The fifth round review of the Auckland Schools Boys Senior A games, brought to you by Dynamic Sport New Zealand, features one-point wins by Mount Roskill Grammar and Northcote College – Aaron Sievert making ten threes for Northcote! There were also wins for St Peter’s College and Avondale College.
Northcote College won a thriller at Manurewa High School, pipping the hosts 80-79 with Aaron Sievert again putting on an eye-catching, probably record breaking, shooting display.
In the opening round of the season the Northcote guard made eight 3-pointers only to improve that mark to TEN in this game – I doubt that number of threes have been made before in Auckland Senior A or Prems basketball.
A shout-out also to Manurewa’s skipper Ryan Ancha who also made the three-point arc his friend knocking down six triples!
Perhaps affected by William Passi’s absence on New Zealand U17 duty, Manurewa made a slow start to the game and by the end of the first quarter they were down 16 points.
A vastly improved second quarter saw them score 30 points to Northcote’s 10 which gave Manurewa a 42-38 lead at the end of the half. Sievert was going well but so too were Ancha, Richard Campbell and Jarell Tuhega for the hosts – Ancha had five threes to Sievert’s four at that stage!
Tzion Manoa joined in the three-point party for Northcote and by the end of the third quarter only one possession was separating the two teams – 61-59 to Northcote.
Campbell scored 7 fourth quarter points but more long range artillery from Sievert and Tane Cook got Northcote the W, but only just.
Manurewa 79 – Campbell 20, Tuhega 19, Ancha 18, Alex Hughes 8, Maaveave Taimalelagi 8
Northcote 80 – Sievert 40, Tane Cook 13, Shunta Shinzaki 12, Manoa 7
In an equally exciting contest Mount Roskill Grammar’s Ryan Aramoana coolly sank a go-ahead free throw inside the last 30 seconds to propel his team to a 60-59 victory against Aorere College.
Earlier, led by Chris and Franklyne Gordon, Aorere powered to a 24-13 first quarter lead. Mitchell Greenaway scored a dozen second quarter points as Roskill had the better of the second period – Aorere ahead 40-35 at half-time.
After a high scoring second period the third stanza was pedestrian in comparison with Roskill edging it 11-9 to close within three (49-46) headed to the final quarter.
K Witana added to the good work of the Gordon’s but Haisem Osman came up with a couple of useful baskets either side of an Aramoana triple ahead of that game winning freebie and a second win of the season for Roskill.
Mt Roskill 60 – Greenaway 18, Osman 14, Aramoana 6, Alfred Kerr 5, Zachan Keman 5
Aorere 59 – F Gordon 23, C Gordon 20, J Tuafao 6, Moroki Tauhara 4
It’s not often that you concede a 20-point lead in the opening quarter and go on to win a game of basketball. And that’s what transpired at Avondale College as the hosts put 29 points on Dilworth who could respond with just 9 in the opening period, Dilworth eventually going down 78-67.
Connor Gleeson led the way for Avondale making 6 triples as he amassed 27 points. Gleeson made a couple of his threes in that opening frenzy – Jimi Iosia-Sipeli and Kabir Bhargava also landing triples in that spell.
Ivan Kerr and Finlay Edwards scored six points apiece for Dilworth in the second but they still had a lot of work to do at half-time as Avondale had doubled their 24 points.
Andrew Murphy joined in the Avondale three-party after the break – they made 12 in the game – but Dilworth enjoyed much the better of the third frame as the Kerr-Edwards duo combined for 15 points to whittle the deficit down to 10 points (58-48) at three-quarter time.
Soane Tavite made a couple of treys for Dilworth in the fourth but timely scores from Tola Omisakin ensured Avondale claimed the spoils and cement their place in the top four.
Avondale 78 – Gleeson 27, Bhargava 18, Iosia-Sipeli 16, Omisakin 7, Murphy 7
Dilworth 67 – Kerr 19, Edwards 16, Owen Pattison 11, Tavite 6, Tamati Schaumkel 5
A balanced scoring effort saw St Peter’s College maintain its unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 108-54 home win against Macleans College.
Twelve first quarter points from Toby Cox helped St Peter’s to a 27-11 advantage, with threes from Cox, Matt Thompson and Cobain David extending the lead to 53-18 at half-time.
14 points apiece from Jamie Carville and Levi Smyth plus 10 from Christian Mutti kept the Macleans score ticking over but not at the pace St Peter’s were travelling, especially Vinnie Morris who dropped three second half triples.
St Peter’s now five straight wins to head the Senior A ladder.
St Peter’s 108 – Cox 21, Morris 19, Andrei Manio 13, Bailey Smith 12, Thompson 10, Ralph Ocfemia 8
Macleans 54 – Carville 14, Smyth 14, Mutti 10, Declan Puffy 6
Standings:
5-0 St Peter’s
4-1 Northcote, Manurewa
3-2 Avondale
2-3 Mt Roskill
1-4 Dilworth, Aorere
0-5 Macleans
LACEY LOWDOWN 