LACEY LOWDOWN

In a cliffhanger Senior A Grand Final St Peter’s College needed overtime to see off the challenge of Avondale College before eventually winning 104-99.

In a game of see-sawing fortunes Avondale boasted a 78-67 lead early in the fourth quarter, were still 92-86 ahead with 90 seconds to play and looked destined for an upset win.

However, with their unbeaten record on the line Scott Errey, headed for a game high 43 points, halved the deficit before a Milan Tolich free-throw and an Andrei Manio two tied proceedings.

Blaze Murphy restored the Avondale advantage with 21 seconds remaining only for Dorian Sula to tie proceedings once more and send the game into an additional five minutes.

Errey and Bailey Smith put the Saints 5 points up in the extra spell before the excellent Jimitose Iosia-Sipeli (41 points) trimmed the deficit once more. However another Errey basket and a Manio free-throw sealed the deal for St Peter’s – a 16^th straight win.

Earlier it was Avondale that made most the early running as they claimed an 18-16 first quarter lead and stretched the advantage to a 42-36 half time advantage with Iosia-Sipeli and Kabir Bhargava (28) causing most the headaches for the St Peter’s defence.

Manio gave the St Peter’s offence some impetus at the beginning of the third only for Avondale to unleash five threes, in a similar number of minutes, four of them from the hot hands of Bhargava.

St Peter’s preferred to accumulate points in the more orthodox fashion – Smith, Errey and Gus Dallow but Avondale were still in the box seat at three-quarter time ahead 73-68.

The sharp shooting Bhargava made his seventh three of the game to proceed the St Peter’s fight back and a fitting climax to an exciting final.

Both teams will now set their sights on claiming a spot at the Secondary Schools National Champs. Their qualifying campaigns begins on Wednesday.

St Peter’s 104 – Scott Errey 43, Andrei Manio 26, Bailey Smith 12, Dorian Sula 7, Gus Dallow 6, Milan Tolich 6

Avondale 99 – Jimitose Iosia-Sipeli 41, Kabir Bhargava 28, Connor Gleeson 10, Kaliomiha Talamahina 7 

Takapuna Grammar School defeated Northcote College 78-61 in the Auckland Secondary Schools Girls Senior A Grand Final at Eventfinda Stadium.

Paced by 33 points from guard Bailey Flavell Takapuna led at every quarter but Northcote showed commendable resilience – their challenge only overcome in the final quarter.

Qaizden Stephano opened the scoring with a trademark inside jumper – Lizzie May got Northcote on the board but they trailed 17-13 after quarter one.

Amy McKenzie scored 6 second quarter points but it was a ten minute period dominated by Grace Lai and Flavell. Lai scored 8 of her 9 points in the spell while Flavell buried three triples on her way to 11 points in the quarter and 17 at the half.

Takapuna ahead 36-26 at half-time.

With Stephano dominating the paint and Flavell controlling the backcourt Takapuna stretched their lead to 14 before Anna Dyachenko’s added a further three to the advantage.

To their credit Northcote weren’t about to throw the towel in. Triples from DJ Hannah and Lizzie May, plus inside baskets from Lily Morgan fuelled a 10-point run – the deficit trimmed to 8 points late in the spell. 

Amy McKenzie righted the ship for Takapuna with a brace of baskets – their lead 58-46 at three-quarter time.

Any thoughts of a fourth quarter Takapuna comeback were short lived as Flavell knocked down triple number eight and Manaia Watson connected from deep also.

Both teams will now set their sights on claiming a spot at the Secondary Schools National Champs. Their qualifying campaigns begins on Wednesday.

Takapuna 78 – Flavell 33 (8 made 3-pointers), Amy McKenzie 20, Qaizden Stephano 10, Anna Dyachenko 9

Northcote 61 – DJ Hannah 25, Lily Morgan 11, Grace Lai 9, Lizzie May 8

Westlake Girls High School underlined their status as the number on basketball team in the region with an emphatic 87-54 victory against Mt Albert Grammar School in the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grand Final on Thursday night.

The early signs were encouraging for MAGS as they went toe-to-toe with the unbeaten regular season champions – Waimanu Clarken and April Liu ensuring it was only a one point deficit at quarter-time (16-15).

Points became harder to come by in the second period for MAGS whereas Westlake gave it the full throttle to rack up 29 as their lead climbed to 46-26 by half-time.

Mackenzie Chatfield orchestrated affairs with deft touch assists for teammates or scoring makes of her own. Amy Pateman and Rebecca Moors were beneficiaries of Chatfield assists and when Sarah Moors knocked down an arching three the lead was twenty points and MAGS were clinging on.

Any prospect of a MAGS comeback were put to bed immediately after the break as Westlake opened with an 11-2 run – Pateman with five of those.

Danae Tait nailed a deep three for MAGS but Chatfield sunk a couple from beyond the arc in response – the Westlake lead 73-45 at three-quarter time.

Waimanu Clarken worked tirelessly for MAGS with the NZ U17 representative tallying 23 points but the offensive prowess of Westlake was just too potent on the night.  

Both team will now prepare for the National Champs Qualifying Tournament commencing on Wednesday although Westlake will have to do so without Chatfield who will be with the New Zealand U18 team preparing for a trip to India for the upcoming FIBA Asia Championships.  

Westlake 87 – Chatfield 25, Pateman 16, R Moors 15, Amiya Fotu 9, Jaelah Clayton 9, S Moors 8

MAGS 54 – Clarken 23, Liu 10, D Tait 9

An entertaining, keenly fought, Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grand Final went the way of Rosmini College with a 61-54 victory against Auckland Grammar School on Thursday night.

When Cody Brown, In front of a boisterous crowd at Eventfinda Stadium, gave Grammar their first lead of the game early in the final period it was the away fans that had most to cheer.

There was even more for those fans to celebrate at the mid-point of the fourth when forward Will Shortt connected from beyond the arc to stretch the Grammar lead to 5 points (49-44).

Having been held to just 13 points in the previous 15 minutes the Rosmini offense suddenly sprung to life. An inside basket from Julius Halaifonua proceeded a game tying triple from Tom Beattie and a go ahead basket from Jameer Reed to put Rosmini ahead 51-49 with 2:30 to play.

The two team had struggled to shoot the ball consistently throughout the game and the trend continued in the final couple of minutes as both relied on trips to the foul line for points.

Shortt and Beattie exchanged free throws but inside the final 60 seconds a couple of Grammar turnovers proved costly as they were punished by Rosmini – Dalton and Beattie making no mistake from the charity stripe on both occasions. 

Josh Muggleston made a late three but it was too little to affect the outcome.

Earlier Rosmini had opened with a 12-2 burst and were still ahead at quarter time (16-10).

Brown and Ryan Hunt featured strongly for Grammar in the second but Dalton and Halaifonua maintained the Rosmini advantage at half time (31-22).

Grammar began to find some offensive fluidity in the third – Shortt and Jackson Kiss helping narrow the deficit to 41-38 at three-quarter time.

Muggleston and Brown quickly erased the arrears at the start of the fourth to set up a tense finish.

Rosmini 60 – Beattie 24, Dalton 14, Halaifonua 11

AGS 54 – Muggleston 15, Brown 13, Shortt 12, Kiss 6

The Auckland Secondary Schools Girls Premier Grade Grand Final next Thursday will be between Westlake Girls High and Mt Albert Grammar after Westlake defeated St Kentigern College 110-29 and MAGS overcame Baradene College 53-50 in semi-final ties at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday.

The Senior A Grand Final will be an all North Shore affair with Takapuna Grammar taking on Northcote College.

Due to my commitments to the Women’s D League (Saturday) and Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa (Sunday) the wrap on the semi-finals is a little less detailed than normal.

The Westlake against St Kentigern College matchup was a disappointingly one-sided affair won 110-29 by unbeaten Westlake. The Lake lead was 25-9 at quarter time and grew steadily throughout the contest.

St Kentigern 29 – Ashleigh Tuumaialu 11, Anamia Rangihaeata 9, Maia Mealamu 4

Westlake 110 – Mackenzie Chatfield 33, Izzy Pugh 22, Rebecca Moors 19, Amy Pateman 13, Jaelah Clayton 11

In contrast the other semi-final wasn’t decided until the final possession of the contest, a go-ahead banked three from Danae Tait with 12 seconds to play proving to be the game winner.

Having trailed 45-32 half way through the final quarter, and shots not dropping, Baradene looked dead and buried.

However back-to-back scores from Ritorya Tamilo plus an And-1 play from Summer Faleafa sparked a Baradene revival.

When Baradene point guard Deyna Topia scored inside the last three minutes it was just a three point deficit (47-44). Wai Clarken (25 points) extended the MAGS advantage to five but Baradene were on a roll.

A Tamilo score preceded a Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs make and when the same player found herself unmarked for an open layup Baradene were ahead 50-49 with 32 seconds left on the clock.

The next MAGS possession seemed to be fizzling out until Tait’s 3-point effort found the net via the backboard.

Baradene couldn’t make anything of their final possession – Clarken, at the other end, icing the game from the foul line to see MAGS home in a thrilling finish.

Baradene 50 – Summer Faleafa 15, Ritorya Tamilo 13, Deyna Topia 11, Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs 6

MAGS 53 – Wai Clarken 23, Danae Tait 11, Valana Pupuke-Robati 10

There was no such drama in the Senior A semi’s with Takapuna Grammar and Northcote College advancing with almost identical scorelines. Takapuna defeated Manurewa High 73-49 with Northcote winning 73-51 against Massey High.

Takapuna were given some trouble by Manurewa in the early stages, their lead only 16-12 at quarter time and 25-16 midway through the second.

It was Sela Uluheua and Bella Manu-Moore providing most the scoring firepower for Manurewa who were still in the contest close to the three-quarter mark.

However a 10-0 Takapuna run, either side of that mark, broke the Manurewa resistance. Takapuna were paced by a game high 26 points from Amy McKenzie with Qaizden Stephano and Bailey Flavell the other double figure contributors.

Takapuna 73 – Amy McKenzie 26, Bailey Flavell 17, Qaizden Stephano 16, Manaia Watson 9

Manurewa 49 – Sela Uluheua 19, Bella Manu-Moore 11, Zhendy Li 9

Northcote College bossed proceedings throughout against Massey High School who were hampered by having just five players.

With Lizzie May and Nikki Gear in good touch Northcote had a 22-11 lead at quarter-time, 42-22 at half-time and 59-33 at three-quarter time. The result was not in doubt at that stage but to their credit the ‘Massey Five’ were competitive to the end and took the fourth period 18-14, Allyah Leusogi-Ape their top scorer with 20 points.

Northcote with the win and a grand final date with Takapuna on Thursday.

Northcote 73 – Lizzie May 22, Nikki Gear 17, DJ Hannah 13, Lily Morgan 10

Massey 51 – Allyah Leusogi-Ape 20, Kortni Waikiki 12, Tahlya Waikiki 10, Zhoey Tilby-Woods 7

The Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade Grand Final next Thursday will be between Auckland Grammar School and Rosmini College after AGS defeated Westlake 78-56 and Rosmini overcame Rangitoto College 88-65 in semi-final ties at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday.

St Peter’s remain undefeated in Senior A after downing Manurewa High 76-59 and now face Avondale College in the championship game after they prevailed 90-77 against Northcote College

Due to my commitments to the Women’s D League (Saturday) and Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa (Sunday) the wrap on the semi-finals is in a little less detail than normal.

Auckland Grammar were locked in defensively holding Westlake to 18 points at half-time to lead by 15 points.

Westlake failed to break the shackles in the third, the contest settled by the three-quarter mark with Grammar ahead 58-30.

Hamza Zahran scored 16 points but it was an offensive struggle all game for Lake. Grammar were ably led by Josh Muggleston – 26 points, including 6 triples, for the industrious guard. 

AGS 78 – Muggleston 26, Cody Brown 16, Blake Manning 11, Ryan Hunt 9, Will Shortt 6

Westlake 56 – Zahran 16, Rocco Chang 12, Daniel Ottenhoff 8

Rangitoto College made the early running against Rosmini College with Jacob Fotu and Tautoko Wynyard doing damaging inside work – 9 points ahead in the middle of the second and still 4 up at half-time (39-35).

Rosmini blew the game open either side of the three-quarter time break. Tom Beattie and Charlie Dalton were the catalyst behind a 28-2 run that settled the contest.

Rosmini 88 – Beattie 34, Dalton 29, Julius Halaifonua 9, Kane Murphy 8

Rangitoto 65 – Wynyard 15, Arnold Nam 15, Fotu 11, Jimmy Kim 9

In Senior A it was Avondale College that prevailed against Northcote College but the 90-77 margin was far less comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

The scores were tied at 67 points apiece early in the fourth and when Aaron Sievert knocked down a trademark three Northcote trailed by a single point inside the final 6 minutes.

A Kabir Bhargava triple was an almost immediate response although at the 2:30 mark the Avondale lead was still only 6 (80-74).

Connor Gleeson’s accuracy from the foul line shepherded Avondale through the closing stages to set up a Grand Final matchup with St Peter’s College.

Avondale 90 – Gleeson 24, Jimitose Iosia-Sipeli 22, Bhargava 21, Andrew Murphy 7, Blaze Phillips 6

Northcote 77 – Sievert 32, Tom Bates 18, Dontaye  Sowman-Faaee 16   

St Peter’s, led by Scott Errey and Andrei Manio, saw of a spirited Manurewa High challenge before eventually winning 76-59.

Ahead 40-22 at half-time it appeared as if St Peter’s might cruise to a comfortable win but led by NZ U17 rep William Passi – his baseline drive and dunk one of the plays of the day – Manurewa resisted strongly.

They shaded the third period 23-22 and tied the fourth but St Peter’s had done the hard graft in the first half and deservedly preserved their unbeaten record ahead of the Avondale College challenge next Thursday.

St Peter’s 76 – Manio 27, Errey 20, Luke Thompson 10, Bailey Smith 8

Manurewa 59 – William Passi 14, Alex Hughes 10, Brian Tapu 10, Richard Campbell 10, Ryan Ancha 6