In Round eight of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier competition there were wins for Auckland Grammar, Westlake Boys, Mt Albert Grammar and Rosmini College.
The game at Carmel College between Rosmini and Rangitoto featured four players who will this weekend head to Argentina with the New Zealand team to compete at the Fiba U17 World Cup.
The four all demonstrated good form – Rangitoto guard Harry Payne led all scorers with 30 points, while Kainoa Lepou (23 points), Mitchell Dance (15 points) and Marvin Williams-Dunn (12 points) all made important contributions to Rosmini’s 111-88 victory.
Ethan Mandeno and Taine Murray exchanged early threes before six straight points from Payne gave Rangitoto an early 11-10 lead.
Payne’s jump shot was in good order, his 15 points helping the visitors to a slim 29-28 quarter-time lead.
Sean Murphy scored a brace of baskets early in the second but Logan McIntosh replied in similar fashion for Rangitoto.
Marvin Williams-Dunn scores pushed Rozza out to 40-34 but Obadaiah Paea made a strong impact off the Rangi bench and an 11-2 run restored the Rangi lead.
Lepou’s three tied the scores, Murphy adding to the Rosmini tally giving the hosts a 52-48 lead at half-time.
Perrott-Hunt scored ten points either side of the half-time interlude, a Williams-Dunn triple carrying Rozza to a ten-point lead (63-53) necessitating a Kenny Stone timeout.
Tommie Te Puni responded with six points for Rangi but Perrott-Hunt unleashed a transition dunk, long three and athletic drive to stretch the Rosmini lead to 88-67 at three-quarter time.
Te Puni and Paea kept the Rangi scoreboard ticking over but Lepou and Murphy racked up season best scoring contributions, Tom Seuren scored his first Premier League point, and Rosmini completed an eighth straight win.
Rosmini 111 – K Lepou 23, K Perrott-Hunt 22, S Murphy 16, M Dance 15, M Williams-Dunn 12
Rangitoto 88 – H Payne 30, T Te Puni 17, L McIntosh 12, O Paea
Anzac Rissetto, another Argentina bound player, sunk 33 points as Auckland Grammar proved too strong for Avondale College winning their home tie 80-65.
Playing under new coach Karl Noyer the Avondale duo of Armand Donaldson and Jaga Mete scored 21 points each.
Connor Ngan dropped a couple of early threes to set Grammar on their way. Ably supported by Ilaisa Tela the hosts had a 45-35 lead at half-time.
Rissetto banged down fifteen of Grammar’s seventeen points either side of the three-quarter mark to ensure a fifth win of the season before he heads to South America.
Auckland Grammar 80 – A Rissetto 33, I Tela 14, C Ngan 7, T Caldwell 7
Avondale 65 – A Donaldson 21, J Mete 21, P Karatau 7
Josh Kooiman and Sam Mennenga, with a brace of threes apiece in the first quarter set the platform for a 75-56 Westlake win at St Peter’s.
The pair did more good work in the second period as a four points quarter time margin was increased to 11 points (42-31) at half-time. Phoenix Leupolu scored 14 first half points for the home team to keep them in touch.
The two teams shared 34 points in the third period with Leupolu and Luke Buckingham carrying the scoring load for St Peter’s. A couple of treys from Dylan Wilkie helped Westlake enter the final period with a 59-48 lead.
St Peter’s were held to just nine points in the fourth as Westlake secured a third straight win and move to a share of fourth spot on the Premier ladder.
St Peter’s 56 – P Leupolu 26, L Buckingham 10, W Parata 8
Westlake 75 – K Kooiman 18, S Mennenga 18, D Wilkie 10, J Wuthrich 8
St Kentigern College fought back from 17 points down to take the lead early in the fourth quarter at Mt Albert Grammar. A comeback win was thwarted as in the words of St Kent’s coach Aaron Young, “They made some huge shots to close out an exciting game.”
Making those shots in the last quarter were Sataan Tawera, Nate Wilson and Clarke Aiono who made a season best 15 points.
Earlier Manu Dorcil got MAGS off to a good start as he scored eight first quarter points and then added another seven in the second. The consistent Max Shorter knocked down four triples in the first half but St Kent’s trailed 39-30 at mid-term.
St Kent’s began their resurgence in the third period outscoring their hosts 19-13 as Shorter and Shalom Broughton (another player heading to the Under 17 World Cup) made in-roads reducing the MAGS lead to 52-49 with a quarter to play.
Levic Kerr and Elliot Watson took St Kents into the lead but it was short-lived due to those huge shots.
Mt Albert 72 – M Dorcil 21, C Aiono 15, S Tawera 13, N Wilson 8
St Kentigern 62 – M Shorter 23, S Broughton 14, Z Chan 8, L Kerr 7
Premier Standings
8-0 Rosmini
7-1 MAGS
5-3 AGS
4-4 St Kentigern, Westlake
3-5 St Peter’s
1-7 Rangitoto
0-8 Avondale
Senior A
Northcote 102 Massey 96
We wish all the players, coaches and support staff all the very best at the Fiba U17 World Cup in Argentina beginning later this week.
LACEY LOWDOWN 