The top four places have been confirmed following the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grade Round 12 results. Come semi-finals time Mt Albert Grammar, Rosmini College, St Kentigern College and Auckland Grammar will contest the semi-final play-offs although the match-ups are yet to be decided.
Mt Albert Grammar School preserved their unbeaten record but it was a close run thing as they recovered from being 70-62 down with 72 seconds to play to take St Kentigern College into overtime before eventually winning 85-80.
Ahead 50-49 at three-quarter time St Kent’s built an advantage through the final period with Cooper Lepou, George Turner and Hunter Te Ratana making contributions – when Merrick Rillstone made it an 8-point game with 1:12 on the clock a home victory looked on the cards.
However MAGS had other ideas as Louis Uri and skipper Kade Cartwright made scores before in the hectic finish Harri Coker-Gray tied proceedings from the foul line.
Rillstone made 6 points in the extra period for St Kent’s but the combined efforts of Cartwright, Coker-Gray, Uri, Stepan Kosenko and their “Get out of Jail” card earned MAGS their twelfth straight win and an almost certain regular season title.
MAGS had the better of the opening salvo carving out a 20-16 lead – six points each from Cartwright and Coker-Grey.
Ten points from Lepou in the second helped St Kent’s share the spoils in the period – their deficit 39-35 at the main break.
The game swung the way of St Kent’s after the interval as they kept their rivals to 10 points in the third period to edge ahead 50-49. The momentum stayed with the hosts until that crazy seventy-odd seconds played out.
St Kent’s 80 – Te Ratana 20, Rillstone 20, Turner 18, Lepou 15
MAGS 85 – Cartwright 21, Coker-Grey 21/10rebs, Uri 20/15rebs, Kosenko 12, Dante Tapulaaia 6
A career high 27 points from Jackson Kiss propelled Auckland Grammar to an 86-76 win at Sacred Heart College.
Kiss scored 10 points in the opening spell and with Lawson Pryor adding half a dozen Grammar were 20-13 ahead.
Eleven points from Ryan Hunt kept the Grammar score ticking along but Heart were humming in the second – 7 points from Matt Schuler and 6 from Jamie Vile meant the hosts trailed by just a point (41-40) at half-time.
It remained tight after the resumption before scores late in the third from Preston Tuaputa and Tyler Wilson-Voyce gave Heart a 64-63 lead.
Matt Fautuaalii-Taia and Tuaputa scored all of Heart’s fourth quarter points but they weren’t enough to hold off a fast finishing Grammar with Roera Tipene and Kiss carrying the visitors to victory.
Sacred Heart 76 – Fautuaalii-Taia 17,Vile 13, Tuaputa 12, Matt Schuler 11, Sam Snowdon 10
AGS 86 – Kiss 27, Hunt 12, Josh Howes 12, Lipoi Tupou 10, Pryor 10, Tipene 8
Making the most from snaffling offensive rebounds Max Mudford posted 6 first quarter points as Rangitoto kept pace with Rosmini through the opening minutes trailing by just a single point at quarter time (18-17).
A Josh Batty three opened the second quarter scoring, a period where Rangi struggled for points – a Chris Wyllie triple meant the half-time score was 36-24 in favour of the hosts.
Joel Brown, headed to a game high 26 points, Mudford and Elyas Taher pegged bag the deficit to seven points early in the third before a Bart Jackowski three and jumpers from Zion Anderson and Josh Wyllie restored Rosmini’s double figure lead.
A Harlan Roudon finish in traffic propelled Rosmini to a 56-40 three-quarter time lead.
Taher, Mudford and Kyle Buenaflor put together a 9-0 Rangi run before Batty and Jackowski took the game away from their opponents – the Rosmini duo combined for 13 points in three minutes to extinguish the Rangi challenge.
The home support were on their feet in the final two minutes as Nikau Robertson and Kevin Goldstein scored late baskets to close out the win.
Rosmini 82 – Jackowski 15, J Wyllie 15, Batty 10, Anderson 10, Jameer Reed 8, Roudon 7
Rangitoto 59 – Brown 26, Mudford 13, Taher 13, Buenaflor 5
Paced by 26 points from Troy Supple Westlake Boys High made the most of home court advantage to defeat St Peter’s College 104-91.
Gabriel Ames scored 7 points in the opening stanza for Westlake but St Peter’s benefitted from 8 points from Spencer Carr to forge a 27-19 lead.
In contrast the second spell went almost entirely the way of Westlake. Braden Gibb tallied 7 points and Malachi Book 6 as Westlake enjoyed scoring contributions from seven players in the spell to carry a 50-43 lead into the half-time break.
The pace of scoring didn’t let up after the interval. 50 points were scored in the third period as Westlake increased their advantage to 77-66. Supple dominated the period with 16 points – Caleb Afeaki keeping the visitors in touch with 9 points.
Gus Dallow and Bryan Curtis-Marsters attempted to reduce the deficit in the closing ten minutes but Noah Rasmussen and Book closed the page on win number five for Westlake.
Westlake 104 – Supple 26, Rasmussen 18, Gibb 14, Book 11, Max Riechelmamm 10, Ames 7
St Peter’s 91 – Carr 19, Curtis-Marsters 18, Dallow 18, Afeaki 15
To take advantage of Dynamic Sport’s generous 15% discount offer for Lacey Lowdown readers, use promocode LACEYLOWDOWN at the checkout.
View the outstanding Dynamic Sport online catalogue here: https://dynamicsport.co.nz
Standings
11-0 MAGS
10-2 Rosmini
8-3 AGS
8-4 St Kentigern
5-7 Westlake
2-10 Rangitoto, Sacred Heart
1-11 St Peter’s
LACEY LOWDOWN 