Some of the best high school talent assembled at Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland for the 2020 Steven Adams High School Invitational on Thursday.
Both the girl’s and boy’s encounters were shown live on Sky Sport with the girls first to showcase their talents.
The American college bound pair of Raquel Sampson (Auburn University at Montgomery) and Jayzelee Waihi (Wichita State) ensured Team Black (TB) prevailed against Team White (TW) 75-64 in the Girl’s game.
Sampson (22 points) scored 8 points in the opening quarter which was tied 20 points apiece. Aria Cowley knocked down a pair of threes in support of Sampson whilst Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu bagged 6 points for Team White.
TW had six different scorers in the second quarter, Flo Dallow the only one to score a brace, as they forged a 35-26 half-time lead.
The tables were turned in the third quarter as TB bossed proceedings. Waihi (17 points) had been held scoreless in the opening half but she sprung to life in the third and along with Sampson, Jyordanna Davey and Safena Tenana-Williams they put together a 25-point period to lead 51-50 at the three-quarter mark.
TW were dealt a blow at the back-end of the third when live-wire point guard Alana Paewai went down with a knee injury and had to be helped from the court. Phoenix Patea revived TW’s spirits with a pair of threes, the second a Hail-Mary buzzer beater.
Waihi made the first two baskets of the third period and when Makenzee Boucher made back-to back buckets TB had enjoyed a 12-4 run. Vitolia Tuilave and Kailahi-Fulu tried to redress the momentum swing but without Paewai’s presence they couldn’t close the gap.
Cowley put the icing on a TB win with her third triple of the game.
Team Black 74:
Raquel Sampson (Sacred Heart, New Plymouth) 22, Jayzelee Waihi (Nga Taiatea) 17, Aria Cowley (Fraser HS) 9, Jyordanna Davey (Sacred Heart, Lower Hutt) 8, Makenzee Boucher (Westlake) 6, Safena Tenana-Williams (St Mary’s Ponsonby) 6, Ramona Fuaiva’a (Massey HS) 4, Melika Samia (Mount Maunganui Coll) 2, Lilly Parke (Baradene), Sarah-Joy Aruwa (Epsom Girls)
Team White 64:
Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu (St Mary’s Ponsonby) 14, Leata Tenana-Williams (St Mary’s Ponsonby) 10, Vitolia Tuilave (Mount Maunganui Coll) 8, Phoenix Patea (Wellington East Coll) 7, Savannah Cook (One Tree Hill Coll) 7, Alana Paewai (St Peter’s, Cambridge) 6, Odessa Lawson (Rutherford HS) 4, Jess Moors (Westlake) 4, Flo Dallow (Epsom Girls) 4, Kataleena Leslie (St Mary’s, Ponsonby)
Team White (TW) turned the tables in a hotly contested Boy’s game winning 80-72 against Team Black (TB) with Carlin Davison’s 17 points the eye-catching performance.
Josh Book and Zach Riley opened the scores for their respective sides in one of the individual battles within the game that kept spectators entertained. Also providing entertainment, courtesy of some aerial extravagancies, was New Plymouth Boys High swingman Davison who had eight points in the opening stanza as TW carved out a 27-13 lead.
The second period was a much more even affair. Sataan Tawera and Ben Gold landed a pair of threes apiece to cancel out the work of Levick Kerr, Kael Robinson and Malachi Collins as TB narrowed the deficit to 46-35 at half-time.
Aidan Tonge and Tafara Gapare reduced the arrears further after the interval. TW stopped that mini-run in its tracks with a 10-0 surge courtesy of Alex McNaught, Davison and Robinson.
KC Nwafor and Tawera combined for 11 points but an And-1 play from Collins ensured TW had a healthy 67-53 lead at three-quarter time.
Another run from TB cut the TW lead to eight (69-61) as things got a little testy between Nwafor and Kerr. Gapare made back-to back scores and with four minutes to play a grandstand finish looked on the cards.
The St John’s College pair of Akiva McBirney-Griffin and Robinson snuffed that out with TW able to withstand the TB endeavours in the closing minutes to close out an 8-point victory.
Team White 80:
Carlin Davison (New Plymouth Boys) 17, Akiva McBirney-Griffin (St John’s Coll) 13, Malachi Collins (Tawa Coll) 11, Kael Robinson (St John’s Coll) 9, Alex McNaught (St Kentigern Coll) 8, Josh Book (Christ’s Coll) 7, Ezekiel Stallworth (Scots Coll) 5, Clifton Bush III (Napier Boys HS) 5, Levick Kerr (St Kentigern Coll) 5, Tommy Ferguson (Napier Boys HS)
Team Black 72:
Sataan Tawera (Mt Albert GS) 19, Sam Gold (Tawa Coll) 12, KC Nwafor (Rotorua Boys HS) 11, Zach Riley (Rangitoto Coll) 10, Tafara Gapare (Scots Coll) 6, Kazlo Evans (St Kentigern Coll) 4, Sean Murphy (Rosmini Coll) 4, Finn Lally (St John’s Coll) 4, Aidan Tonge (Rotorua Boys HS) 2, Ezra Smiler (Fraser HS)
LACEY LOWDOWN 