At the half-way stage of the regular season Rangitoto College head the Auckland Secondary Schools Boy’s Premier League ladder with an unblemished 7-0 record. Four other schools appear to be in contention for a top-four berth as only one win separates St Kentigern College, Westlake, Rosmini College and Auckland Grammar.
Round 7 was a week of massive individual scores. Scott Errey scored 42 points for St Peter’s with Dontae Russo-Nance matching that figure while Tom Beattie (Rosmini) and Zeke Priest bagged 36 points apiece.
He may have played 40 minutes for Auckland Huskies on Thursday night but Dontae Russo-Nance showed little sign of weariness as 24 hours later he knocked down 8 threes, in his 42 points, to pace St Kentigern College to a tense 98-95 home win against Westlake Boys.
Westlake made the better start as Boston Caldwell and Hamza Zahran landed from deep.
Kazlo Evans and Russo-Nance got St Kent’s back on level terms but there was little between the teams at three-quarter-time (73-68) in favour of the hosts.
Caldwell, Zahran and the consistent Christian Martin made buckets for Westlake – Kaea Rangihaeata, Evans and Russo-Nance likewise for St Kent’s.
Neither side were having trouble scoring, getting stops was the issue – in the end St Kent’s managed the all important one on the last possession of the game to thwart a strong Westlake showing.
Both teams are now tied second on the Premier League ladder with 5-2 records.
St Kentigern 98 Russo-Nance 42, Evans 23, Rangihaeata 15, Merrick Rillstone 10
Westlake 95 Martin 32, Caldwell 25, Zahran 16, Liam Spencer 6
Tom Beattie (36 points) appeared to have scored the winning basket for Rosmini College, to the delight of the home supporters, as the full-time buzzer sounded but with the points ruled out by the officials overtime ensued as the scores were locked at 78 points apiece.
Pita Maxwell-Topia and Kane Murphy gave Rosmini the perfect start in the extra 5-minutes but Luka Vea trimmed the deficit to 4 points with under three minutes remaining.
Rosmini edged further ahead from the foul-line but Jamal Todd’s And-1 play made it a three-point game with a minute to play.
Caleb Landon’s score from an in-bounds play cancelled out another trip to the charity stripe from Murphy before Beattie sealed the deal – this time beating the buzzer.
Earlier Cody Brown, Landon (27 points) and Vea (28 points) took AGS out to a double digit lead before Lucas Schnuriger drained a trifecta of threes.
Grammar’s lead was cut to 40-37 at the interval but Beattie and Murphy helped Rosmini enter the final ten minutes with a 58-53 advantage before big buckets from Todd, Vea and Will Shortt made for an exciting finish – Rosmini winning the tense overtime period to prevail 91-87.
Rosmini 91 – Beattie 36, Murphy 18, Matt Drury 13, Maxwell-Topia 9, Schnuriger 9
AGS 87 – Vea 28, Landon 27, Todd 17, Cody Brown 6
Scott Errey’s huge 42 points haul powered St Peter’s College to a 102-64 victory against Liston College.
St Peter’s first win of the season looked anything but secure at half-time as Rasheed Ieremia kept Liston within 5 points at half-time (38-33).
However the third quarter was decisive as St Peter’s rattled up 31 points with Errey, Jack Donnelly and Dorian Sula inflicting most of the damage.
Ieremia kept clicking over the points but a brace of threes from Cobain David put the icing on the St Peter’s victory.
Liston 64 – Ieremia 28, Landon Smith 9, Dhon Lao 8, Deon Helu 5
St Peter’s 102 – Errey 42, Donnelly 17, Sula 11, Toby Cox 7, Andrei Manio 7, David 7
Rangitoto College remain unbeaten after an 88-73 home win against Mt Albert Grammar School.
Zeke Priest was the standout for the hosts scoring a career best 36 points while Mt Albert Grammar guard Harri Coker-Grey (24 points) was a constant offensive threat for the visitors.
A relatively low scoring opening half was won 35-25 by the hosts before they tightened the screws in the third term.
Priest scored 16 points in the quarter and Zach Riley 8 although it was a spinning drive from Jacob Fotu that earned the biggest roar from a good crowd as Rangi stretched out to 67-48 at the last break.
Threes from Coker-Grey and Kade Cartwright helped MAGS edge the final period but Ethan Skelton and Priest saw Rangi safely over the line for their seventh win on the bounce.
Rangitoto 88 – Priest 36, Skelton 20, Fotu 11, Riley 8
MAGS 73 – Coker-Grey 24 Aki Luamanuvae-Su’a 12, Phoenix Sorensen 11, Cartwright 11, Will Leger 4/12r
Premier League Standings
7-0 Rangitoto
5-2 Westlake, St Kentigern
4-3 Rosmini, AGS
2-5 MAGS
1-6 St Peter’s
0-7 Liston
LACEY LOWDOWN 