In the penultimate round of the Senior A regular season Takapuna Grammar made it 13 straight wins with an 89-59 home victory against Northcote College, although the margin of victory hardly did justice to the effort of their North Shore rivals.
Takapuna forward Qaizden Stephano scored 6 first quarter points, however Lizzie May and Lily Morgan matched that number to keep Northcote in touch at the first break – down 24-18.
DJ Hannah and Nikki Gear were troubling the Takapuna defence although at the other end the penetrative drives of Amy McKenzie and Bailey Flavell were equally problematic for the visitors – Northcote still handily placed at half-time trailing 46-37.
The third period would prove decisive as Takapuna put together a dominating 23-8 frame to decide the contest.
McKenzie scored the first 8 of Takapuna’s points in the spell followed by a triple from Manaia Watson and more incursions from Flavell.
Northcote were unable to make up ground in the fourth although their second place on the Senior A ladder remains assured.
Takapuna 89 – Bailey Flavell 28, Amy McKenzie 23, Qaizden Stephano 14, Manaia Watson 12, Mariah Parker 6
Northcote 59 – N Gear 20, DJ Hannah 18, Lily Morgan 9, Lizzie May 9
In a tussle between two top four team Manurewa High held off Massey High to win a close encounter 64-61.
Manurewa edged the first quarter 12-11 and the second 14-13 to take a two-point lead into half-time.
Sela Uluheua had 9 first half points for Manurewa while Allyah Leusogi-Ape led the way for Massey with a dozen.
Leusogi-Ape pressed on with another 10 points as the scoring increased dramatically in the third. There were 6 points each from Shirley Tuilimu and Beautiful Campbell as Manurewa built a 51-45 three-quarter time lead.
Kortni Waikiki and Cyntalia Schuster edged Massey closer – a triple from Zhoey Tilby-Woods also helping.
However a three from the opposite #6 Alyssa Uluheua and a pair of scores from Campbell meant Manurewa were able to hang on for the victory.
A semi-final berth is guaranteed for both teams – the outcome of their final regular season games will determine their opponents.
Manurewa 64 – Sela Uluheua Shirley Tuilimu 14, Beautiful Campbell 12, Bella Manu-Moore 6, Lavinia Liufau 6
Massey 61 – Allyah Leusogi-Ape 25, Kortni Waikiki 15, Cyntalia Schuster 12, Faith Williams 6
In other games Auckland Girls Grammar defeated Mt Roskill Grammar 68-33 and One Tree Hill College were too strong for Avondale College winning 109-30.
Standings:
13-0 Takapuna
10-3 Northcote
9-4 Massey
8-4 Manurewa
5-8 AGGS
4-9 One Tree Hill
2-10 Mt Roskill
0-12 Avondale
LACEY LOWDOWN 