St Peter’s College looked as if they would cause a major upset when, coming from behind, Jack Donnelly tied proceedings at 82 points apiece with under two minutes to play against St Kentigern.
Donnelly (23 points) and Andrei Manio scored again for St Peter’s but Merrick Rillstone made a crucial bucket and Kazlo Evans held his nerve at the free throw line – St Kent’s escaping with a narrow 92-88 win.
Evans, on his way to a game winning 41 points, made six free throws down the stretch as Russo-Nance less St Kent’s breathed a collective sigh of relief.
St Peter’s 88 – Jack Donnelly 23, Errey 22, David 14, Manio 12
St Kentigern 92 – Evans 41, Rillstone 17, Turner 14, Groves 7
Rangitoto College all but wrapped up the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier League regular season title with a comfortable 97-77 home win against Rosmini College.
Rosmini’s defeat also confirms Westlake, Auckland Grammar and St Kentigern as the other semi-finalists in the upcoming Premier League play-offs.
An 8-0 opening burst from Rangitoto set the tone in a game where the hosts held a comfortable margin throughout.
Ethan Skelton (22 points) and Zach Riley (30 points) were the star turns as Rangi recorded win number 11.
Rosmini trailed 19-11 at quarter time but were undone by a Riley masterclass in the second.
The Sal’s NBL Young Player of the Year knocked down four triples on his way to 17 second quarter points. With Zoran Sladoja landing a corner three on the stroke of half-time Rangi were well placed at 55-30.
Tom Beattie and Matt Drury led the Rosmini resistance in the second half although a serious assault on the Rangi advantage never looked likely.
Rangitoto 97 – Riley 30, Skelton 22, Payne 11, Priest 10, Sladoja 10
Rosmini 77 – Beattie 26, Murphy 13, Drury 10, Anderson 9
A second quarter onslaught by Westlake Boys set up a decisive 94-70 victory at Mt Albert Grammar School, the visitors winning the period 30-15 after edging the first 20-18.
Boston Caldwell and Christian Martin were the chief destroyers for Lake. Caldwell scored 12 of his 27 points (5/9 3PG) in the second, with Martin making 15 of his 26 in the third.
MAGS made a bright start through Morgan Aiono and Aki Luamanuvae-Sua but struggled for parity thereafter.
Westlake travel to Rangitoto College on Monday hoping to avenge a narrow 98-92 loss suffered earlier in the season.
MAGS 70 – Luamanuvae-Sua 15, Coker-Grey 12, Aiono 11, Matakatea 11, Sorensen 8
Westlake 94 – Caldwell 27, Martin 26, Zahran 16, Chang 7, Puriri-Kaitapu
Kelvin Menjah and Rasheed Ieremia were both in double figures but Liston College were overpowered 120-51 by Auckland Grammar School.
In a straight forward victory all the Grammar players scored 6 points or more with Caleb Landon (29 points) and Luka Vea (21 points) leading the charge.
Liston 51– 10, Lao 8, O’Grady 7, Smith 7
AGS 120 – Landon 29, Vea 21, Faulds 17, Caldwell 13, Petzer 11
Boys Premier League Standings with 2 regular season games remaining.
11-1 Rangitoto
9-3 Westlake, AGS, St Kentigern
6-6 Rosmini
3-9 MAGS
1-11 St Peter’s
0-12 Liston
LACEY LOWDOWN 