ten-point three-quarter time lead.

A lead they built on then almost squandered.

Rosmini 82 – T Murray 19, M Williams-Dunn 13, R Maxwell-Topia 12, K Perrott-Hunt 9

MAGS 75 – N Wilson 20, R Laumatia 17, S Tawera 16, C Pinono 9

At Auckland Grammar a buzzer beating three from Westlake guard Tom Cowie sent an entertaining game into overtime with the scores locked at 69 points apiece.

Cowie made a couple of additional scores in the extra five minutes to take his personal tally to a game high 32 points but Grammar finished the stronger to record a second straight win: 83-74.

Anzac Rissetto, like Cowie celebrating selection in the New Zealand team to attend the FIBA U17 World Champs next month, scored a team high 32 points and with Connor Ngan (18 points) made key baskets in the extra period.

Earlier Westlake’s Dylan Wilkie put on a three-point clinic connecting with four efforts from beyond the arc to ease the visitors ahead. Not to be outdone Ngan rifled in three triples for Grammar and with Rissetto performing strongly inside the paint it was the narrowest of deficits at half-time; 32-31 to Lake.

Westlake dominated the third period, as Cowie, Wilkie and Sam Mennenga went to work, their lead at the three-quarter mark 50-42.

A three from Teancum McCarthy set Grammar on their way in the final stanza and when Rissetto scored his twelfth point of the period and Ngan added a free throw it appeared Grammar had edged the win. The outstanding Cowie had other ideas but unfortunately for the visitors they couldn’t complete the job in overtime.

AGS 83 – A Rissetto 31, T McCarthy 21, C Ngan 18, I Tela 9

Westlake 74 – T Cowie 32, D Wilkie 18, S Mennenga 9, P Winitana 6

There was something of a shoot out at Avondale College where St Kentigern College beat the hosts 91-79. A combined sixty-four points from Max Shorter and Shalom Broughton bettered fifty-five from Jaga Mete and Armand Donaldson. Mete and Shorter with 37 points apiece made the highest individual totals of the round.

The first half was an even affair shaded by Avondale 45-41. Shorter made four triples in that time for St Kentigern – Preston Karatau, Donaldson and Mete combined for the same number for Avondale.

It was 66-65 in favour of Avondale at the end of the third before St Kentigern made their move in the final quarter.

A triple from Shorter (his seventh of the game) and back-to-back baskets from Tom Chester gave St Kent’s the lead. Levic Kerr and Broughton added substance to the advantage and although Mete made 10 points for Avondale the visitors prevailed for their opening win of the campaign.

Avondale 79 – J Mete 37, A Donaldson 18, K Eteru 6, P Karatau 6

St Kentigern 91 – M Shorter 37, S Broughton 27, L Kerr 11, Z Chan 7