LACEY LOWDOWN

St Peter’s College and Baradene College will be playing Premier basketball in 2020.

Both were crowned Auckland Secondary Schools Senior A champions at Eventfinda Stadium on Thursday night and in doing so gain promotion to the elite eight of Auckland high school basketball.

For St Peter’s it is a swift return to the top flight after suffering relegation in 2018. In contrast it will be a first foray in the upper echelon for Baradene who will debut in the competition next year.

Baradene were 58-54 victors against Epsom Girls who suffered the disappointment of a Senior A Grand Final loss for the second successive year.

Baradene, paced by Lilly Parke’s 22 points, left their run late. They had trailed at every quarter break albeit by just a single point at the three-quarter mark (38-37).

Parke put Baradene ahead at the start of the fourth but Florence Dallow and Aria Todd-Pemerika combined to wrestle back the initiative for Epsom and with 4 minutes to play they led 47-45.

With Parke headed to the pine on five fouls it appeared to be Epsom’s opportunity to pounce put scores on consecutive plays from Deyna Topia, Charlotte Rattray and Ritorya Tamilo gave Baradene the upper hand.

Dallow’s And-1 play pulled Epsom within range, down 52-50 with under two minutes to play.

Tamilo was having a huge impact at the defensive end and another block by the Baradene centre prevented Epsom drawing level.

Te Aroha Kukuati-Wairau and Sarah-Joy Aruwa made free-throws for Epsom but Baradene point guard Topia calmly knocked down four straight freebies to ice the game much to the delight of her team mates and travelling Baradene supporters.

Baradene 58– L Parke 22, R Tamilo 12, D Topia 12, S Faleafa 6

Epsom 54– F Dallow 16, S Aruwa 14, A Todd-Pemerika 9, L Boxall-Hunt 6

Both teams enjoyed vociferous support in the Boy’s Final as Peter’s College earned a prompt return to Premier basketball with a 79-71 victory against Long Bay College.

A tight opening quarter was shaded by Long Bay 17-16, their lead a little larger at half-time, 36-30 – Sam Roberts led all scorers at that stage with 17 points.

Josh Brading’s basket extended the Long Bay lead to ten points before St Peter’s hit back through Boston Schuster and Luke Buckingham. When Schuster scored off a lovely assist from Oliver Arlove the scores were tied 44 points apiece.

A George De Felice three was the last scoring of the term with LBC 52-51 ahead.

St Peter’s began the final quarter strongly with a Jack Donnelly triple and successive free-throws taking them out to a 69-61 lead.

It was still a six point differential before a tumbling drive from Buckingham, who added the additional free-throw, gave St Peter’s a 72-63 lead with four to play.

A Tobeas Livock triple and freebies from Jacob Jones-Harvey had the Long Bay faithful in full voice but Buckingham, on his way to a game high 31 points, was calmness personified as he knocked down six straight from the charity stripe in the closing seconds to seal the win .

St Peter’s 79–L Buckingham 31, B Schuster 10, J Jones-Harvey 10, J Donnelly 8, I Franklin 7

Long Bay 71– S Roberts 21, J Brading 11, G De Felice 11, J Jones-Harvey 6

St Mary’s College lifted the Auckland Secondary Schools Girl’s Premier League title for the very first time at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday night after defeating Westlake Girls 83-74.

St Mary’s maintained their unbeaten record but Westlake, missing three players away on international duty and two others with injury, gave the regular season champions a thorough examination.

In fact with five minutes to play Westlake only trailed by three points (71-68) and an upset looked a possibility.

It was then that St Mary’s turned to their senior payer Jazz Kailahi-Fulu and the Junior Tall Fern forward didn’t disappoint. She scored eight points down the stretch and with Kat Leslie and Alex Moore also making valuable contributions Westlake were outscored 12-6 in the closing minutes.

Earlier, a free flowing game had been a battle of the guards with the Te Nana-Williams sisters Leata and Safena outstanding for St Mary’s – Holly Williams Amiya Fotu and Tabatha Leyson leading the Westlake response.

St Mary’s won the opening period 18-15 with Safena and Leata both landing from beyond the arc.

Emma Pugh scored inside and Leyson dropped a pair of threes as Westlake went toe to toe with their opponents.

Safena and Leata were well into double figures by half-time but a reverse layup from Holly Williams on the final play of the half meant Westlake were within a point at the interval trailing 40-39.

St Mary’s made a critical run to open the second half outscoring Westlake 13-3. Sophie Dil landed a three but a banked triple from Safena plus a purer effort from the corner kept St Mary’s ahead by double digits.

A couple of Makenzee Boucher transition baskets aided the Westlake cause as did a nice finish by Amiya Fotu – St Mary’s ahead 65-56 at three-quarter time.

Emma Pugh and Sarah Moors helped Westlake narrow the gap in the early stages of the fourth but Kailahi-Fulu upped the intensity in the closing five minutes to wrestle back the initiative and make it 14 wins on the bounce for St Mary’s.

St Mary’s 83–S Te Nana-Williams 22, J Kailahi-Fulu 20, L Te Nana-Williams 16, K Leslie 8, A Moore 6

Westlake 74– A Fotu 11, E Pugh 10, T Leyson 10, H Williams 7, M Chatfield 6, J Kapsin 6, S Moors 6/12r

Both Rangitoto College and Saint Kentigern College were short of key personnel but still produced an exciting and absorbing Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier League Grand Final at Eventfinda Stadium on Thursday night.

The contest was eventually won 78-75 by Rangitoto but the result was in the balance until the last possession of the game.

The game ebbed and flowed throughout with neither side able to wrestle complete control and that is how it continued in the closing minutes.

With the scores locked at 54 points apiece at the three-quarter mark it was St Kent’s who made the first run after the break as Levick Kerr scored inside and “Mr 110%” Elliot Watson knocked down a three.

Ethan Mandeno (24 points) and Zack Riley (20 points) replied for Rangitoto before another St Kent’s triple, this time from skipper Martin Gan, gave St Kent’s a single point lead with five minutes to play.

Riley and Mandeno were carrying the Rangitoto offence eventually scoring all of their team’s 24 final quarter points between them.

When Mandeno’s floater found nothing but net and his triple produced the same result on the next Rangi possession, with 1:03 to play, their 77-71 lead looked match winning.

However Gan made free-throws and Kazlo Evans (16 points) scored again with 22 seconds to play to make it a one possession game (77-75).

Rangitoto just needed to keep possession but committed a 5 seconds in-bounds violation to hand the ball back to the regular season champs.

St Kent’s had three attempts to score on the play but couldn’t make any. The game wasn’t quite finished as Mandeno knocked down a free throw with 2.5 seconds to play but his intentional miss on the second also missed the ring handing St Kent’s one final possession.

That came to nothing but the game was quite something.

Earlier Liam Judd scored 10 first half points for Rangitoto but a second quarter three-point blitz from St Kent’s gave the Saints a 42-39 advantage. Evans, Gan and Kaea Rangiehaeta amassed five treys between them in the second frame.

The third quarter of the game was the lowest scoring spell of the contest – an Oba Paea triple and back to back baskets from Judd helped Rangi level the scores at the break.

The final quarter could have gone either way but Riley and Mandeno ensured the Premier trophy stayed on the North Shore, but it was mighty close.

Rangitoto 78– E Mandeno 25, Z Riley 20, L Judd 14, T Wynyard 8, P Leupolu 5/11r

St Kentigern – 75K Evans 16, L Kerr 15, M Gan 15, E Watson 14, J Child 8, K Rangiehaeta 8

The Auckland Secondary Schools Senior A Boy’s and Girl’s semi-finals were decided in contrasting styles at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday night.

While the two top seeds in the Girl’s semi-finals advanced serenely to the championship game it was a different story in the Boy’s semis where the underdogs advanced in both contests.

The most dramatic game involved North Harbour rivals Long Bay College and Northcote College. Regular season champions Northcote seemed to have done enough to claim the win when they led 79-77 with 3.7 seconds remaining. However a pair of missed free-throws gave Long Bay possession and as time expired Hayden Druce launched a half-court prayer.

To everyone’s astonishment the hopeful heave found the net – agony for Northcote and a joyous 80-79 victory for Long Bay.

The result not only brought to an end Northcote’s nine game winning streak but also ended their quest for a Premier League spot in 2020.

Northcote led 42-40 at half-time, 64-58 at the next break and the duration of the fourth quarter for all the way to the buzzer – well almost.

Northcote were paced by 25 points from Miggy Falqueza and 21 from Ethan Clark. Long Bay got important contributions from Sam Roberts and Ethan Clifford but none as significant as Druce’s game winner.

Northcote 79– M Falqueza 25, E Clark 21, O Hayward 13, R Miller-Tohu 8

Long Bay 80–S Roberts 16, H Druce 15, E Clifford 15, J Brading 8, J Jones-Harvey 7

St Peter’s College are eyeing a prompt return to Premier basketball after an 81-74 Senior A semi-final victory against Mt Roskill Grammar. The finish wasn’t as dramatic as the other semi but it was an equally terrific contest with St Peter’s only securing victory in the last couple of minutes.

St Peter’s led 22-20 after ten minutes, 45-38 at half-time and 64-58 at three-quarter time but could never get the lead out to a comfortable margin.Kennedy Matenga, Jaskaran Singh and Race Greig were immense for Roskill in the fourth quarter but the regular season runners-up couldn’t quite reel in their opponents.

Jack Donnelly and Luke Buckingham were in excellent scoring touch for St Peter’s – Donnelly coolness personified as he iced the game from the foul line in the closing seconds.

St Peter’s were relegated from the Premier League last season but a victory in Thursday’s final against Long Bay will catapult them straight back into the higher echelons of Auckland Schools Basketball.

Mt Roskill 74– J Singh 18, S Damu 15, K Matenga 11, J Sapoi 11, R Greig 10

St Peter’s 81– J Donnelly 24, L Buckingham 20, O Arlove 10, B Schuster 6

There was no such drama in the Girl’s semi-finals with Baradene College defeating Avondale College 74-48 and Epsom Grammar easing past St Kentigern College 102-66.

Florence Dallow, on her way to a game high 40 points, scored half of Epsom’s 26 first quarter points as they led by 18 at the break. The lead was 53-22 at half-time with Sarah-Joy Aruwa and Te Aroha Boxall-Hunt giving Dallow great support.

Masha Pavlenko was outstanding for St Kent’s in a losing cause scoring 31 points.

Epsom were beaten finalists in 2018 but will be hoping to go one better on Thursday.

Epsom 102– F Dallow 40, S Aruwa 26, T Kukuati-Wairau 18, L Boxall-Hunt 7, M Fowler 7

St Kent’s 60– M Pavlenko 31, S Tapling 9, E Halliday 8, M Chen 7

Despite eight first quarter points from Avondale standout Maclani Michael Baradene were 27-12 to the good at quarter time and almost out of site at half-time leading 45-21 with Denya Topia, Summer Faleafa and Lily Parke leading the way.

The second half was a far more even contest but the Baradene advantage was never threatened as they head to a grand-final showdown against Epsom.

Epsom lead the head-to-head 2-0, will it be third time lucky for Baradene?

Baradene 74– D Topia 22, S Faleafa 15, L Parke 14, R Tamilo 8, P Cavanagh-Briggs 8

Avondale 48– M Michael 17, M Whiu 14, T Raion 6

Both Senior A Finals and 3^rd/4^thgames will be held at Eventfinda Stadium on Thursday August 22 with tip-off’s at 4.30pm.

St Mary’s College and Westlake Girls booked their tickets for the Auckland Secondary Schools Girl’s Premier League Grand Final in contrasting styles at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday night.

St Mary’s comfortably beat Massey High 94-65 whilst Westlake Girls had to work hard to subdue the challenge of Rangitoto College.

For the second time in eight days Rangitoto pushed Westlake all the way before losing by nine points – an identical margin in both games – 90-81.

In a high scoring contest both teams enjoyed balanced scoring efforts but it was the last five points from Westlake guards Tabatha Leyson and Holly Williams that were the most telling.

An Ella Moore three with a couple of minutes to play followed by a Kellie Tawhiao free-throw had reduced the Westlake lead to just four points (85-80) and, as they had all game, Rangitoto threatened an upset. However Leyson made a critical triple from in front of her own bench and when Williams scored soon after the Westlake followers could breathe a little easier.

Earlier a high scoring opening quarter was shaded 27-25 by Westlake who took charge in the second spell to lead 52-40 at half-time, three triples from Moneesha Barrett not doing Rangi’s cause any harm as Williams, Jordyn Maddix and Izzy Pugh led the Westlake effort.

Westlake were well in control at the three-quarter mark leading 76-64 and when Rosie Dil and Izzy Pugh stretched the advantage by a further four points the Rangitoto resistance appeared to be broken.

It was still fourteen points in favour of Westlake when Leyson knocked down the first of her two threes. However Josh Davis rallied his troops and they peeled off a 9-0 run as Moore, Wentworth and Aroha Rogers all made scores.

Another Rangi score at that stage and who knows what may have transpired. As it was Leyson and Williams steadied the ship to guide Westlake into the final.

Westlake 90– I Pugh 16, H Williams 12, J Maddix 12, T Leyson 10, R Dil 10, E Pugh 8

Rangitoto 81– H Wentworth 22, M Barrett 14, E Moore 13, A Rogers 12, W Rogers 12

Regular season champions St Mary’s College stamped their authority on the semi-final tie against Massey High by breaking out to a 27-6 first quarter lead with Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu claiming 13 points on her way to a game high 29 points.

Ramona Fuaivaa and Shazaleah Henry led a Massey revival in the second frame but with the impressive Safena Te Nana-Williams knocking down three of her five triples in the quarter, and Taumaia Malolo and Tyla Tevaga also landing from beyond the arc, St Mary’s were 50-23 ahead at half-time.

Kat Leslie and Kailahi-Fulu helped widen the margin even further in the third despite Allyah Leusogi-Ape’s six points in the frame.

Fuaivaa knocked down three triples in the final quarter to take her tally into the twenties but it did little to hinder St Mary’s  advance to a thirteenth straight win and a place in the grand-final.

St Mary’s 94– Z Kailahi-Fulu 29, S Te Nana-Williams 25, K leslie 14, T Tevaga 9

Massey 65– R Fuaivaa 24, A Leusogi-Ape 13, S Henry 10, Y Tevao 8

Both the Final and the 3^rd/4^thgame will be played at Eventfinda Stadium on Thursday August 22^nd. Tip-off time for both games is 6.00pm.