Maia Bennett, Shar Tapling and Nerisa Vavau combined to make 9 from 12 threes to help St Kentigern College win an exciting top of the table clash with One Tree Hill College.
It was certainly needed as St Kent’s faced an avalanche of points from Savannah Cook and Angelica Vahai.
In the end the well balanced scoring effort from St Kent’s, that had five players score in double figures, carried them to a seventh straight win.
St Kentigern 85 – Bennett 21, Tapling 16, Vavau 12, Masha Pavlenko 12, Emma Halliday 12,
One Tree Hill 76 – Cook 40, Vahai 24, Jesse-Lee Upo 5, Jada Tairea 5
30 points from Tikara Jallow took Mt Roskill Grammar to a 70-32 win against Pakuranga College and a top-4 spot on the ladder.
Mt Roskill 70 – Jallow 30, Petra Chanchui 8, Eden Ili 7, Nelly Ioane 7
Northcote 63 – Brianna Hadley 21, Lisa Gear 12, Lucy Shepherd 8, Grace Lai 5
Pukekohe 49 – Arizona Withers 13, Sylvie Conroy 11, Abby Crane 9, Mo Talakai 5, Mereana Williams 5
The Avondale College v Auckland Girls Grammar result was not available at the time of publishing.
Senior A Standings
7-0 St Kentigern,
6-1 One Tree Hill
5-2 Northcote
4-3 Mt Roskill
2-5 Pakuranga
1-5 Pukekohe
1-5 Avondale
0-5 AGGS
Boy’s Senior A Results
Adam Davies and Josh Stewart combined for 46 points to engineer a decisive Sacred Heart College win against Macleans College.
Sacred Heart 108 – Davies 26, Stewart 20, Preston Tuaputa 18, Josh Tengblad 14, Matt Fautuaalii 8
Macleans 47 – Jesse Manuel 17, Oliver Simpson 12, Christian Mutti 10
Northcote College trailed Aorere College by 5 points inside the last 60 seconds before Aaron Sievert made a corner three followed by a pair of free throws to steal the win for the hosts.
At the halfway point of the season Westlake Girls High lead the Auckland Secondary Schools Girl’s Premier League ladder after winning the game of the season to date 74-62 against Baradene College.
Baradene made the brighter start with forward Summer Faleafa making a couple of baskets but Westlake were able to reap the rewards from defensive pressure to lead 20-12 at quarter time.
Lilly Parke scored ten points in the second frame for the hosts but Simone Barnard’s three contributed to Westlake’s 39-26 half-time lead.
When Mackenzee Chatfield and Jaelah Clayton helped themselves to easy baskets at the start of the second half Westlake were ahead by 16 and the floodgates were ajar.
However Faleafa and Topia found some offensive flow and Baradene were back in the contest at three-quarter time trailing 55-46.
Again Chatfield got Westlake off to a good start at the beginning of the quarter and with the lead back out to 15 points Westlake fans, including alumni Emme Shearer, were sitting comfortably.
That soon changed as, encouraged by the home support, Baradene reeled off a ten point run courtesy of Parke, Topia, Charlotte Rattray and Ritorya Tamilo.
The forward battle between Tamilo and Faleafa and the Moors sisters, Sarah and Rebecca, was an intriguing sub-plot as the two teams battled for supremacy.
Just five ahead (61-56) with three minutes to play Westlake held their nerve in the closing stages to close out a hard fought victory.
Westlake 74 – Chatfield 22, S Moors 10, R Moors 8, Barnard 8, Shonnie Leiatua 8,
At the other end of the table Carmel College were celebrating their first success of the season after downing Massey High 76-72.
Paced by 25 points from Jemma Cammell the hosts had to endure a nervous final quarter before securing victory.
Carmel led 40-31 at half-time and with honours even in the third still held a 9-point advantage at the last break.
Maya Taingahue led the Massey assault in the fourth scoring 16 of her game high 33 points in the quarter but with Izzy MacGregor, Katie Linstrom and Imogen O’Rourke lending good support to Cammell it meant Carmel were able to hang on for a confidence boosting victory.
In the battle for third spot on the ladder St Mary’s College held off Epsom Girls Grammar to win their home tie 62-58.
The respective captains led from the front with Kataleena Leslie scoring 25 points for St Mary’s and Flo Dallow tallying 30 points for Epsom.
It was tight throughout, St Mary’s up by 1 at quarter time and half-time but trailing by 5 at three-quarter-time as Dallow, Maya Fowler and Sarah Joy Aruwa made their move.
However Epsom found baskets hard to come by in the fourth allowing Alex Moore and Leslie to take advantage. The pair scored all of St Mary’s 19 points in the final period to claim the win and take another step closer to the play-offs.
St Mary’s 62 – Leslie 25, Moore 15, Kodee Sefo 13
Epsom 58 – Dallow 30, Aruwa 17, Fowler 5
Mt Albert Grammar School celebrated their second success of the season at Rangitoto College winning 77-62.
The two teams shared the first 38 points in a high scoring opening period before 10 points from Taya Lewis fired MAGS to a handy 41-35 lead.
Aroha Riley and Kellie Tawhiao kept Rangitoto in the hunt but with Tiger-Lily Cocker-Lemalie in good form the visitors lead was 60-47 at the three-quarter mark.
Nina Nguyen made a late three for Rangi but by then Anna-Rachel Enari had ensured MAGS were travelling back across the bridge with the two competition points.
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.
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.
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.
One Tree Hill College and St Kentigern College are on a collision course to decide top spot on the Girl’s Senior A ladder – the two teams will meet next Friday in what should be an exciting game..
Both retained their unbeaten records in Round 6 but victories weren’t straight forward for either team.
In the game of the round One Tree Hill defeated Mt Roskill Grammar School 52-50.
OTH will be indebted to Angelica Vahai and Savannah Cook for preserving their unbeaten record as the pair scored all but eight of their team’s points.
Tikara Jallow and Bree Ioane lead the Mt Roskill response.
One Tree Hill 52 – Vahai 26, Cook 18,
Mt Roskill 50 – Jallow 18 Ioane 15, Indiana Chanchui 8, Eden Ili 6
St Kentigern College also remain unbeaten – a balanced scoring effort was topped by Masha Pavlenko and Shar Tapling.
For AGGS Mapuna Kohunui lead all scorers with 27 points, well supported by Leah Patuwairau.
Next week’s clash between the two unbeaten teams in the Girl’s Premier League, Westlake Girls High and Baradene College, should be a cracker.
Both teams came through their Round 6 games unscathed with Westlake defeating Rangitoto College and Baradene beating Massey High School.
Rangitoto made a good start against Westlake with Aroha Riley and Kellie Tawhiao making regular scores for the visitors. However Westlake finished the opening quarter with a 10-0 run to take a decisive 30-16 lead and were never threatened thereafter.
They were paced by Mackenzie Chatfield’s 31 points with other double figure contributions from Amiya Fotu, Jaelah Clayton and Holly Williams.
A damaging first half, which Baradene College Head Coach Andrew Parke described as, “the best we have played this season,” set the joint league leaders up for a comfortable 95-37 victory at Massey High School.
With Lilly Parke and Summer Faleafa leading from the front Baradene established a massive early lead. Only Erima Tuita could make a basket for Massey as they were outscored 31-2 in the first ten minutes.
The second quarter was a more even contest but Baradene had the two competition points sewn up by half-time leading 50-9 at the interval.
Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs, Deyna Topia and Ritorya Tamilo built on the good work of Parke and Faleafa in the second half – Baradene in good form ahead of the clash with Westlake next Friday night.
Maya Taingahue was at the heart of Massey’s best moments scoring a team high 15 points.
An early three from Maya Fowler got Epsom off to a good start as they established a 15-11 lead against Mount Albert Grammar School.
Lead by Breanna Waka and Danae Tait MAGS were well in contention at half-time trailing by single figures (30-21).
A triple from Tait and useful points from Taya Lewis helped MAGS after the break, although 9 points in the third from Flo Dallow meant Epsom increased their advantage marginally to 49-36 at three-quarter time.
Dallow and Draun Forbes ensured there would be no late MAGS comeback – Epsom solidifying their place in the Premier League top four.
Rangitoto College used a 17-8 run in the final five minutes to win the battle of the unbeaten Premier teams 98-92 at Westlake Boys.
When Rocco Chang made a brace of free-throws Westlake, in front of a partisan crowd, were 84-81 ahead and looking likely victors.
However Rangitoto scored the next seven points and would not be headed again as Ethan Skelton and Zach Riley took charge of proceedings down the stretch.
Westlake rallied again, as Christian Martin earned a couple of trips to the free-throw line, closing to within three points (92-89) with 42 seconds to play but Riley held his nerve at the foul line to win a hard fought contest for the visitors.
Rangi shot out to an 8-3 start in the opening 90 seconds but Westlake responded positively trailing by the narrowest of margins at the quarter break, 25-24.
Boston Caldwell found his range in the second period knocking down a succession of threes but Zeke Priest countered with a deep three and an acrobatic alley-oop.
Rocco Chang had the final say of the first half meaning the game was finely balanced at the interval with the hosts ahead 50-48.
It was 58 apiece at the mid-point of the third frame but a corner three from Caldwell (6 made threes in the game), a couple of inside buckets from Hamza Zahran and And-1 play from Martin gave Westlake a handy 76-71 lead at the three-quarter point.
The two sides exchanged baskets at the outset of the fourth before some Rangi full court pressure resulted in easy baskets for Ethan Skelton and Kaia Dryden meant the visitors trailed by a single point with five minutes to play (82-81).
From there it was all Rangi as Riley and Skelton stamped their authority on proceedings with important scores and smothering defence.
Dontae Russo-Nance had a game tying three ruled out as Auckland Grammar School beat St Kentigern College 96-93 in front of a big crowd at Mountain Road.
In a foul riddled contest Toby Caldwell’s triple had given Grammar a 96-93 lead well inside the final minute only for Russo-Nance, having scored a game high 42 points, to connect from deep as time expired.
The shot was deemed to have been released a fraction after the buzzer sounded much to the relief of the home supporters – Grammar’s top-four aspirations gaining momentum.
It was St Kent’s that made the early running, out to a 21-18 first quarter lead with Kazlo Evans and DRN the main protagonists.
The hosts had the better of the second spell with Caleb Landon, Jamal Todd and Luka Vea regularly finding routes to the ring.
Grammar’s three-point half-time lead was extended to 78-72 at three-quarter time – 14 points in the quarter from Landon a mighty contribution.
St Kent’s made a big push for victory but despite Evans and Dontae-Nance scoring all 22 of their fourth quarter points they were denied the chance of overtime by a fraction of a second in a nail-biting finish.
St Kentigern 93 – Dontae-Nance 42, Evans 22, George Turner 7, Merrick Rillstone 7
In another tight contest Mount Albert Grammar School came away with the spoils at St Peter’s College winning 87-79.
MAGS made an enterprising start as Phoenix Sorensen and Aki Luamanuvae-Su’a landed from deep to give them a 23-19 first quarter advantage.
Scott Errey and Dorian Sua kept St Peter’s in the hunt down by just 7 points (49-42) at the half-way mark.
In keeping with a tight contest the two teams split 34 points in the third to set up a tantilising finish.
St Peter’s guard Jack Donnelly, on his way to a game high 42 points, piled on 15 of those in the fourth but Sorensen, Ben Skelton and Hari Coker-Grey steadied the MAGS ship to ensure they sailed away with the hard fought victory.
MAGS 87 – Sorensen 28, Sorensen 18p/11rebs, Luamanuvae-Su’a 11, Will Leger 9, Will Leger 9p/12r, Kuresa Tapulaaia 9, Harri Coker-Grey 8
St Peter’s 79 – Donnelly 40, Errey 17, Owain Leigh 8, Dorian Sua 7
Paced by 31 points from Tom Beattie it was plain sailing for Rosmini College as they cruised past Liston College 113-69.
Beattie, Charlie Dalton and Zion Anderson put their collective hands to the tiller to steer Rosmini out to a 65-31 half-time lead.
Rasheed Tahiru, Sebastian Alan and Taonaishe Chataivon kept Liston buoyant before Matt Drury and Kane Murphy applied the final flourish for Rosmini.
Liston 69 – Tahiru 16, Alan 13, Chataivon 11, Marvellous Michael 9, Dhon Lao 8
For long spells of the game it appeared that Carmel College would pick up their first win of the season against Rangitoto College in Round 5 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Girl’s Premier League competition.
With 5 minutes to play they led 50-49 following a Katie Linstrom three. Kellie Tawhiao gave Rangi the lead before Linstrom tied proceedings from the foul line (51-51).
However only Jemma Cammell could find the net down the stretch whilst at the other end Tawhiao and Aroha Riley combined to give Rangitoto a hard earned 57-53 victory.
Zaara Sain scored a couple of baskets for Rangitoto in the opening quarter but thereafter Tawhiao and Riley combined to score 55 of Rangi’s 59 points.
Imogen O’Rourke and Ruby Railton complimented the work of Linstrom and Cammell but it wasn’t quite enough on the night.
Westlake’s unbeaten start to the season was under threat at half-time when they trailed Mt Albert Grammar School 28-26.
Tiger-Lily Coker-Lemalie and Taya Lewis combined nicely to give MAGS the interval lead.
Whatever the Westlake coaching staff said at the break worked a treat as they ran up 24 points in the third quarter courtesy of Jaelah Clayton, Rebecca Moors and Makenzee Boucher.
Sienna-Rose Tawera and Lewis tried to keep MAGS afloat but Westlake were on a roll going on to win 71-47, Amy Pateman putting the icing on the victory.
Westlake 71 – Boucher 16, Chatfield 16, R Moors 8, Sarah Moors 8
Despite going eight minutes in the third quarter without scoring Baradene College prevailed 64-49 at Epsom Girls Grammar School.
Baradene College took command of proceedings racing to a 19-5 lead with Ritorya Tamilo and Summer Faleafa in the thick of the action.
Draun Forbes and Flo Dallow dragged Epsom back into the contest in the second period but they still trailed by 8 points at the half (31-23).
The pair inflicted more damage in the third period but despite that barren eight minutes Baradene still held a 40-37 advantage with 10 minutes to play.
Poppy Cavanagh–Briggs stepped up in the fourth making 10 points, Lily Parke chimed in with 8 and Baradene fans could breathe a little easier in the closing minutes as their team moved to 5-0 for the season.
Massey High made a great start to the contest against St Mary’s College but came unstuck in the third quarter eventually losing 91-59.
Massey were up 21-17 at quarter time as Maya Taingahue and Shaz Henry combined for 17 points. They were still in the ascendancy at half-time – Tahyla Waikiki getting in on the scoring to make it a 32-31 lead.
The St Mary’s floodgates opened in the third period as they piled on 29 points. Kodee Sefo and Faith Ualika did most the damage making 12 and 9 points respectively in the period with Massey only able to muster 4 points in response.
Massey made a better fist of it in the fourth as Zhoey Tilby-Woods and Taingahue dropped threes but Sefo, Alex Moore and Breanna Schmid were in no mood to surrender the advantage.
St Mary’s 91 – Sefo 25, Ualika 22, Moore 14, Schmid 12, Layla Aholelei 9
Round 5 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Boy’s League contained no real surprises as the top four teams each registered a win.
Rangitoto College, welcoming Auckland Huskies guard Zach Riley into their ranks for the first time this season, had five players in double figures as they eased past Rosmini College 94-61.
Rangitoto made the perfect start with the hard working Kaia Dryden posting up inside and finishing comfortably.
Tom Beattie and Kane Murphy got the scoreboard moving for Rosmini but Lucas Payne and Riley were instrumental in pushing Rangi to a 23-14 quarter time lead.
Playmaker Ethan Skelton began to pick holes in the Rosmini defence and with Zeke Priest adding some flamboyant finishes Rangi extended their advantage despite Charlie Dalton’s best efforts. Dryden’s buzzer beating three gave Rangi a 42-26 half-time lead.
Matt Drury scored 9 points for Rosmini in the third but that was punctuated by triples from Priest, Dryden, Riley and Skelton as the Rangi lead stretched beyond twenty points.
Both coaches gave extended minutes to the bench crews in the final period – Rangi cruising to a fifth straight win.
Westlake Boys High are also on a five game winning start to the season, their latest performance a 108-66 home win against Mt Albert Grammar School with Boston Caldwell (32 points) and Christian Martin (23 points) doing most of the damage.
Westlake posted a 26-16 first quarter advantage and blew the lead out to 30 points by half-time (57-27).
Phoenix Sorensen and Aki Luamanuvae-Su’a helped turn the tide in an even third quarter but it was only a temporary reprieve as Wade Mackenzie and Rocco Chang took the game further away from MAGS in the final ten minutes.
Westlake 109 – Caldwell 32, Martin 23, Chang 15, Wade Mackenzie 13, Daniel Ottenhoff 8
St Kentigern College bounced back from their narrow loss to Rangitoto 72 hours earlier with an 81-67 victory against St Peters.
However the combined efforts of Jack Donnelly, Dorian Sula and Scott Errey made it far from straight forward.
Errey scored 8 points in the opening frame to keep his team in touch at 21-16 in arrears.
Dontae-Russo Nance dropped a couple of threes in the second period but Donnelly replied with three from deep to keep St Peter’s in touch at the interval – down 39-32.
A couple more from deep from Donnelly were more than cancelled out by Merrick Rillstone and Kazlo Evans as the hosts stretched out to a 64-46 three-quarter time advantage.
Dorian Sula made his highest points tally of the season but it wasn’t enough to threaten an upset win.
St Kentigern 81 – Russo-Nance 28, Evans 21, Rillstone 11, George Turner 9, Caleb Mattison 8
St Peter’s 67 – Donnelly 28, Sula 18, Errey 15
Paced by Caleb Landon’s 28 points Auckland Boys Grammar were too strong for Liston College winning 113-39.
Taonaishe Chataira top scored for Liston but it was largely one-way traffic as skipper Luka Vea, Cody Brown and Blake Manning joined Landon in double figures.
AGS 113 – Landon 28, Vea 19, Brown 17, Manning 14, Will Shortt 9, Toby Caldwell 9
A week after pipping Auckland Grammar at the post Rangitoto College won another heart-stopper this time at the expense of St Kentigern College in the 4th Round of Boy’s Premier League basketball in Auckland.
An in-bounds pass on the baseline from Lucas Payne with 0.7 seconds left on the clock found Zeke Priest who gleefully converted the shot to give Rangitoto an 80-79 win.
LACEY LOWDOWN 