LACEY LOWDOWN

Round 11 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade, brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport NZ saw wins for Auckland Grammar, Rosmini College, St Kentigern College and Westlake Boys. 

Westlake Boys had Daniel Ottenhoff and Hamza Zahran, for securing a hard fought 83-76 home win against Rangitoto College.

Ottenhoff made five triples as he compiled 22 points while Zahran, named to the Tournament Team at U17 Nationals a couple of weeks ago, scored a game high 26 points despite having to negotiate some foul issues.

The opening quarter was the Zahran-Wynyard show as the Westlake forward scored 13 and Tautoko made 8 as Westlake forged a 23-16 lead.

With Ottenhoff delivering from deep on three occasions in the second it looked as if the hosts would run away with the contest. However, with Wynyard a constant threat inside and Joel Brown and Michael Ropotini scoring with slashing drives Rangi were hanging in at half-time only down 41-35.

The picture was even rosier for the visitors mid-way through the third as back to back baskets from Jacob Fotu gave them a 52-49 lead. 

Rocco Chang’s breakaway dunk provided the disappointingly small crowd the highlight of the quarter – Westlake ahead 59-56 with ten minutes to play.

Jimmy Kim’s triple tied proceedings before Westlake gained a degree of control – ahead 71-63 with five minutes to play.

Rangi responded through Brown and Ropotini and when Fotu made a pair of freebies the Westlake lead was reduced to 73-72 with 1:57 to play.

A trademark baseline jumper from Zahran was answered by Wynyard’s finish at the rim. Inside the last minute it was Ottenhoff’s fifth triple of the night that gave Westlake some breathing space at 78-74.

Ropotini kept things interesting before a heads up play by Chang secured Westlake an extra possession which he an Ottenhoff turned into game winning points from the foul line.

The win strengthens Westlake’s top-4 aspirations while Rangitoto face an important rescheduled fixture against Auckland Grammar on Monday.

Westlake 83 – Zahran 26, Ottenhoff 22, Book 13, Chang 11

Rangitoto 76 – Wynyard 22, Brown 15, Fotu 12, Ropotini 10

It was an equally tight contest at Mt Albert Grammar where Tom Beattie’s 30 points secured Rosmini College a hard earned 69-65 victory.

MAGS were down 53-48 at three quarter time and it remained a two possession game for most of the fourth quarter. An inside basket from Will Leger with !:24 to play made it a 4 point game (64-60 in favour of Rosmini).

Jameer Reed’s reverse layup gave Rosmini an additional buffer but that was short lived as Louis Uri nailed a high arching three with 57 seconds to play.

Leger cancelled out Beattie’s pair of free-throws but the home side were unable to come up with the finish the home support were hoping for.

The win keeps Rosmini at the top of the Premier ladder – MAGS probably needing to win all three remaining games to book a semi-final berth – next week’s clash with St Kentigern looking pivotal.

MAGS 65 – Uri 15, Matakatea 12, Leger 11/9rebs, Cartwright 9, Coker-Grey 9, Elia 9

Rosmini 69 -Beattie 30, Halaifonua 10, Johns 8, Schnuriger 7

Dominating all facets of the game Auckland Grammar eased to a comfortable 91-65 home win against Sacred Heart College.

The win keeps AGS well inside the Top-4 ahead of a busy schedule as they have two rearranged fixtures with Rangitoto College to play.

The tone was set in this one in the opening period as Grammar eased to a 31-11 lead – Cody Brown with 14 of his 26 points in the first ten minutes.

AGS were up 56-32 at half-time, moving further ahead after the break. Kahuranaki Treacher, Josh Muggleston and Ryan Hunt joined Brown in double figures.

Josh Stewart, as he has been weekly this season, was a pillar of strength for Sacred Heart – a game high 30 points for him with Adam Davies, Matthew Fautuaalii and Preston Tuaputa scoring 9 points apiece.

AGS 91 – Brown 26, Muggleston 13, Treacher 10, Hunt 10, Petzer 9, Shortt 9

Sacred Heart 65 – Stewart 30, Davies 9, Fautuaalii 9, Tuaputa 9

Saint Kentigern College also enjoyed a straight forward victory winning 80-54 against Liston College.

Liston’s Dhon Lao scored 6 points and Sebastian Alan 5 points in an opening frame won 22-18 by St Kent’s. 

St Kent’s won a low scoring second quarter 14-8 to lead 36-26 at the half way point – Dontae Russo-Nance with 16 at that stage.

St Kent’s eased away in the second half as Merrick Rillstone, named MVP at U15 Nationals last week, Cooper Lepou and George Turner joined DRN in double figures.

Liston 54 – Lao 12, Ieremia 8, Alan 7

St Kentigern 80 – Russo-Nance 28, Lepou 15, Rillstone 13, Turner 12

Current Standings:

10-1 Rosmini

8-3 Westlake

7-2 AGS

6-5 St Kentigern

5-4 Rangitoto

5-6 MAGS

1-10 Sacred Heart

0-11 Liston

The 10th Round wrap of the Auckland Schools Girl’s Senior A games, brought to you in conjunction with Northern Kāhu, saw wins for Northcote College, Massey High and Takapuna Grammar.

Angelica Vahai scored a game high 38 points but it wasn’t enough to prevent One Tree Hill College being defeated 82-60 by Northcote College.

Northcote stamped their authority on proceedings with a 27-6 first quarter blitz – 9 points for DJ Hannah in the period.

Vahai was up to 16 points by half-time but Northcote, with 11 points from Nikki Gear in the second frame, had an unassailable 49-20 advantage at that stage.

Harriate Heta landed a triple for OTH soon after the interval but Northcote countered through Lizzie May as the score climbed to 68-41 and an eighth win of the season assured. 

One Tree Hill 60 – Vahai 38, Heta 11, Milla Eckford 7

Northcote 82 – Gear 22, Hannah 20, May 12, Lily Morgan 9, Alex Hodgkinson 6

Despite having to play the closing minutes with four players – due to foul trouble – Massey High School were able to defeat Auckland Girls Grammar 66-56.

Fuschia Traill made 7 first quarter points for AGGS but triples from Faith Williams, Zhoey Tilby-Woods and Allyah Leusogi-Ape propelled Massey to a 29-17 lead.

Massey could only manage 7 points in the second – Faith Hurt almost matched that on her own for AGGS who closed to within 3-points at the break (36-33).

The momentum stayed with AGGS in the third as they carried a narrow 47-46 lead into the last quarter.

Leusogi-Ape would go on to dominate the final period. The Northern Kāhu Development Player scored 15 of her game high 35 points in the last ten minutes to earn the win and strengthen Massey’s top-4 prospects.

AGGS 56 – Fuschia Traill 22, Faith Hurt 8, Harmony 8, Grady Nikoia 7, Ryn Nikoia 6

Massey 66 – Allyah Leusogi-Ape 35, Kortni Waikiki 9, Zhoey Tilby-Woods 6 Tahlya Waikiki 6

In a game played last Wednesday evening Takapuna Grammar School defeated Mt Roskill Grammar 101-19.

Takapuna 101 – Bailey Flavell 35, Amy McKenzie 21, Qaizden Stephano 18, Anna Dyachenko 15

Mt Roskill 19 – Petra Chan Chui 8, Adra Kaufusi 7, Bree Ioane 4 

Standings:

10-0 Takapuna

8-2 Northcote

7-2 Manurewa

7-3 Massey

3-7 One Tree Hill

2-8 AGGS, Mt Roskill

0-9 Avondale

The Round 10 Senior A Boys report, brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport New Zealand features just the two games.

He’s done it again! Last month Northcote guard Aaron Sievert knocked down 10 threes against Manurewa High in what was believed to be a Senior A record.

The shooting guard dropped another 10 on Friday as Northcote defeated Macleans College 92-52.

Sievert’s intent was shown in the opening period with three made triples in a blistering 25-11 opening from Northcote.

Jamie Carville knocked down a triple for Macleans in the second but Sievert had the hot hands and drained another four to take Northcote to a 45-25 half-time lead.

Levi Smyth was prominent for Macleans after the break although Tane Cook and Dontaye Sowman-Faaee kept Northcote rolling – the lead 69-39.

Sievert made his tenth trey in the fourth and with Cook and Tyler Aitchison also converting from beyond the arc it was an eighth win in ten outings for Northcote.

Macleans 52 – Carville 14, Smyth 11, Christian Mutti 10

Northcote 92 – Sievert 39, Cook 11, Tom Bates 13, Sowman-Faaee 10

Another major contribution from skipper Scott Errey (37 points) guided St Peter’s College to an 86-64 home win against Aorere College.

Dorian Sula scored the opening 6 points for the Saints but threes from Jovanni Prasad and Chris Gordon got Aorere off to a 16-13 start in their favour.

Gordon took his tally into double figures – likewise Errey who had good support from Cobai David as St Peter’s took a narrow lead (30-28) into the interval.

Saints piled on 32 points in the third quarter to break the game open – Errey was unstoppable with 25 points in the spell.

Moroki Tauhara scored a dozen points either side of the three-quarter break but Bailey Smith and Milan Tolich countered any Aorere moves.

St Peter’s now with 10 straight wins.

St Peter’s 86 – Errey 37, Tolich 13, Sula 11, Bailey Smith 8

Aorere 64 – Tauhara 22, C Gordon 19, Jesse M 8, TJ M 6

Standings:

10-2 St Peter’s

8-2 Northcote

6-3 Manurewa, Avondale

4-6 Mt Roskill

3-7 Aorere

1-8 Dilworth

0-9 Macleans

The 10th Round wrap of the Auckland Schools Girls Premier Grade games, brought to you by Northern Kāhu, saw wins for Westlake Girls, Baradene College and Epsom Girls Grammar. 

The inside-outside threat of Mackenzie Chatfield and Izzy Pugh did most of the damage as Westlake Girls maintained its unbeaten record with an 80-47 home win against Mt Albert Grammar.

Chatfield, named to the New Zealand U18 team earlier in the week, scored a game high 29 points while Pugh – a reserve for that squad – dominated under the boards as she put together a 21 points and 15 rebounds double-double.

April Liu was terrific for MAGS tallying 23 points in an energy packed display.

Liu was a standout in the opening quarter completing And-1 plays on no fewer than three occasions. Pugh and Chatfield combined for 19 points in the period to forge a 26-15 advantage.

A Valana Pupuke-Robati three opened the second quarter scoring and with Liu also connecting from beyond the arc MAGS continued to take the game to Westlake. Pugh went coast-to-coast shortly before half-time – her team ahead 44-29.

When Danae Tait and Liu scored back-to-back baskets the Westlake lead had been trimmed to 12 points (46-34) but that would be as close as it would get for the visitors. A low scoring third period was won 13-6 by Lake who put their foot down in the fourth to ease to a tenth straight victory.

Amiya Fotu became the third Westlake player to score in double figures, Emma Schroeder going close with 9 points.

Westlake 80 – Chatfield 29, Pugh 21 & 15rebs, A Fotu 10, Emma Schroeder 9

Mt Albert 47 – Liu 23, Tait 8, Pupuke-Robati 5, Sienna-Rose Tawera 5

Kodee Williams-Sefo scored 24 points to pace St Mary’s College to a 64-53 home victory against Carmel College.

The first quarter was tied 13 points each before Williams-Sefo and Faith Ualika pushed St Mary’s out to a 28-22 half-time lead.

Imogen O’Rourke and Hannah Bellett added to the Carmel tally but the third was dominated by St Mary’s to stretch out to a 50-34 lead.

Layla Aholelei scored six fourth quarter points for the hosts and although an O’Rourke three helped Carmel win the fourth the W went the way of St Mary’s.

St Mary’s 64 – Williams-Sefo 24, Aholelei 15, Ualika 11, Christiana Setu 6

Carmel 53 – Bellett 16, O’Rourke 13, Zahara Tibbotts 8, Ruby Railton 7, 

Leah Patuwairua and Draun Forbes combined for 53 points to steer Epsom Girls Grammar to a 78-56 home win against Rangitoto College.

A low scoring opener was won 13-6 by Epsom ahead of an entertaining, higher scoring second.

Forbes made a triple for the hosts but Zaara Sain, Mela Andrews and Maddison Skelton each converted from beyond the arc for Rangi – their deficit just 8 points at the break (34-26).

Forbes notched 11 points in the third and Andrews 7 for the visitors – Epsom ahead 54-44 at three-quarter time.

Nina Nguyen joined Andrews in double figures for Rangi but Andrea Ape-Paia, Patuwairua and Forbes extended the Epsom advantage beyond 20 points as they dominated the last quarter.

Epsom 78 – Patuwairua 27, Forbes 26, Ape-Paia 11, Maya Fowler 6

Rangitoto 56 – Andrews 14, Nguyen 12, Skelton 7, Sain 6, Kaitlan Hartley 6, Maia Pirie 6

Sharmaine Tapling, on her way to a team best 25 points, scored 8 in the first quarter but Baradene were up and running with a 22-12 lead.

Tapling scored another half dozen in the second but Deyna Topia and Harriet Burrell pushed the Baradene lead out to 40-24 at the main break.

Madison Sanele made a three after the interval but not before Summer Faleafa and Topia (twice) had drained triples as the Baradene advantage climbed to match winning proportions.

Harriet Burrell continued her recent good form making 10 of her 17 points in the final quarter – Baradene still hot on the heels of Westlake on the Prems ladder. 

St Kent’s 48 – Tapling 25, Sanele 7, Gigi Forster 6

Baradene 87 – Topia 26, Faleafa 17, Harriet Burrell 16, Amelia Nathan 13, Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs 11

Congratulations to New Zealand U17 Women’s team members Waimanu Clarken (Mt Albert Grammar), Amy Pateman (Westlake) and Ritorya Tamilo (Baradene) currently playing at the U17 Women’s FIBA World Cup in Hungary, July 9-17.

The New Zealand Women’s U18’s will be playing their Asia Cup tournament in India in early September. Congratulations to MacKenzie Chatfield (Westlake Girls) on her selection to that team. 

Current Standings:

10-0 Westlake 

9-1 Baradene

6-4 MAGS, Epsom 

5-5 St Kentigern

3-7 St Mary’s

1-9 Rangitoto

0-10 Carmel

Round 10 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier competition, brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport New Zealand saw wins for Saint Kentigern College, Westlake Boys and Rosmini College.

A 35-point haul from the dependable Hamza Zahran was key to Westlake’s success in defeating Mt Albert Grammar 89-85.

It was a contest that could have gone either way and not decided until the closing seconds.

Kade Cartwright lit up the opening minutes of the fourth quarter draining four triples in as many minutes to edge MAGS into a 76-73 lead with 4:30 to play.

Zahran’s And-1 play and corner three bookended Will Leger and Denvor Elia scores – Westlake up by one.

To the delight of the away supporters Hari Coker-Grey’s fourth three of the evening meant MAGS went ahead 83-82 with 1:30 to play.

Ned Shearer restored the Westlake lead only for Louis Uri to finish a baseline drive – all square with 50 seconds to play. 

Those last few seconds proved fruitful for Westlake as Rocco Chang scored in traffic and added from the charity stripe.

MAGS still had opportunities but a wasteful turnover and a missed shot ensued before Malachi Book sealed the home victory with a pair of free throws.

A compelling contest was tight throughout – Zahran’s 11 first quarter points easing Westlake to a 19-17 lead.

Coker-Grey scored 10 points in the second although Lake were still ahead 43-39 at the half.

Jonty Strawbridge, Chang and Zahran made threes for the home side in the third but Coker-Grey’s triple and Uri’s And-1 play meant there was just a point in it at three-quarter time (63-62).

Cartwright’s fireworks followed but Zahran and Co were able to contain the display before it got out of control and then provide some sparkle of their own to seal win number seven and remain well inside the top four. 

Westlake 89 – Zahran 35, Ottenhoff 16, Chang 13, Book 8, Shearer 6

MAGS 85 – Coker-Grey 27, Cartwright 20, Leger 12,  Elia 11, Uri 7

Tom Beattie and Charlie Dalton celebrated being named to the New Zealand U18 team earlier in the week with 41 points and 33 points respectively as Rosmini College won 111-72 at Liston College. The consistent Dhon Lao scored 15 points and Rasheed Ieremie 13 for Liston.

Liston 72 – Lao 15, Ieremie 13, Will Couper 10, Sebastaian Alan 9, Kelvin Mensah 9

Rosmini 111 – Beattie 41, Dalton 33, Jameer Reed 17, Josh Wylie 10, Noah Johns 7

The Auckland Grammar v Rangitoto College game was postponed until Term 3.

In a game played on Wednesday night Saint Kentigern College won 98-81 at home against Sacred Heart College.

Congratulation to Dontae Russo-Nance (Saint Kentigern College), Taukoto Wynyard (Rangitoto College), Charlie Dalton and Tom Beattie (both Rosmini College) on being selected for the New Zealand U18 Men’s team contesting the Asia Cup in Iran in late August.

Current Standings:

9-1 Rosmini

7-3 Westlake

6-2 AGS

5-5 MAGS

4-4 Rangitoto

5-5 St Kentigern

1-9 Sacred Heart

0-10 Liston

Saint Kentigern College continued their push towards a Boy’s Premier Grade top-4 finish with a 98-81 home win against Sacred Heart College on Wednesday night.

St Kent’s were paced by wing Merrick Rillstone who continued his good scoring form with 33 points.

Josh Tengblad scored 9 opening quarter points for Sacred Heart but it was St Kent’s that held sway at the first break with a 22-15 lead.

Josh Stewart and Dalton Dennis knocked down triples for the visitors but that was answered by a brace from Rillstone as St Kent’s moved to a 44-30 half-time advantage.

Sacred Heart continued to add points after the interval but not at the same rate as the hosts. Hunter Te Ratna was in fine scoring touch and he nailed two of his six threes in the third – with Rillstone and Cooper Lepou also successful from distance St Kent’s eased ahead 74-49 by the three-quarter buzzer.

Heart demonstrated their spirit by winning the final frame 32-24 with Stewart scoring 11 of their points on his way to a team high 23.

Dontae Russo-Nance, named to the New Zealand U18 team earlier in the week, was put on light duties by coach Aaron Young but still contributed 12 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. 

St Kentigern 98 – Rillstone 33, Te Ratana 23 (6/8 3-pointers), Lepou 18, Russo-Nance 12/12rebs

Sacred Heart 81 – Stewart 23, Tengblad 16, Dennis 15, Preston Tuaputa 8, Jerome Jakeman 7

Current Standings:

8-1 Rosmini

6-2 AGS

6-3 Westlake

5-4 MAGS

4-4 Rangitoto

5-5 St Kentigern

1-9 Sacred Heart

0-9 Liston

In Monday night games there were wins for Mount Albert Grammar in Girls Premier action and Mount Roskill Grammar in Senior A Boys. 

MAGS strengthened their hold on a Premier Girls top four spot with a home win against Rangitoto College while Mt Roskill Grammar kept their Senior A Boys semi-final hopes alive with a comfortable victory at Dilworth.

Mt Albert 72 – April Liu 17, Danae Tait 15, Valana Pupuke-Robati 9, Tiger-Lily Cocker-Lemalie 8, Sienna-Rose Tawera 6

Rangitoto 47 – Maddison Skelton 16, Zaara Sain 7, Tamsin McAsey 6, Maia Pirie 6

Current Standings:

8-0 Westlake 

8-1 Baradene

6-3 MAGS

5-4 St Kentigern, Epsom

2-6 St Mary’s

1-8 Rangitoto

0-9 Carmel

Dilworth 59 – Owen Pattison 21, Ikahui Mahe 14, PJ Aiona 9 Ivan Kerr 5

Mt Roskill 91 – Zach Kemen 16, Mitch Greenaway 16, N Rakete 14, Haisem Osman 13, Alfred Kerr 8

Standings:

8-0 St Peter’s

7-2 Northcote

6-3 Manurewa

5-3 Avondale

4-6 Mt Roskill

3-5 Aorere

1-8 Dilworth

0-8 Macleans

The 9th Round wrap of the Auckland Schools Girl’s Senior A games, brought to you in conjunction with Northern Kāhu saw wins for Manurewa High School, Massey High School and Takapuna Grammar School.

Manurewa High had a good spread of scorers as they defeated Mt Roskill Grammar 74-34.

Led by 12 points from Beautiful Campbell, five other players contributed 8 points or more to the solid victory.

Shirley Tuilimu got Manurewa off to a good start with 6 first quarter points while Campbell tallied 8 in the second period and Waimihi Hetaraka-Brown scored 7 – Manurewa were 42 -21 ahead at half-time.

Nellie and Bree Ioane each scored 8 points in the first half for Mt Roskill but could do little to stem the tide in the second half as Manurewa ran away with the win.

Mt Roskill 34 – Nellie Ioane 14, Bree Ioane 12

Manurewa 74 – Campbell 12, Tuilimu 11, Psalm Maletino 10, Hetaraka-Brown 9, Alyssa Ualuheua 9, Lavinia Liufau 8

There was something symmetrical about the Takapuna performance as they scored precisely 22 points in each of the first three periods before tailing off with 13 in the fourth in a 79-42 win against One Tree Hill College.

Angelica Vahai and Milla Eckford were prominent for One Tree Hill in the early stages but 6 points each from Bailey Flavell, Qaizden Stephano and Manaia Watson meant Takapuna had a 22-11 first quarter lead.

Arabella Nevile and Amy McKenzie were to the fore in the second as the Takapuna advantage stretched out to 44-16 by half-time.

A triple from Eckford did little to slow the Takapuna momentum – points from numerous contributors increased the Taka advantage. 

The league leaders eased to a ninth straight win but credit to OTH who outscored Taka in the fourth as Harriate Heta and Melaia Tuisuva found their scoring touch.

One Tree Hill 42 – Vahai 12, Heta 9, Eckford 7, Tuisuva 7

Takapuna 78 – McKenzie 21, Stephano 16, Flavell 10, Watson 9, Nevile 8, Mariah Parker 7

Allyah Leusogi-Ape scored 53 points as Massey High School won a one-sided contest against Avondale College 125-23.

Avondale 23 – Shiloh Caffery 15, Aniva Leala 4

Massey 125 – Leusogi-Ape 53, Cyntalia Schuster 22, Tahlya Waikiki 20, Kortni Waikiki 15, Faith Williams 8

The Northcote College v Auckland Girls Grammar fixture was postponed.

Standings:

9-0 Takapuna

7-2 Manurewa

6-2 Northcote

6-3 Massey

3-6 One Tree Hill

2-6 AGGS

2-7 Mt Roskill

0-9 Avondale

The 9th Round wrap of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boy’s Senior A games is brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport NZ.

St Peter’s College compiled a massive last quarter to clinch a 94-90 victory at Northcote College.

The exciting contest was one befitting the top two teams in the competition, the result undecided until the final minute of play.

Northcote, paced by Aaron Sievert had a 79-69 lead at three-quarter time but in the closing ten minutes the sharp shooter went scoreless and his team were restricted to just 10 points.

In contrast St Peter’s piled on 24 with Gus Dallow making 8 points including some clutch free-throws. Scott Errey, Milan Tolich and Andrei Manio also made critical plays as the Saints marched away with the win and remain favourites to claim the regular season title.

Northcote started strongly building a 28-20 opening quarter lead – 9 points from Shunta Shinzaki in that tally.

Luke Thompson dropped a handy three for St Peter’s in the second but Sievert rifled in six of his seven triples in the period as the lead ballooned to 56-38.

St Peter’s were much improved after the interval – threes from Tolich, Sula and Dallow punctuating Errey’s 14 points meant the Northcote lead was reduced to 10 points.

The momentum was with St Peter’s and there it stayed through the closing minutes.

Northcote 90 – Sievert 37, Dontaye Sowman-Faaee 15, Shinzaki 13, Tom Bates 11, Tane Cook 9

St Peter’s 94 – Errey 32, Manio 13, Dallow 12, Toby Cox 10, Tolich 7, Bailey Smith 6

In an equally tight game, also won by the away team, Mt Roskill Grammar clawed their way back from a big opening quarter deficit to almost steal the win against Manurewa High School.

Manurewa were up 26-11 at the end of the opening period – Ryan Ancha scored the first 10 of Manurewa’s points, Alex Hughes following that with eight.

Mitchell Greenaway, Haisem Osman and Kees Mataroria stepped up the tempo for the home side in the second but Manurewa were still in control at half-time with a 42-30 lead.

Hughes knocked down a three after the break before Roskill’s Ryan Aramoana, Zachan Kemen and Mitch Greenaway combined for four triples – the Manurewa lead reduced to two points (52-50) at the three-quarter mark.

Aramoana and the Greenaway’s kept the score ticking over for the hosts but it was a massive 14 points from Roskill’s Richard Campbell, in the closing ten minutes, that settled the tie.

Mt Roskill 70 – Greenaway 20, Daniel Greenaway 13, Aramoana 11, Zachan Kemen 7, Osman 6, Ngawaka Rakete 6

Manurewa 74 – Richard Campbell 21, Hughes 17, Ancha 16, Jarell Tuhega 12

* Congratulations to Manurewa High guard William Passi who is currently playing for New Zealand at the FIBA U17 World Cup in Spain.

The result of the Avondale College v Aorere College game is unknown at this stage.

The Dilworth v Macleans College fixture was postponed to a later date.

Standings:

9-0 St Peter’s

7-2 Northcote

6-3 Manurewa

5-3 Avondale

3-5 Aorere

3-6 Mt Roskill

1-7 Dilworth

0-8 Macleans

The 9th Round wrap of the Auckland Schools Girls Premier Grade games, brought to you by Northern Kāhu, saw wins for Baradene College, Saint Kentigern College and Epsom Girls Grammar.

There may have been a late switch of venue, and players absent, but the two teams still put on a thriller – Epsom Girls Grammar getting up 61-60 over Mt Albert Grammar.

MAGS were quickest out the blocks thanks to three triples from Danae Tait – ahead 19-13 at quarter time.

Both Draun Forbes and Leah Patuwairua drained triples in the second quarter although 8 points in the period from April Liu kept MAGS ahead at the break (33-31).

Epsom gained a slight ascendancy in the third frame as Talia Vea and Kiki Reti added to the good work of Forbes and Leah Patuwairua – the visitors 49-46 ahead at three-quarter time.

Tiger-Lily Cocker-Lemalie made shots to reduce the arrears, Liu continued her points haul and Tait dropped her fourth three as MAGS searched for the win. However Forbes and Patuwairua, along with Andrea Ape-Paia, did just enough to claim the win in the tightest of finishes.

The victory does Epsom’s top-4 chances no harm at all.

MAGS 60 – Liu 29, Tait 14, Cocker-Lemalie 11

Epsom 61 – Patuwairua 27, Forbes 22 (6 x 3-pointers), Vea 4

Nine first quarter points from Sharmaine Tapling, on her way to what I think was a career best 31, propelled Saint Kentigern College to a 20-13 first quarter lead against Carmel College.

Opposing captain Jemma Cammell led from the front – her 14 first half points meant Carmel were well in contention at the interval trailing 39-32.

St Kent’s regained the initiative in the third with 22 points as Tapling, Ashleigh Tuumaialu and Anamia Rangihaeata went to work at the offensive end.

Spirited resistance from Cammell, Zahara Tibbotts and Annie Gaylard saw Carmel win the final quarter but it wasn’t enough to claw back the earlier deficit.

St Kent’s 77 – Tapling 31, Tuumaialu 24, Maia Mealamu 8, Rangihaeata 6

Carmel 66 – Cammell 28, Zahara Tibbotts 12, Annie Gaylard 10, Ruby Railton 6, Imogen O’Rourke 6

Mela Andrews knocked down an early three for Rangitoto College but it was visitors Baradene College that took the early lead – Summer Faleafa and Deyna Topia sharing 17 of the 23 in the opening period as the visitors gained an 8-point buffer.

Harriet Burrell was dominating the boards, particularly at the offensive end, and she moved efficiently into double figures (both points and rebounds) as Baradene increased their advantage in the third to lead 57-29.

Tamsin McAsey scored a couple of baskets for Rangi in the second but they faced an uphill battle at half-time trailing 34-21.

Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs joined the Baradene scoring spree in the third before Zaara Sain became Rangi’s leading scorer in the final quarter – Baradene going on to claim a comfortable road win.

Rangitoto 41 – Zaara Sain 10, McAsey 7, Andrews 6

Baradene 72 – Faleafa 20, Topia 18, Burrell 18, Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs 9

The Mt Albert Grammar v Rangitoto College and Westlake v St Mary’s fixtures will be played at a later date.

Congratulations to New Zealand U17 team members Waimanu Clarken (Mt Albert Grammar), Amy Pateman (Westlake) and Ritorya Tamilo (Baradene) who helped NZ to a fourth place finish at the  FIBA Asia Cup in Jordan last week.

The team will now prepare for the U17 Women’s FIBA World Cup to be played in Hungary, July 9-17.

Current Standings:

8-0 Westlake 

8-1 Baradene

5-3 MAGS

5-4 St Kentigern, Epsom

2-6 St Mary’s

1-7 Rangitoto

0-9 Carmel

The Mt Albert Grammar v Rangitoto College fixture will be played at a later date.