LACEY LOWDOWN

It was moving day on Wednesday at the 2018 Schick Secondary Schools National Championships with the finalists found in the A Tournaments and play-off berths confirmed in the AA competitions.

The A Girls Final will feature local favourites Manukura against Ellesmere College.

Manukura accounted for Stratford High 78-63 and in a cliffhanger Ellesmere conceded an eight points advantage in the final minute to Te Aroha College before clinching a 59-57 win on the buzzer.

Stratford Boys High, the 2017 champions have the opportunity to defend their crown after beating Nga Taiatea Wharekura 88-75 in the A Boys semi-final. Te Aroha College boys made up for the loss by the girls team claiming a 67-61 win against Opunake High School in the other semi-final.

The Girls and Boys AA tournaments have adopted the new FIBA style format with the top team in each of the four pools progressing to the quarter-finals. The second and third placed teams in each pool are faced with quarter-final qualifying fixtures on Thursday morning.

The teams benefitting from the additional recovery time after winning their respective pools are Hamilton Boys High, St Kentigern College, Palmerston North Boys High and Napier Boys High.

On the girls side St Peters, Cambridge, Westlake Girls High, Hamilton Girls High and Queen Margaret College, Wellington can have a sleep in on Thursday morning.

 Highlighted below are the teams that will play the quarter-final qualifying ties at 9am on Thursday morning to earn a slot in the last eight. In both the boys and girls competitions teams from Pool A will crossover against Pool B opposition (eg 2^nd in Pool A v 3^rd in Pool B) with the same scenario between the pool C and D teams.

Boys AA Tournament standings at conclusion of Pool play

Teams listed in order of seeding with 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd placed teams progressing to play-offs.

Pool A

2^nd Rosmini College 4-1

Rongotai College 2-3

1^st Hamilton Boys HS 4-1

New Plymouth Boys HS 0-4

St Andrew’s College 0-4

3^rd Mt Albert GS 4-1

 

Pool B

1^st St Kentigern College 5-0

3^rd Westlake Boys HS 3-2

Shirley Boys HS 1-4

2^nd St John’s College 4-1

Rotorua Boys HS 2-3

Fraser HS 0-5

 

Pool C

Rangitoto College 1-4

Auckland GS 3-2

1^st Palmerston North Boys HS 4-1

Middleton Grange 1-4

Otago Boys HS 3-2

Hastings Boys HS 3-2

 

Pool D

2^nd Cashmere HS 4-1

1^st Napier Boys HS 4-1

3^rd St Patrick’s College, Kilbirnie 3-2

Waimea College 1-4

Tauranga Boys HS 2-3

Macleans College 1-4

 

Girls AA Tournament standings at conclusion of Pool play

Pool A

2^nd Sacred Heart Girls College, New Plymouth 4-1

1^st Westlake Girls HS 5-0

3^rd Rangitoto College 3-2

Christchurch Girls HS 1-4

Melville HS 2-3

Hillcrest HS 0-5

 

Pool B

1^st St Peter’s, Cambridge 5-0

2^nd Hutt Valley HS 4-1

3^rd St Andrew’s College 3-2

Otago Girls HS 1-4

Wellington Girls College 2-3

Tauranga Girls College 0-5

 

Pool C

2^nd Mt Albert GS 4-1

Rotorua Girls HS 2-3

Rangi Ruru 2-3

1^st Queen Margaret College, Wellington 5-0

3^rd St Mary’s College, Ponsonby 2-3 (advance on points differential)

Massey HS 0-5

 

Pool D

1^st Hamilton Girls HS 5-0

2^nd Auckland Girls GS 4-1

3^rd Napier Girls HS 3-2

Fraser HS 1-4

Waimea College 1-4

Palmerston North Girls HS 1-4

 

Boys A Semi-Finals

Stratford High School 88 – M Trott 34, C Trethewey 29, F Jennings 12, W Ratu 11

Nga Taiatea Wharekura 75 – H Edwards 24, W Ake 20, M Short 14, C Marsh 11

 

Te Aroha College 67 – C Garnier 15, S Schuler 14, L van den Heuvel 14, J De Young 12

Opunake HS 61 – N Hill 23, H Loveridge-Seymour 23, R Bloemen 5

 

Girls A Semi-Finals

Manukura 78 – R Fourie 29, H Coleman 19, H Stanshall 11

Stratford HS 63 – R Utton 23, L Almazan 9, K Jones 9

 

Te Aroha College 57 – D Schuler 20, B Schuler 15, M Ross 8

Ellesmere 59 – M Ellis 30, S Irvine 11, K Timpson 8