Mt Albert Grammar have been crowned Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grade regular season champions after defeating local rivals Auckland Grammar School 79-58 on Friday.
Mt Albert finished the regular season with an impressive 13-1 record having won twelve straight games.
MAGS claimed the Minor Premiership on point’s differential from Rosmini College who also finished with just one loss.
Unfortunately the individual scorers from the MAGS v AGS game is not available.
What is still unclear is which team will claim the fourth semi-final spot and which will finish with the wooden spoon.
The Avondale versus St Kentigern College fixture is still to be played (hopefully the two teams will meet on Monday) and the result of that game has a major bearing on the Premier standings.
A win for St Kentigern will see them edge Westlake out of fourth spot but a win for Avondale would see them avoid the wooden spoon as they hold points differential over St Peter’s if the two finish with a 3-11 record.
Current Standings with one game to play (St Kentigern v Avondale)
13-1 Mt Albert
13-1 Rosmini
8-6 Auckland Grammar
6-8 Westlake
6-7 St Kentigern
4-10 Rangitoto
3-11 St Peter’s
2-11 Avondale
Avondale hadn’t won a game eight days ago but now they have two victories to celebrate after they comfortably beat St Peter’s 96-68.
Once again they were paced by Jaga Mete (41 points) as he posted his second 40+ points haul of the season. He received excellent support from Jack Childs who recorded a season best 30 points.
Whititera Parata and Phoenix Lepolu got St Peter’s off to a solid start as they trailed by just a single point at quarter-time (23-22).
Mete and Armand Donaldson began to make inroads against the St Peter’s defence in the second, helping Avondale to 45-37 lead at the interval.
Parata made ten points in the third period but Mete and Childs dominated the scoring as Avondale increased their lead to 68-52 with ten minutes remaining.
Three triples from Childs in the last period – he made seven in the game – ensured a successful excursion for Avondale who could make it three wins in four games if they can overcome St Kent’s.
St Peter’s 68 – W Parata 20, P Leupolu 17, L Buckingham 9, I Franklin 6, O Arlove 6
Avondale 95 – J Mete 41, J Childs 30, A Donaldson 13, T Toyer 7
Having put on a shooting clinic against St Kentigern College last week Westlake Boys encountered a bout of the scoring yips in the North Shore derby at home to Rangitoto College going down 80-61.
Paora Winitana opened the scoring for Westlake but three consecutive baskets from Tommy Te Puni edged Rangitoto ahead 11-10.
Winitana and Jackson Port had the last say in the period – Westlake ahead 15-14 at quarter-time.
Obadaiah Paea and Ethan Skelton both made threes to give the visitors a 23-17 advantage. Dylan Wilkie made a triple for Westlake but they were finding baskets hard to come by and trailed 38-26 at half-time.
Harry Payne began to find his touch in the third period, the Rangi lead out to 47-31.
Ryan Reader connected from long range for Westlake but 14 points in the period from Payne gave Rangi a 56-43 advantage with ten to play.
Despite a triple from Tom Cowie Westlake’s shooting woes continued in the fourth quarter.
Rontel Russo and Logan McIntosh took the lead close to twenty points and when Payne converted an And-1 play Rangi led 71-50 with five to play.
An acrobatic score from Cowie excited the home crowd but it was only a consolation effort as Rangi eased through the final period to record their second win on the bounce.
Westlake 61 – T Cowie 12, J Kooiman 11, P Winitana 11, E Clark 6
Rangitoto 80 – H Payne 26, O Paea 14, T Te Puni 12, L McIntosh 7
Shalom Broughton scored a season high 32 points and with Levic Kerr also impressing with 24 points St Kentigern College pushed Rosmini all the way before eventually going down 89-78.
NZ U17 teammates Broughton and Mitch Dance were out of the gates early with both scoring a dozen in the opening ten minutes – Rosmini ahead by the smallest of margins 21-20.
Max Shorter came to the fore in the second as St Kent’s opened up a 44-41 half-time lead.
Broughton made a late triple at the back end of the third frame but it was a period dominated by the visitors.
Tyler Martin and Thomas Morgan provided some needed spark off the bench for Rosmini. Morgan, in good form of late, scored 8 points in the period and with Martin and Marvin Williams-Dunn knocking down threes Rosmini opened up a 67-57 lead at the three-quarter mark.
Kerr and Broughton continued to apply pressure on the Rosmini defence and add to their points tally but 8 more points from Morgan and contributions from Williams-Dunn and Taine Murray got Rosmini over the line – but only just.
St Kentigern 78 – S Broughton 32, L Kerr 24, M Shorter 12
Rosmini 87 – M Williams-Dunn 17, T Morgan 17, T Murray 13, M Dance 12
LACEY LOWDOWN 