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
LACEY LOWDOWN 