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
LACEY LOWDOWN 