LACEY LOWDOWN

Westlake Girls High School defeated Mt Albert Grammar School 90-61 to win the Zone 1 National Championships Qualifying Tournament, at Eventfinda Stadium on Saturday evening. In so doing Westlake have completed the double of winning the Auckland Premier Grade title and the Qualifying Tournament for the second successive year.

MAGS, with Jorjia Fiu nailing a triple and Wai Clarken in good scoring touch, had parity at the end of a fast flowing opening quarter – the scores locked at 21 points apiece.

Clarken and Fiu each made a brace of scores in the second but with Elin Vincent and Amy Pateman dropping triples and Zenthia Stowers piercing the MAGS defence, Westlake had a 40-30 lead by half-time.

Phoenix Kaipo nailed a triple for MAGS before Westlake skipper Rebecca Moors amassed 15 third quarter points to carry her team to a commanding 71-43 lead at three-quarter time.

Westlake had little trouble negotiating their way through the final frame and will now look forward to defending their National title in Palmerston North at the end of the month.

Westlake 90 – Moors 27, Lily Fotu 14, Pateman 13, Emma Schroeder 13, Stowers 8

MAGS 61 – Clarken 33, Fiu 11, Kaipo 5

Joining Westlake and MAGS at Nationals will be fellow Prems teams Epsom Girls Grammar, Takapuna Grammar and Baradene College. They will be joined by Senior A champions Manurewa High School who it is believed will be making their first ever trip to the National champs.

Other Results – Top 6 teams all qualifying for Nationals.

3^rd/4^th Playoff: Manurewa High 62 Takapuna Grammar 44

5^th/6^th Playoff: Epsom Girls Grammar 54 Baradene College 48

7^th/8^th Playoff: Northcote College 86 Rangitoto College 68

Rosmini College defeated Mt Albert Grammar School 66-51, to win the Zone 1 National Championships Qualifying Tournament, at Eventfinda Stadium on Saturday evening.

The two teams had met in the Auckland Prems Final the previous week, a game in which MAGS prevailed 79-78, but this time around it was Rosmini that triumphed in a relatively low scoring game.

Rosmini were paced by Zion Anderson (21 points) and Jameer Reed (15 points) while for MAGS, Romani Keith-Peraua tallied 16 points, Harri Coker-Grey 13 and Kade Cartwright 11.

Rosmini made the better start chalking up 27 first quarter points to lead by 13 with Harlan Roudon and Reed making some telling scores.

Coker-Grey produced 8 second quarter points but MAGS fell further behind as Anderson’s 8 points and a Chris Wyllie triple meant the Rosmini lead was 46-29 at half-time.

Neither side could find their offensive fluency in the third although Coker-Grey’s buzzer beater reduced the margin by two points (56-41) with ten minutes to play.

Wyllie made the opening score of the fourth period but then the Rosmini shooting went ice cold as MAGS put together a scoring run and when Louis Uri made a trade mark inside basket the Rosmini lead was down to eleven points (60-49) with just under 5 minutes to play.

Rosmini found a response through Reed and when Anderson came up with an athletic finish the Rosmini advantage was back to 15 points and the championship title secured.

Rosmini 66 – Anderson 21, Reed 15, Bart Jackowski 8, C Wyllie 7, Roudon 6

MAGS 51 – Keith-Peraua 16, Coker-Grey 13, Cartwright 11, Louis Uri 8, Dante Tapulaaia 3/9rebs

The final day of the tournament, one in which an unprecedented number of Premier teams failed to qualify for Nationals, sorted out the remaining qualifying spots for the secondary schools showpiece event in Palmerston North beginning September 25.

Prems teams St Peter’s College, Sacred Heart College and previous winners Westlake Boys and Rangitoto College will not be travelling to the Manawatu at the end of the month. 

Congratulations to Dilworth School, Mt Roskill Grammar and Pukekohe High School on securing places alongside Auckland Grammar, St Kentigern College and the two grand-finalists.

Other Results (the top seven teams qualifying for Nationals):

3^rd/4^th Playoff: Auckland Grammar 87 Dilworth 59

5^th/6^th Playoff: St Kentigern College beat Mt Roskill Grammar in overtime 88-87

7^th/8^th Playoff: Pukekohe High beat Northcote College 78-71