Jackson Kiss once again put together a dominant performance to lead Auckland Grammar School to the Boys Zone 1 Secondary Schools Premierships – the National Championships Qualifying Tournament.
Kiss, the outstanding player in Auckland high school basketball in 2024, and bound for the USA following Nationals, posted 33 points as Grammar swept aside Rosmini College 124-88 in the championship decider at Pulman Arena on Saturday night.
The impressive AGS side made it a clean sweep of the local competitions as last month they had claimed the Auckland Premier Grade championship in equally convincing style.
A shout out also to Grammar captain Ryan Hunt who missed the Qualifiers due to his commitments with the Junior Tall Blacks at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in Jordan. Pleasing to report that the JTB’s have qualified for the 2025 U19 World Cup after claiming a top four finish in Jordan.
Grammar, with Hunt back in the line-up, will head to Nationals as the number one seed from the northern region (boasting a 22-1 record overall this season) hoping to go one better than in 2011 when they were beaten finalists.
Rosmini College have to content themselves with the runners-up berth in both competitions in 2024. They have lost all four games to AGS this season although they are unbeaten in the 20 games they have played against all other opponents.
Grand Final:
Auckland Grammar 124 – Kiss 33, Lawson Pryor 20, Carver Gibson 16, Brigham Hakaraia 11, Kaden Papera 7
Rosmini College 88 – Josh Wyllie 28, Bart Jackowski 16, Jameer Reed 14, Hunter Johns 13, Mattie Dalton 12
Other Results (the top seven teams qualify for Nationals):
3rd/4th Playoff:
Pukekohe High School 63 – Ezekiel Otunuku 17, Harry Kelso 16, Iziah Neho 7, Nathaniel Short 6
St Kentigern College 94 – Cooper Te Ratana 27, Hunter Te Ratana 25, Cooper Lepou 16, Ari Taylor 8, Noah Heke 6
St Kentigern, fourth in the Auckland Prems competition, finished one better at Qualifiers with the Te Ratana brothers Cooper and Hunter leading the charge for the Saints. The pair averaged 15 points apiece through the tournament.
Despite the loss Pukekohe are now preparing for a second consecutive visit to Nationals. They finished a highly creditable 11th at last year’s Nationals and may well be targeting a top eight finish this time around.
5th/6th Playoff:
Dilworth School 76 – Krisnan-Cole Ioane 27, Kingston Kailahi-Aso 14, Tamati Schaumkel 12, Soane Tavite 7, JC Goodwin 6
Westlake Boys High 87 – Troy Supple 23, Noah Rasmussen 23, Daley Pohio 13, Troy Wentworth 9
In 2023 Westlake Boys missed the Nationals for the first time in many years but the five time national champions made no mistake this time around. Seniors Troy Supple and Noah Rasmussen led the way in this one and will be called on to do the same in Palmy North.
2024 Senior A champions Dilworth, despite being without skipper Ezrah Eagle away on Junior Tall Blacks duty finished sixth.
However they have had to forgo their spot at Nationals as the school basketball and rugby teams plus the choir are about to embark on a major tour to the USA and the United Kingdom.
7th/8th Playoff:
St Peter’s College 88 – Spencer Carr 19, Gus Dallow 15, Mario Nola 15, Montana Ekeroma 15, Bailey Smith 14, Alex Davis 8
Mt Roskill Grammar 78 – Haisem Osman 25, Zach Kemen 17, Tino Mataia 14, Wai Paseka 9, Silas Toala 8
St Peter’s College have only attended Nationals on one previous occasion – and that was in 2017 – so there is plenty to look forward to for the 2024 team. NZ U17 point guard Gus Dallow leads from the front for the Saints.
It looks as if Mt Roskill Grammar will be the beneficiary of Dilworth’s unavailability for Nationals. The 8th placed finisher normally misses out Nationals but this year it would appear not to be the case.
Roskill endured a win-less Prems campaign so another trip to Palmerston North would be reward for their perseverance and good showing in the past week.
LACEY LOWDOWN 