LACEY LOWDOWN

After the completion of Round 12 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Girl’s Premier League on Monday we now know the semi-final qualifiers, and in addition know that Auckland Girls Grammar will need to win a play-off game next year to remain in the top flight.

Carmel College will finish fifth and miss out on a semi-final berth unless Rangitoto College lose all three of their remaining games and Carmel beat Westlake in their final game. One scenario is unlikely, both improbable so safe to say St Mary’s are the regular season champions, Westlake are runners-up with Massey and Rangitoto claiming the other two play-off spots.

Carmel were still very much in the play-off picture with four minutes to play in their home game against Rangitoto on Monday as they trailed by just five points (72-67). Unfortunately for them Rangitoto sharp-shooter Aroha Riley made a couple of scores and when Ella Moore knocked down a three the lead was suddenly a dozen points.

Forward Qaizden Stephano reduced the arrears but another five points from Rogers (she scored 15 points in the fourth quarter), meant that a pair of threes from Estelle Davidson were rendered academic as Rangi departed with an 87-79 victory.

Earlier Tayla Dalton, Emily Broomfield and Davidson had provided the bulk of the offensive thrust for Carmel as they kept pace with the visitors.

Hannah Wentworth’s three first half triples helped Rangi to a 42-34 half-time lead before transition baskets from Kellie Tawhiao stretched the lead beyond a dozen points. Dalton and Isabel MacGregor provided the response as Carmel closed to 64-47 at three-quarter time.

The two teams exchanged baskets in the early stages of the fourth before Rogers and Moore dropped the decisive daggers.

Carmel 79– T Dalton 28, E Davidson 17, E Broomfield 14, Q Stephano 13

Rangitoto 87– A Riley 24, K Tawhiao 18, H Wentworth 15, W Riley 10 M Barrett 8

Emme Shearer, named to attend the prestigious Basketball Without Borders Camp next month alongside St Mary’s forward Jazz Kailahi-Fulu, scored 25 points as Westlake Girls confirmed second place on the table with a comfortable 85-50 win against Mt Albert Grammar School.

Shearer scored 13 points in the first half and with Jess Moors also in double figures Westlake had a 44-26 lead at the interval.

Tiger-Lily Cocker-Lemalie and Monica Kelly, 11 points and 10 points respectively were the notable scorers for MAGS.

Danae Tait landed a couple of scoring punches for MAGS but Jordyn Maddix and Piper Manolas were equal to the task as Westlake extended their advantage to 63-39 with a quarter to play – a period they won 22-11 to earn a ninth win of the season.

Westlake 85– E Shearer 25, J Moors 20, J Maddix 14, P Manolas 10

MAGS 50– M Kelly 14, R Fiatau 14, T Cocker-Lemalie 11, D Tait 8

Massey High also confirmed a semi-final spot with an 81-65 victory against Auckland Girls Grammar.

The two teams were on even keel at quarter time with 20 points apiece – with both teams looking to the three point line for production. Allyah Leusogi-Ape and Ramona Fuaivaa landed from deep for Massey with Imogene Noble, Milika Fonohema and Leah Patuwairua successful for AGGS.

Noble, Hine Te Ao Devery, Fonohema and Patuwairua were a constant threat to the Massey defence but Leusogi-Ape, Alyesha Schuster and Shazaleah Henry ensured MAGS had a 46-43 half-time lead.

A low scoring third quarter ensued (11-10 in favour of MAGS) before the hosts broke free in the final period to clinch the win. Fuaivaa and Leusogi-Ape shared 14 points in the last ten minutes to see off a spirited AGGS challenge.

Massey 81–  A Leusogi-Ape 21, R Fuaivaa 19, A Schuster 16, M Taingahue 11

AGGS 65– I Noble 27, L Patuwairua 20,  M Fonohema 10, Hine Te Ao Devery 8

Premier Girls Standings:

10-0 St Mary’s

9-2 Westlake

6-4 Massey

5-4 Rangitoto

5-6 Carmel

2-9 MAGS

0-10 AGGS

There was plenty of action in Round 12 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boy’s Premier League on Monday with Macleans College winning their first game of the season, Rangitoto College losing just their second game of the campaign and St Kentigern College all but securing the regular season title.

It’s been a tough season for Macleans College but with a healthy squad in action for virtually the first time this season they held off Liston College to win 75-73 for a welcome victory.

Macleans led by as many as 12 points in the fourth period but had to endure a nervy last few minutes as Liston closed to within two points in the closing stages. Liston had opportunities to tie proceedings in the last two minutes but couldn’t get shots to drop much to the relief of Adrian Boyd and his charges.

Early on Macleans guard Kraus Reyes scored 7 points but it was Liston who led at the quarter mark (19-13) thanks to 10 points from Preston Karatau.

Threes from Emannuel Cea plus buckets from Desmond Helu kept Liston briefly in the ascendancy but with Michael Babaran finding his range Macleans had a 56-48 lead by three-quarter time.

Jesse Manuel and Reyes extended the lead before triples from Helu and Kiani Saxon sparked a Liston revival. Karatau scored six straight points but Harry Smith and Sam Voykovich made critical free-throws to edge Macleans to that long awaited win.

Liston 73– P Karatau 22, D Helu 22, K Saxon 15, E Cea 6

Macleans 75– M Babaran 23, J Manuel 12, K Reyes 11, T Kempton 8

Auckland Grammar have suffered two agonising defeats in four days after going down 78-74 at St Kentigern College on Monday after losing 86-88 to Rangitoto on Friday.

Running the top two sides on the Premier League table so close shows that Grammar are capable of beating any team on their day but the two defeats means their top-four prospects are in the balance.

A win behind both Westlake and Rosmini, Grammar will need to win both of their remaining games and hope other results go their way.

St Kent’s made the brighter start with Martin Gan knocking down a three and Alex McNaught scoring six points to forge a 21-16 first quarter lead.

Jaga Mete and Daniel Boyd kept the scoring moving for AGS in the second but Levick Kerr was causing them some problems inside – the St Kent’s big man scored 11 points in the quarter to propel his team to a 44-30 half-time lead.

Grammar enjoyed much the better of the third spell as Connor Ngan, Mete and Boyd all connected from behind the three-point arc to trim the St Kent’s advantage to 60-56 with ten minutes to play.

There was nothing in it in the fourth – Ilaisa Tela, Boyd and Mete sharing the scoring load for AGS with Kerr, McNaught, Kazlo Evans and Elliot Watson doing the same for the league leaders. Eventually it was St Kent’s that prevailed but only just. The result means St Kent’s will win the Minor Premiership if they can win at Rangitoto College on Friday night.

St Kentigern 78– L Kerr 28, A McNaught 16, K Evans 15, S Broughton 7, E Watson 6

AGS 74– J Mete 29, D Boyd 17, C Ngan 11, I Tela 11

Rangitoto College suffered just their second defeat of the season after going down 85-74 at Rosmini College.

Taine Murray was the chief architect of the Rosmini win scoring a game high 30 points, the Tall Blacks triallist had 13 in the opening quarter which the hosts won 25-21.

Jared Thornton was prominent for Rangitoto – his 8 points plus 10 from Harry Payne meant the margin was still four points at half-time (43-39).

Rangi opened the second half with an 8-0 run with Payne and Zach Riley scoring a couple of baskets each but Rosmini countered with an identical run courtesy of Jason Mittef and Marvin Williams-Dunn. Reihana Maxwell-Topia scored the last six Rozza points in the quarter to keep his team in the ascendancy – ahead 62-56 at the third break.

Cian Emery dropped a corner three for Rosmini but Ethan Mandeno, Thornton and Payne kept Rangi on track who were down just 72-67 with four minutes left to play.

However Reimar Cruz and Williams-Dunn then converted back-to back triples and Rangi coach Kenny Stone required a timeout.

The resumption didn’t go to plan as Murray made two more threes to stretch the Rosmini lead to 81-67 Although Ethan Skelton made a couple of neat baskets Rosmini eased through the closing couple of minutes to solidify their top four place.

Rosmini 85– T Murray 30, R Maxwell-Topia 15, R Cruz 10, M Williams-Dunn 10, S Murphy 7

Rangitoto 74– H Payne 24, L Thornton 14/9rebs, T Te Puni 11, Z Riley 11, O Pae 6

Westlake kept their top-four hopes alive with a solid 90-68 win against Mt Albert Grammar, 36 points from Sam Mennenga the most telling contribution.

The Junior Tall Black had 11 points in the first period as MAGS, despite threes from Phoenix Sorensen, Denver Elia and Theo Coker-Grey found themselves 25-22 behind at that stage.

Westlake put their foot down in the second winning the quarter 28-11 with Christian Martin, Reuben Natusch and Dylan Wilkie notable contributors.

MAGS fared better after the interval with Josh Leger and Ben Skelton combining for ten points. Wilkie, Martin and Mennenga  converted from deep as Westlake led 73-50 at three-quarter time.

MAGS shaded the last quarter but Westlake’s seventh win of the season was never under threat.

Westlake 90– S Mennenga 36, D Wilkie 9, C Martin 9, C Atkinson 8

MAGS 68– J Leger 14, P Sorensen 12, D Elia 12, T Coker-Grey 8

Premier Standings:

11-1 St Kentigern

9-2 Rangitoto

7-4 Rosmini

7-5 Westlake

6-6 AGS

3-8 MAGS

2-9 Liston

1-11 Macleans

Jazz Kailahi-Fulu

St Mary’s College strengthened its grip on top spot of the Auckland Secondary Schools Girl’s Premier League with a 73-63 home win against nearest rivals Westlake Girls on Friday.

In other Round 11 games there were wins for Carmel College and Rangitoto College.

Jazz Kailahi-Fulu has missed much of the season due to injury but she was in dominating form against Westlake scoring 30 points as St Mary’s won a tenth straight game.

Westlake got the better of a low scoring first quarter to lead 14-8 but it was St Mary’s that dominated the second period.

Whatever St Mary’s coach Tui Matiseni, assuming head coaching duties whist Jody Cameron is in Taiwan with the Tall Ferns, said to his charges at quarter time worked a treat.

Kailahi-Fulu and Leata Te Nana-Williams went to work and although Tabitha Leyson knocked down a three for Westlake it was St Mary’s in the ascendancy at the interval leading 29-23.

The third period was much tighter. Jess Moors, Rosie Dil and Jordyn Maddix kept the scoreboard ticking over for the visitors with Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu, Riana Matiseni and Te Nana-Williams pacing the St Mary’s effort as they led 52-44 at the three-quarter mark.

Westlake tried desperately to close the gap in the closing minutes but they had no answer for the Kailahi-Fulu’s who scored 18 points between them in the fourth quarter.

St Mary’s 73– J Kailahi-Fulu 30, Z Kailahi-Fulu 14, L Te Nana-Williams 12, R Matiseni 6

Westlake 63– S Dil 15, J Maddix 15, J Moors 11, P Manolas 10, T Leyson 6

Carmel College maintained their quest for a top-four spot with a comfortable 81-42 victory at Mt Albert Grammar School.

As usual Tayla Dalton, with 41 points, was the chief architect of the win but she received good support from Estelle Davidson and Qaizden Stephano who scored 9 points each.

Dalton had 22 points in the first half and although Rikki Fiatau scored 9 points for MAGS they trailed 42-21 at the interval.

Destiny Leef-Milner knocked down her second three of the game for MAGS in the third but Izzy Cattermole, Mackenzie MacKerath and Dalton also connected from beyond the arc as Carmel took a 61-30 lead into the last break.

Both coaching tandems utilised their bench players in the fourth quarter ahead of further action on Monday.

MAGS 42– R Fiatau 9, H Brown 8, T Cocker-Lemalie 7, D Leef-Milner 6, M Kelly 6

Carmel 81– T Dalton 41, E Davidson 9, Q Stephano 9, T McAsey 7

In the other game Rangitoto Collegedefeated Auckland Girls Grammar110-64. The leading scorers for Rangitoto were Aroha Riley (19pts), Hannah Wentworth (17pts), Ella Moore (17pts), Moneesha Barrett (11pts), Tiana Hudson (10pts) and Emily Blythe (10pts). Unfortunately no other details are available.

On Monday Massey High will face AGGS, Westlake will play MAGS and in a game that will have a major bearing on their respective semi-final aspirations Carmel will entertain Rangitoto.

Premier Girls Standings:

10-0 St Mary’s

7-2 Westlake

5-4 Massey

5-5 Carmel

4-4 Rangitoto

2-8 MAGS

0-9 AGGS

Levick Kerr

The Auckland Secondary Schools Premier League resumed on Friday after the July recess.

St Kentigern College were too good for Macleans College winning 96-48 with centre Levick Kerr scoring a game high 29 points.

Josh Child was prominent early and when Gabriel Nolan scored from beyond the arc St Kentigern were 19-8 ahead after ten minutes.

Harry Smith, Kraus Reyes and Jesse Manuel made a brace of scores apiece for Macleans but Kerr poured in 14 points in the second quarter to extend the St Kent’s lead to 48-20 at half-time.

Alex McNaught led the St Kent’s scoring in the third frame as the league leaders stretched out to 71-36.

Manuel kept battling away for Macleans but it was an uphill battle, St Kent’s tenth win of the season, which keeps them top of the table, iced by a Ryan Morrissey three.

Macleans 48– J Manuel 16, Harry Smith 11, Kraus Reyes 7, S Voykovich 6

St Kentigern 96– L Kerr 29, A McNaught 21, J Child 13, K Evans 7

In the game of the round, and possibly the game of the season thus far Rangitoto College beat Auckland Grammar 88-86.

In a contest that was close throughout the two standout performances belonged to Grammar’s Jaga Mete who scored 38 points and Rangitoto guard Zach Riley who scored 34 points including a game clinching 13 points in the final quarter.

In a sign of what was to come just a single point separated the teams in an opening period won 18-17 by Rangitoto – 8 points from Riley were a sign of things to come.

It was still a one point game at half-time but this time in favour of Grammar (38-37) with Caleb Landon and Ilasia Tela making their mark.

The two teams went toe-to toe in the third. Harry Payne reeled off eight straight points to open the Rangi scoring in the second half followed by a pair of threes from Ethan Mandeno and with Phoenix Lepou making a couple of buckets Rangi accumulated 27 points in the stanza.

AGS, with Mete unstoppable, matched that number. The Junior Tall Black guard dropped 20 points in ten minutes and entering the final ten minutes the lead was still a single point in favour of Grammar (65-64).

Daniel Boyd and Mete shared 15 points in the last period but it was Riley that made the most telling contribution as Rangi closed out a thriller to remain second on the table.

AGS 86– J Mete 38, D Boyd 15, C Landon 12, I Tela 10

Rangitoto 88– Z Riley 34, H Payne 20, L Thornton 8, P Lepou 8

Westlake Boys, propelled by 21 points from Josh Kooiman and 20 points from Sam Mennenga, came away from Liston College with an 87-70 victory.

Kiani Saxon scored half a dozen points as Liston kept pace with the visitors in the opening exchanges trailing by just three points (20-17) at the first break.

Westlake bossed the second spell as Kooiman and Dylan Wilkie dropped threes to help Westlake to a 43-30 half-time advantage.

Liston bounced back in the third with Preston Karatau, Desmond Helu and Shawn Hickey providing scoring impetus. Regular scores from Mennenga and Reuben Natuscha ensured the visitors maintained the lead at three-quarter time – ahead 64-50.

Triples in the fourth period from Victor Ola’aiga and Matt Manese kept Liston in the hunt but 12 points in the quarter from Kooiman sealed the Westlake win.

Liston 70– P Karatau 19, D Helu 14, K Saxon 10, S Hickey 10, V Ola’aiga 10

Westlake 87– J Kooiman 21, S Mennenga 20, R Natusca 16, D Wilkie 12

The opening quarter at Mt Albert Grammar suggested a close contest with Rosmini College but it turned out to be anything but as the visitors cruised to an 87-49 win.

Unluckily for MAGS Taine Murray poured in 13 early points to give Rosmini a 19-16 first quarter lead.

Nate Wilson led the MAGS response scoring 11 straight points for the hosts either side of the quarter time break to propel his team into the lead.

Back-to back threes from guard Reimar Cruz initiated a 10-0 Rosmini run and when Sean Murphy sunk a three as time expired in the first half the visitors lead was 42-27.

Josh Leger scored six points for MAGS after the interval but they were slim pickings as Rosmini bossed the third period 28-10, Murray and Reihana Maxwell-Topia doing most of the damage.

Ben Skelton went coast-to-coast in the fourth to the delight of the home fans before Cian Emery and Brandon Robb completed the scoring for Rosmini.

MAGS 49– N Wilson 22, J Leger 10, D Elia 5

Rosmini 87– T Murray 28, R Maxwell-Topia 12, R Cruz 10, S Murphy 9, M Williams-Dunn 7

There will be a full round of games on Monday with St Kent’s entertaining Auckland Grammar, Westlake hosting MAGS, Rangitoto visiting Rosmini and a bottom of the table clash sees Macleans taking on Liston.

Premier Standings:

10-1 St Kentigern

9-1 Rangitoto

6-4 Rosmini

6-5 AGS, Westlake

6-4 Rosmini

3-7 MAGS

2-8 Liston

0-11 Macleans

Waikato vs North Harbour, WBC Tournament, Cowels Statium, 10/5/2019, Photo:Gamefacenz

Ahead of the re-commencement of competition on Friday here are some talking points from the first half of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier League.

1 Both the Girl’s and Boy’s regular season titles appear to be two horse races.

St Mary’s Ponsonby (9-0) are unbeaten in the girl’s competition with Westlake (7-1) suffering just one defeat – both teams well clear of Massey (5-4), Carmel (4-5) and Rangitoto (3-4).

It’s a similar story with the Boy’s. St Kentigern (9-1) and Rangitoto (8-1) have dropped just one game each with the chasing pack some way behind. Auckland Grammar (6-4), Westlake (5-5) and Rosmini (5-4) are the closest challengers.

2 Auckland Girls Grammar and Mt Albert Grammar have been powerhouses in the girl’s competition in recent years but safe to say both are going through a rebuilding stage – MAGS with one win to date and AGGS 0-8.

3 Botany Downs withdrawing from the Girl’s Premier League is not a good look and hopefully the competition’s decision makers can take steps to avoid a similar occurrence in the future.

4 On a far more positive note the upcoming re-match between Westlake Boys and Rosmini College at Eventfinda Stadium on August 2^ndcould break the regular season attendance record. A crowd of over 1,200 watched that encounter with that figure under threat this time around. Hats off to Eventfinda Stadium, Harbour Basketball and the two teams for facilitating this initiative – next step SKY Sport!

5 There is, as always, some seriously good individual talent on show each week. Here’s what some individuals have achieved this s.eason

Sam Mennenga (Westlake) and Jaga Mete (AGS) performing well at FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece where the team finished with a highly creditable 4-3 record. Sam then went on to  play at theNBA Global Camp scoring a mightily impressive 27 points in the final.

Taine Murray (Rosmini) will be attending the Tall Blacks 24-man Selection Camp ahead of the FIBA World Cup. Incidentally 14 of those players have played Auckland Premier basketball in the past.

Tayla Dalton (Carmel) was a member of the first New Zealand women’s team to medal at a FIBA World Cup event when claiming silver at the 3×3 U18 World Cup in Mongolia.

Tayla and Emme Shearer (Westlake) both played major roles in the Harbour Breeze team that finished runners-up in the Women’s Basketball Championship.

6 The good news and the bad news. Firstly the good news is that the following have been selected to the NZ U17 teams to attend the FIBA Oceania Championships in New Caledonia next month.

Girls – Jess Moors (Westlake).

Boys – Campbell Atkinson (Westlake), Alex McNaught (St Kentigern), Connor Ngan (AGS), Taine Murray, Sean Murphy, Reihana Maxwell-Topia (all Rosmini).

7 The bad news is that all of the above will be ruled out of the Prems play-offs next month, should their respective teams qualify, as the trip to New Caledonia coincides with the semis and finals.

8 The additional bad news is that four of the sharpest minds in Auckland Premier basketball will also be removed from the play-offs.

Lindsay Tait (AGS), Aaron Young (St Kentigern), Matt Lacey (Rosmini) and Bronwen Davidson (Westlake Girls) will all have to hand the coaching reins to their assistants as they will also be in New Caledonia as members of the coaching teams with the U17’s.

To compound the problems for Rosmini, St Kent’s and Westlake international 3×3 basketball has deprived them of more players. Jordyn Maddix, Emme Shearer (both Westlake Girls), Shalom Broughton (St Kent’s) and Marvin Williams-Dunn (Rosmini) have this week been named to the New Zealand teams to attend the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in Malaysia. Those players therefore ruled out of the second week of the play-offs.

9 It’s going to be a busy time for the Prems teams as we approach the sharp end of the season.

A number of teams face five games in three weeks to conclude the regular season then we head into Prem play-offs and then the AA Schick Premierships (Shick Nationals Qualifiers) which this year will be held at Pulman Arena (September 4-7).

10 Talking of the Premierships which Senior A teams might qualify for Nationals at the expense of Prem teams?

Well certainly in the Girl’s Tournament you have to think top of the table Epsom Girls (10-0) and second placed Baradene (9-1) will have a real chance.  The top four teams in Senior A  Boys all have winning records and look capable of upsetting a couple of the big dogs.

Look out for Northcote (7-3), St Peter’s (7-3), Mt Roskill (7-3) and Long Bay (6-4) to make an impression.

Teams back in action on Friday – should be a lot of fun.