Takapuna Grammar were denied an unbeaten Senior A season by Massey High, the hosts winning the contest 88-79 in overtime. In a high scoring contest opposing guards Allyah Leusogi-Ape and Bailey Flavell each posted 36 points.
Massey led 19-17 at quarter time before moving up a gear in the second to stretch the advantage to 38-30. Leusogi-Ape nailed 10 points in the second period – Amy McKenzie 8 points for Takapuna.
Takapuna appeared headed for victory in the third as they moved ahead 59-53 only to be pegged back in the final quarter – Leusogi-Ape making 16 points in the period – the two teams level, 74-all at the end of regulation.
A big three from Kortni Waikiki (28 points) set Massey on their way in the extra 5 minutes. Flavell, named recently to the New Zealand U15 team, and Qaizden Stephano made baskets for Takapuna but Massey closed out the confidence boosting win – Cyntalia Schuster adding to further makes from Leusogi-Ape and Kortni Waikiki down the stretch.
Takapuna will look to rebound in their semi-final tie on Friday.
Shirley Tuilimu and Sela Uluheua scored 18 points apiece as Manurewa High School warmed up for semi-final action with a 67-50 away win.
Luiza Teariki and Tatyana Ioelu landed threes for Auckland Grammar in the opening quarter but it was Manurewa making the better progress – up 20-14.
An even second period followed, the Manurewa lead being 34-26 at half-time.
The third quarter was won decisively by Manurewa 25-8. Lavinia Liufau, Tuilimu and Sela Uluheua did most the damage as the visitors eased to a win ahead of that semi-final on Friday.
Manurewa 67 – Shirley Tuilimu 18, Sela Uluheua 18, Lavinia Liufau 10, Zhendy Li 6
Paced by a game high 24 points from Nellie Ioane Mount Roskill Grammar recorded a meritorious 47-43 home win against One Tree Hill College.
Ioane and Billee Koonwaiyou initiated a fine start for Roskill as they charged to a 16-6 quarter lead.
Momentum changed in the middle stages as Milla Eckford and Melaia Tuisuva led the One Tree Hill revival. OTH trailed 24-20 at half-time before hitting the front at 31-30.
However it was Roskill that would have the better of the final ten minutes – Ioane scored 11 points in the fourth and with Adra Kaufusi chipping in with a pair of crucial scores it was the hosts that prevailed in a nail biter.
The Senior A regular season has concluded but there appears to be an unplayed game between Manurewa High School and Avondale College. The result of that game will determine the semi-final line-ups – St Peters College and Northcote College are confirmed in the top two positions.
St Peter’s College completed an unbeaten regular season with a 105-66 home win against Manurewa High School.
St Peter’s were out the gate quickly establishing a 27-21 advantage and were close to top gear in the second to lead 47-32 at half-time despite 10 points from Manurewa’s William Passi and 9 from Brian Tapu.
Scott Errey led all scorers at the break with 18 points.
The second half produced a career night for Andrei Manio who knocked down six threes on his way to 33 points.
Cobain David joined in the three-point frenzy in the final period – all 12 of his points coming from shots made from beyond the arc.
Alex Hughes top scored for Manurewa but it was a night when his team came off second best.
St Peter’s 105 – Andrei Manio 33, Scott Errey 28, Cobain David 12, Bailey Smith 12, Milan Tolich 10
Manurewa 66 – Alex Hughes 20, Brian Tapu 14, William Passi 11, Annun Leng 5
Northcote College slipped to a 91-82 home defeat to Avondale College but still retained second spot on the Senior A ladder ahead of Friday’s semi-finals.
Aaron Sievert scored 33 points for Northcote but for once was outscored on his home court as Jimi Iosia-Sipeli piled on a season best 41 points.
Northcote had the better of the first quarter (24-19), Avondale prevailed in the second, 44-43 to the hosts at the interval.
The third quarter proved decisive as Avondale claimed it 23-15. Iosia-Sipeli scored 10 points in the period while Connor Gleeson’s late three stretched the advantage to 66-59.
Sievert posted 15 fourth quarter points but the Avondale resistance was steadfast as they claimed a fine road win.
The final round of Girls Premier Grade regular season action saw wins for Mt Albert Grammar, Westlake, Rangitoto College and St Kentigern College.
In a dress rehearsal for next Friday’s semi-final match up Mt Albert Grammar School defeated Baradene College 91-75.
The game featured three stunning scoring performances. Mt Albert’s NZ U17 rep Waimanu Clarken put together a 46-point game, the highest individual score in Prem Girls games this season. Giving great support was April Liu, compiling a career best 34 points.
For Baradene, Deyna Topia was also in excellent form tallying a team high 30 points.
Baradene made the slightly better start to lead 18-15 at quarter time although MAGS reversed that in the second to lead 38-37 at the interval.
The third was a high scoring affair as Clarken and Liu combined for all 27 of Mt Albert’s points in the period – one they won to stretch out to a 65-58 lead.
Summer Faleafa and Ritorya Tamilo chipped in with a couple of scores but Baradene were leaning heavily on Topia. The point guard scored 11 points in the closing quarter but the Clarken-Liu combo continued to stretch the MAGS advantage.
Rangitoto College climbed off the bottom of the table with a 72-53 home win against St Mary’s College.
Rangitoto were paced by a 21 points performance from Mela Andrews – Faith Ualika leading the way for St Mary’s with 16 points.
Rangitoto led 34-28 at half-time but it was a decisive third quarter in which they outscored the visitors 28-6 that decided the tie. Multiple scorers fuelled the 28-point run, most noticeably Andrews, Alicia Carr, Tamsin McAsey and Zaara Sain.
St Mary’s rallied in the fourth courtesy of India Nash and Layla Aholelei but the deficit was far too big to claw back.
St Mary’s 53 – Faith Ualika 16, India Nash 13, Layla Aholelei 12, Christiana Setu 4
Westlake Girls completed an unbeaten regular season with a 120-40 win against Carmel College and will face St Kentigern College in semi-final play on Friday.
In the game played on Thursday Saint Kentigern College claimed the last Prem Girls semi-final berth with a tense 61-57 victory at Epsom Girls Grammar.
The final regular season game for both teams in effect became a quarter-final tie as both had an identical 7-6 record leading into the contest.
The opening exchanges favoured Epsom, Mihinoa Tanghaere’s basket late in the first quarter, extending the host’s advantage to 20-15 at the first break.
The second period was something of a shoot-out between Epsom guard Draun Forbes and St Kent’s Nerisa Vavau.
The pair sunk three triples apiece – points late in the quarter from Maya Fowler kept Epsom ahead 35-32 at half-time.
Forbes added a fourth three in the third although Sharmaine Taplin countered in kind as the Epsom lead shrunk to 2 points at three-quarter time (48-46)
The fourth was a tight tussle but it was 7 points from Tapling that seized the momentum for St Kent’s – Mania Rogers and Ashleigh Tuumaialu added valuable points as the visitors closed out a hard fought victory.
St Kent’s will now lineup against Westlake Girls in a semi-final tie next Friday at Eventfinda Stadium.
The final regular season round of games saw Boys Premier League wins for Westlake Boys, Rangitoto College, Mt Albert Grammar and Auckland Grammar.
In the most critical game Rangitoto College defeated Liston College and in so doing collected a seventh win of the season and with it a semi-final berth.
Rangi have a rearranged game against Auckland Grammar to play on Sunday however, with seven wins and the head to head advantage over St Kentigern and Mt Albert (both with seven wins also), the result would appear to be immaterial in terms of the semi-final lineups.
Rosmini will play Rangitoto in one semi-final with Westlake and AGS meeting in the other.
Against Liston College, Rangitoto had six players in double figures as they won every quarter to cruise to a 95-43 home win.
It’s been a tough campaign for Liston but the players deserve credit for playing with commitment and pride throughout the season.
Rangitoto 95 – Jacob Fotu 19, Arnold Nam 13, Tautoko Wynyard 12, Baxter Riley 12, Kaia Kemp 11, Joel Brown 11, Michael Ropotini 9
Liston 43 – Rasheed Ieremia 14, Sebastian Alan 7, Manuel Tuaere 7
In the clash between the top two sides it was Westlake Boys that came out on top registering an 85-74 away win at neighbours Rosmini College.
Malachi Book scored a season high 20 points for Westlake as they got off to a flyer establishing a 21-13 advantage.
Tom Beattie scored 10 second quarter points on his way to a game high 31 points – the period shared 18 points apiece.
The third was just as close – Book and Hamza Zahran countering the scoring of Beattie and Julius Halaifonua – the Lake lead ten points at three-quarter time.
A triple from Charlie Dalton and points from Jameer Reed were encouraging for the home supporters but Daniel Ottenhoff, Rocco Chang and Ned Shearer ensured the Westlake advantage wasn’t squandered.
Rosmini 74 – Beattie 31, Charlie Dalton 15, Julius Halaifonua 10, Jameer Reed 10,
Westlake 85 – Malachi Book 20, Zahran 20, Daniel Ottenhoff 18, Chang 15, Ned Shearer 9
Nine points from Denvor Elia helped propel Mt Albert Grammar to a big 22-7 quarter time lead against Sacred Heart College.
Matt Fautuaalii and Josh Stewart improved the situation for Sacred Heart in the second but they still trailed 35-21 at half-time.
A high scoring third period was edged 25-24 by MAGS – a couple of threes from Kade Cartwright, plus contributions from Will Leger and Lois Uri ensured the hosts remained ahead at three-quarter time.
Heart kept plugging away in the final period – Jerome Jakeman, with three triples, and Stewart combined for 19 points but MAGS had a large enough buffer to close out the victory.
MAGS 75 – Will Leger 15/17rebs, Louis Uri 15, Ethan Lay 14, Kade Cartwright 12, Denvor Elia 11 Sacred Heart 64 – Josh Stewart 21, Jerome Jakeman 12, Adam Davies 10, Matt Fautuaalii 8
Auckland Grammar eased to a comfortable 95-69 home win against Saint Kentigern College on the back of 32 points from Josh Mugglestone. He had 7 points in the opening quarter, as did Kalid Petzer, the lead 29-19 at quarter time.
Without Dontae Russo-Nance, Merrick Rillstone was carrying a heavy scoring load – recently named to the NZ U15 team he was up to 15 points by half-time although the Grammar lead had grown to 48-35.
St Kent’s guards George Turner and Cooper Lepou – also named to the national U15 team – made points in the third. However Mugglestone, Cody Brown and Theo Brothers were instrumental in increasing the AGS lead – the advantage 17 points at the three-quarter mark (69-52) and 26 by full time.
AGS 95 – Josh Mugglestone 32, Cody Brown 14, Kalid Petzer 11, Theo Brothers 10, Jackson Kiss 8
St Kentigern 69 – Merrick Rillstone 24, George Turner 13, Hunter Te Ratana 11, Cooper Lepou 8
Standings
12-2 Rosmini
11-3 Westlake
9-4 AGS
7-6 Rangitoto
7-7 St Kentigern, MAGS
2-12 Sacred Heart
0-14 Liston
The outstanding fixture between AGS and Rangitoto College will be played on Sunday.
The semi-finals will be played at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday August 19.
Saint Kentigern College claimed the last Girls Premier Grade semi-final berth with a tense 61-57 victory at Epsom Girls Grammar.
Played on Thursday night the final regular season game for both teams in effect became a quarter-final tie as both had an identical 7-6 record leading into the contest.
The opening exchanges favoured Epsom, Mihinoa Tanghaere’s basket late in the first quarter, extending the host’s advantage to 20-15 at the first break.
The second period was something of a shoot-out between Epsom guard Draun Forbes and St Kent’s Nerisa Vavau.
The pair sunk three triples apiece – points late in the quarter from Maya Fowler kept Epsom ahead 35-32 at half-time.
Forbes added a fourth three in the third although Sharmaine Taplin countered in kind as the Epsom lead shrunk to 2 points at three-quarter time (48-46)
The fourth was a tight tussle but it was 7 points from Tapling that seized the momentum for St Kent’s – Mania Rogers and Ashleigh Tuumaialu added valuable points as the visitors closed out a hard fought victory.
St Kent’s will now lineup against Westlake Girls in a semi-final tie next Friday at Eventfinda Stadium.
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.
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.
Dilworth’s late season hot form continued on Monday with a 97-93 home victory against second on the table Northcote College in Round 13 of the Boy’s Senior A competition.
An upset didn’t look on the cards early on as Northcote eased to a 23-19 lead but it was a decisive run by Dilworth, in the second period, that set up the victory.
The hosts took the quarter 33-15 as Ikahui Mahe, Nepia Moore, Owen Pattison and Kingston Kai’lahi-Aso ignited their offence.
Aaron Sievert scored a customary game high 39 points as Northcote mounted a second half comeback. The Cote shot maker was ably assisted by Tane Cook, Tom Bates and Dontaye Sowman-Faaee but that second quarter assault from Dilworth gave them a large enough buffer to complete a fourth consecutive win.
Northcote will entertain Avondale in their final regular season game on Friday, a contest that could well be a dress rehearsal for the semi-finals the following Friday.
Dilworth 97 – O Pattison 32, K Kai’lahi-Aso 28, Nepia Moore 10, Ikahui Mahe 9, Ivan Kerr 8
Northcote 93 – Sievert 39, Tane Cook 17, Tom Bates 13, Dontaye Sowman-Faaee 11
Manurewa High trailed at every quarter before they finally found a spark to outscore Aorere 23-10 in the all-important fourth quarter.
A physical contest witnessed three of the ‘big’ men fouling out; Brian Tapu (18 points) from Manurewa and the Gordon brothers, Franklyne and Christopher (22 points) from Aorere.
With William Passi attending the Basketball Without Borders camp in Canberra Manurewa only had an 8-man squad for the game. That went to seven when top point-getter Richard Campbell landed awkwardly and had to retire with a knee injury.
The void was filled by a posse of Manurewa players in the fourth – Issachar Pati scored 6 points, Briand Tapu 8 and Alex Hughes 7 as the hosts came home on a full head of steam.
Earlier Chris Gordon, Moroki Tauhare and Addison Nielsen had kept Aorere to the fore – ahead at the three breaks (22-16), (36-33) and (54-50).
Manurewa, a semi-final berth assured, visit top of the table St Peter’s on Friday.
Manurewa 73 – B Tapu 18, A Hughes 17, R Ancha 14, Richard Campbell 8, Issachar Pati 8
Aorere 64 – C Gordon 22, Moroki Tauhara 20, Addison Nielsen 7, Tanielu Taito 6
In other games St Peter’s College remain unbeaten after an 82-68 success against Mt Roskill Grammar while semi-final bound Avondale College defeated Macleans College 90-76.
Westlake Girls wrapped up the Auckland Prems regular season championship with a comfortable 88-58 victory at nearest rivals Baradene College.
The game began promisingly for Baradene with Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs making three straight baskets. Deyna Topia landed a triple and the hosts had the ideal start, ahead 19-16.
The optimism amongst the home supporters was dented in the second as Westlake piled on 29 points to take a 45-29 advantage into the break.
Mackenzie Chatfield, Amiya Fotu, Sarah and Rebecca Moors inflicted the damage with Chatfield’s 19 first half points including four made 3-pointers.
Unfortunately for Baradene they couldn’t find any answers after the interval as Westlake put the result to bed with a 28-10 quarter – Izzy Pugh’s inside game troubling the hosts.
Topia and Ritorya Tamilo brightened the mood in the home camp in the fourth quarter with a cluster of baskets however it was Westlake with the biggest smiles as they enjoyed a 13th consecutive win.
Westlake will play the winners of the Epsom Girls v St Kentigern tie being played on Thursday night. Baradene will contest the other semi against MAGS.
Baradene 58 – D Topia 17, P Cavanagh-Briggs 14, R Tamilo 11, Amelia Nathan 6
Westlake 88 – Chatfield 24, A Fotu 20, I Pugh 16, R Moors 11, Jaelah Clayton 8, S Moors 7
The St Mary’s against Mt Albert Grammar clash was missing two of the brightest prospects in Auckland high school basketball.
MAGS were missing the services of Waimanu Clarken, attending the Basketball Without Borders camp in Canberra, while St Mary’s have lost the services of Kodee Williams-Sefo – side-lined for the remainder of the season with a leg injury.
The absences had a far more detrimental affect on St Mary’s as they were beaten 95-38.
Faith Ualika top scored for St Mary’s while MAGS enjoyed scoring contributions across the board as coach Brent Lay e gave an extended run to a number of his younger squad members.
St Mary’s 38 – Faith Ualika 12, India Nash 9, Layla Aholelei 6, Christiana Setu 5
MAGS 95 – April Liu 28, Te Arina Roberts 13, Lara Cocker-Lemalie 12, Jorjia Fiu 11, Niesha Dighe 8, Valana Pupuke-Robati 7, Emina Tiatia 7
Epsom Girls Grammar’s all-round offensive prowess proved too good for Carmel as they recorded an 88-60 victory to maintain their bid for a semi-final berth.
A top four spot will be decided on Thursday night when Epsom entertain St Kentigern College. Both teams have a 7 win-6 loss record meaning the game in effect becomes a quarter-final as the winner will move on to face Westlake whilst the losers will prepare for Secondary Schools Nationals Qualifying Tournament.
Carmel made a strong showing in the opening half with Ruby Railton, Amie Gaylard and Jemma Cammell regularly breaching the Epsom defence. Down 20-14 at the quarte mark and 39-29 at half-time Carmel were very much in the contest.
That changed after the interval as Epsom enjoyed a dominant 29-13 third quarter – Draun Forbes, Maya Fowler and Leah Patuwairua each doing damage – to settle the tie.
Millie Lloyd got on the scoreboard for Carmel in the fourth. Likewise Andrea Ape-Paia and Alex Dickers for Epsom.
EGGS 88 – L Patwairuau 42, D Forbes 23, M Fowler 13 Teuila Va’aelua 5
Carmel 60 – J Cammell 20, R Railton 11, I O’Rourke 10, A Gaylard 9
Due to illness in the squad Rangitoto College had to default the fixture against St Kentigern College.
Rosmini College wrapped up the Auckland Prems regular season title with a solid 80-54 victory at Auckland Grammar. In the penultimate round of the regular season here were also wins for Westlake, Mt Albert Grammar and Rangitoto College.
Grammar, missing the services of Will Shortt and Kalid Petzer attending the Basketball Without Borders camp in Canberra, got off to a dreadful start giving up 30 first quarter points to trail by 20.
Charlie Dalton (8 points) and Tom Beattie (13 points) did most the damage for Rosmini – a corner three from Noah Johns capping a dominant opening spell.
Julius Halaifonua made inside buckets either side of the break and with Beattie and Josh Batty knocking down triples the visitors lead was 47-24 at the interval.
Josh Muggleston had 8 points at the break although he and back court partner Cody Brown (7 points) had been well contained by the Rosmini defence.
Ryan Hunt and a couple of aerobatic plays from Jackson Kiss threatened a Grammar revival but that was snuffed out by Halaifonua and Beattie – the Rosmini advantage 64-39 ahead of the fourth.
Full court pressure defence from Grammar forced Rosmini into a number of turnovers but the hosts were unable sustain a significant scoring run.
Anton Seuseu’s inside bucket and Tim Sun’s long three were the scoring highlights of the closing minutes.
In a game that would go a long way to helping paint the final picture of the Premier Boys competition, Rangitoto headed south of the Bridge to take on St Kentigern College. Without Dontae Russo-Nance (attending the Basketball Without Borders camp in Canberra) and Max Johnson St Kent’s were paced by Merrick Rillstone and George Turner, on the other side Rangitoto were held together by the nails and glue combination of the Tongan Tornado Jacob Fotu and Tautoko Wynyard.
After winning the opening tip, Rangi fed a steady diet of post ups between Fotu and Wynyard. Only a Turner triple could break up the early barrage and after 2:12 Aaron Young had seen enough to call a time out, Rangitoto with a 10-3 advantage. Rangitoto’s zone defence was doing a good job of preventing any penetration from St Kent’, forcing outside shots. Despite their smaller stature St Kent’s were making a nuisance of themselves on the offensive boards allowing for repeated Rillstone drives, to get his team back in the game. Kenny Stone felt the need to give his team a break with a 17-9 cushion midway through the first. Aaron Young moved to a zone defence out of the time out and Fotu took advantage, 14 first quarter points helping his team to a 29-14 lead. The only basket coming outside of the paint for the visitors was a late Kaia Dryden corner 3 courtesy of some good ball movement.
Both teams made a nervy start to the second quarter with ball handling and passing errors affecting each side. Rillstone took advantage of an errant pass to grab a runaway dunk to eventually get the scoring underway. After a 6-2 Rangitoto run Aaron Young decided another chat with his troops was required. Wynyard got his first dunk off the night, extending the Rangitoto lead to 22 off a beautifully executed Dryden pass. St Kent’s were finally able to answer and converted twice from beyond the arc via Turner and Jack Foley advancing the score to 40-24. Rillstone scored 7 straight for the hosts who were trying to keep Rangitoto within reach, a Cooper Lepou triple ignited the home crowd who could sense a momentum shift but with a Fotu spinning lay-up to end the quarter it was Rangitoto who were in the ascendancy 49-34.
The start of the second half mirrored the first, Wynyard with his second slam of the evening getting his team on the board. St Kent’s, buoyed by their fans, rattled off 6 straight via Hunter Te Ratana but had a tough time at the other end in trying to slow down Wynyard and Fotu. The two key cogs for Rangi scored all 13 points in the period through an array of nifty footwork and delightful high-low passing. A block from Wynyard on Rillstone made it appear as though the defensive anchor was going to close the door on St Kent’s but a triple on the resulting inbound, a well-timed block in transition and another three-pointer from the Waikato age group representative gave his team hope – the score back to 61-49 with 2:41 to play in the third. Defence was the phrase the rest of the period, Rangitoto going into the final stanza up 62-50 on the back of another Wynyard block.
Once again Rangitoto started the stronger of two sides with quick baskets but unruly play allowed St Kent’s to grab 8 straight points reigniting the crowd – Stone had seen enough, a timeout required with 6:38 to play – Rangitoto nursing a 66-58 lead. Fotu once again scored but on the other end Turners sixth triple of the evening cut the lead to 7. It wasn’t to be their night though, Wynyards final dunk of the night putting an exclamation mark on proceedings with 1:20 to go, Rangitoto victors 77-68, in the process keeping alive their chances of a semi-final berth.
St Kentigern 68 – Rillstone 30, Turner 20, Te Ratana 12
Rangitoto 77 – Fotu 26, Wynyard 25, Michael Ropotini 10
In front of a raucous crowd on seniors night Sacred Heart College produced one of their best performances of the season before going down to Westlake Boys High 75-67.
With Heart, led by Josh Stewart (26 points), ahead 55-53 at three-quarter time it required a captain’s performance from Rocco Chang to steer Westlake to victory.
Chang had been kept quiet to that point but he came up with 11 points in the fourth after Daniel Ottenhoff (26 points) had nabbed the first six of the period – Heart outscored 22-12 in the last ten minutes.
Stewart had 9 points in the opening frame – edged 17-16 by Westlake.
Hamza Zahran scored Westlake’s last 6 points of the opening half as Heart, via Stewart, Adam Davies, Jerome Jakeman and Matt Fautuaalii carved out a 36-34 half time lead.
The two teams went basket for basket in the third to set up a grandstand finish in the fourth – Chang and Westlake prevailing to confirm a top three finish on the Premier League ladder.
Sacred Heart 67 – Stewart 26, Davies 13, Jakeman 9
Liston College enjoyed their best spell of basketball in a number of weeks as they forged a 30-26 half-time lead against Mt Albert Grammar School.
Rasheed Ieremia posted 8 points and Adrian Fabian 6 for Liston who also enjoyed scoring contributions from six other players in an encouraging display.
Mt Albert set about gaining the initiative in style in the third period. Not only did they add starch at the defensive end keeping Liston to 9 points but reeled off 27 of their own.
Kade Cartwright scored 10 of his game high 21 points and Will Leger tallied 6 as MAGS enjoyed an 18-point swing in the period.
Dhon Lao and Manu Tuaere led a Liston mini revival in the final quarter but Leger capped a fine all round performance with 9 points in the fourth to see off the spirited Liston challenge.
Liston 60 – Rasheed Ieremia 13, Adrian Fabian 11, Dhon Lao 9, Manu Tuaere 7
MAGS 72 – Will Leger 21, Kade Cartwright 17, Stepan Kusenko 11, Denvor Elia 10, Ben Skelton 6
Round 12 of the Girls Senior A Grade competition saw wins for Northcote College, Auckland Girls Grammar and Massey High School.
Paced by 26 points from DJ Hannah, Northcote College maintained second place on the Senior A ladder with an 81-65 home win against Manurewa High School.
Northcote were out to a 26-12 quarter time lead before being pegged back slightly in the second.
Sela Uluheua also had 26 points in the game – along with Shirley Tuimulu the Manurewa effort reduced the Northcote lead to 63-52 at three-quarter time.
Hannah and Nikki Gear eased Northcote to the win in the final quarter.
Northcote 81 – DJ Hannah 26, Nikki Gear 15, Grace Lai 11, Lizzie May 10, Lily Morgan 7
In the game of the round Angelica Vahai amassed 38 points but couldn’t prevent One Tree Hill College being pipped 58-57 by Auckland Girls Grammar School.
Vahai and Milla Eckford helped One Tree Hill to a 16-15 early lead but Grady Nikoia’s scoring burst gave AGGS a 33-26 half-time lead.
Faith Hurt and Fuschia Traill helped AGGS build a decisive 47-34 three-quarter lead only for OTH were to storm back in the last ten minutes.
Vahai scored 15 points in the fourth and gaining good support from Melaia Tuisuva and Harriate Heta OTH almost pulled off a dramatic come from behind win.
LACEY LOWDOWN 