LACEY LOWDOWN

The Girls Zone 1 Secondary Schools Premierships – the National Championships Qualifiers – has been won, as anticipated, by Westlake Girls High School although they were pushed all the way before defeating Manurewa High School in the Grand Final.

Joining those two teams at Nationals at the end of the month will be Takapuna Grammar School, Mt Albert Grammar, St Kentigern College and Epsom Girls Grammar School.

Grand Final:

Westlake 58 – Zenthia Stowers 17, Lily Fotu 13, Kodee Williams-Sefo 10, Imani Rasmussen 8, Emma Schroeder 8

Manurewa 49 – Bella Manu-Moore 16, Shirley Tuilimu 13, Emily Tanira 13, Taisha Tanira 7

Westlake, the defending national champions, will carry the number one seeding into the 2024 tournament after overcoming a resolute Manurewa High with a 58-49 victory.

Aiming for a three-peat at nationals Westlake had Zenthia Stowers (17 points) to thank in this one – her clutch 3-pointer in the dying minutes finally saw off a determined Manurewa team. Shout-out also to Amy Pateman who, sidelined since suffering an ACL injury at the 2023 National Champs, made a welcome return to the court during the Qualifying Tournament.

Manurewa High attended nationals for the first occasion in 2023 and won Prems for first time this season. This ever improving team, with Bella Manu-Moore and Shirley Tuilimu in fine form, look more than capable of a top eight finish at nationals this year.

3^rd/4^th Playoff:

Takapuna Grammar 78 – Bailey Flavell 21, Amy McKenzie 18, Mania Watson 14, Natalja Burton 7

Mt Albert Grammar 64 – Sahara Katene 17, Meiya Lemafa 16, Te Arini Roberts 9, Summer Tawera 8

Takapuna Grammar, led by Amy McKenzie and Tall Fern Bailey Flavell, held off MAGS to claim third place. Taka finished 11^th at Nationals in 2023 and are primed to better that this time around.

Mt Albert Grammar stumbled through the early part of the season but have found form at the business end of the campaign.

Sahara Katene led the tournament scoring with 225 points at 28ppg – aided by her scoring prowess MAGS (5^th last year) will be hoping for another strong showing in Palmy North.

5^th/6^th Playoff:

Epsom Girls Grammar 42 – Oriwa Tipene 22, Draun Forbes 16, Kiki Reti 4

St Kentigern College 54 – Kilani Tuineau 18, Manawa Rogers 13, Giselle Forster 9, Jenette Tuumaialu 7

St Kentigern College, third in the Prems competition, couldn’t quite match that finish in this tournament. Kilani Tuineau averaged 19ppg through the qualifiers and it will be exciting to see what she and the St Kent’s team can achieve at Nationals.

Epsom Girls Grammar struggled through the Prems campaign managing just three wins but put that poor record aside to book another trip to Palmerston North after solid performances through the qualifiers – guard Draun Forbes averaged 20ppg.

7^th/8^th Playoff:

Rangitoto College 94 – Mela Andrews 23, Eva Veale 18, Moananui Wynyard 16, Maddison Skelton 15, Bella Anderson 8

Northcote College 89 – DJ Hannah 27, Lisa Gear 20, Abby Allan 16, Ema Lavemaau 12

With only six spots available both teams missed out on automatic qualification to Nationals. However it’s possible that Rangitoto may receive an invitation should any of the other three zones not pick up their allocated six places.   

Rangitoto College will be in prime position to accept an invitation after winning the high scoring encounter with Northcote.

Northcote exceeded expectations by finishing runners-up in the Prems competition but will be disappointed to have missed out on automatically qualifying for Nationals. Like Takapuna they will be nervously awaiting a phone call from the Nationals Tournament organisers.

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):

3^rd/4^th 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 11^th at last year’s Nationals and may well be targeting a top eight finish this time around.

5^th/6^th 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.

7^th/8^th 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 8^th 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.

In an entertaining exciting Girls Senior A Grand Final, Carmel College held their collective nerve over the closing minutes to defeat Auckland Girls Grammar School 75-70.

In the regular season fixtures between the two there had been a win apiece with both games decided by single figure margins so it was no surprise that this game went down to the wire also.

Carmel were 56-55 ahead at three-quarter time but Fuchsia Trail, Faith Hurt and Zara Avaulii combined to push AGGS into the lead only for Leighton Esera to tie proceedings at 59 points apiece.

Then it was the turn of Ella Drake, the game’s outstanding player, to step up. Drake, headed for a stunning 37 points, made her TENTH three of the game to take Carmel into the lead and when Ruby Railton scored from close range it was a 64-59 lead.

AGGS weren’t finished as skipper Faith Hurt reduced the margin to 64-61 with under 4 minutes to play but their chances of victory diminished when Lily Farman nailed her second three of the game.

Drake and Ryn Nikoia exchanged baskets and from there Carmel held their nerve at the free-throw line – Farman, Ruby Railton and Zahara Tibbotts combining for a perfect 6 from 6 to hold AGGS at bay.

Earlier Drake had made 11 points to give Carmel a 24-21 advantage before the Nikoia’s, Grady and Ryn, were instrumental in powering AGGS to a 44-34 half-time lead.

Drake took over in the third sinking five triples in the spell and with Railton adding to the scoring the deficit was erased and a one point lead established (56-55).

From there it was nip and tuck through the final period with Carmel doing just enough to clinch a hard earned win and with it the title.

The result means Carmel will face Epsom Girls Grammar in one promotion/relegation game next year while AGGS will have the unenviable task of taking on Westlake Girls High.

Carmel 75 – Drake 37, Railton 19, Farman 8

AGGS 70 – G Nikoia 23, R Nikoia 14, Avaulii 9, H Hurt 8, F Hurt 7

Rangitoto College were hoping it would be third time lucky against Dilworth School but it wasn’t to be as they fell 92-73 in the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Senior A Grand Final at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday.

Beaten twice in regular season play Rangitoto appeared undaunted in the opening minutes as Kyle Buenaflor sunk a pair of threes.

However Dilworth finished the opening spell with four consecutive triples, courtesy of Ezrah Eagle, Kape Hoeta, George Hardie and KC Ioane to forge a 28-17 advantage.

Eagle, on his way to a game high 27 points, scored 9 second quarter points and although Nikau Huggins drained a brace of threes the Rangi deficit was 16 points (48-32) at the half way point.

The early exchanges of the third stanza went the way of Rangi with Max Mudford and Buenaflor combining to reduce the margin to ten points.

Eagle and Ioane then strung together a collective 15 points as Dilworth doubled their lead to take a stranglehold on the contest with ten minutes to play – their advantage 73-53.

William Cheng and Michael Ropotini kept the score ticking over for Rangi but Kingston Kailahi-Ale and Eagle ensured their would be no late dramas for the regular season champions.

The result means Dilworth will face Mt Roskill Grammar in one promotion/relegation game next year while Rangitoto will match up with Sacred Heart College. More pressing will be the upcoming National Qualifying Tournament in September.

Dilworth 92 – Eagle 27, Ioane 22, Kailahi-Aso 20, Hardie 14, Hoeta 6

Rangitoto 73 – Buenaflor 18, Cheng 16, Mudford 13, Ropotini 10, Huggins 8

They are probably still celebrating in Manurewa! And why not after Manurewa High School claimed its first ever Auckland Schools Girls Premier Grade title with a deserved 85-60 win against Northcote College.

Northcote made the slightly stronger start with Abby Allan dropping a triple and DJ Hannah picking holes in the Manurewa defence.

However Shirley Tuilimu instigated the response as Manurewa closed the opening ten minutes with a 25-20 lead.

The defence of both teams tightened in the second as a tally of 13-8 in favour of Manurewa suggests.

The battle between pocket dynamos Lisa Gear and Tuilimu was a fascinating duel to watch and both provided scoring punch for their respective sides in the third.

Gear sank a much needed triple for Northcote while Tuilimu had 8 points. Gear received good support from forward Ema Lavemaau who scored 7 third quarter points.

However with Aynslee Kakapu making a couple of transition baskets and Taisha Tanira nailing a deep three Manurewa were still in the box seat at three-quarter time leading 59-48.

Hannah made the first two scores of the fourth quarter as ‘Cote closed to within 7 points.

That was countered by Bella Manu-Moore and Waimihi Hetaraka-Brown only for Hannah to nail a deep three to keep the margin at 10 (65-55).

However from there, much to the delight of their large contingent of supporters, it was all Manurewa in the closing minutes with Manu-Moor pouring in 16 of her 20 points in the final term.

Northcote’s early season ambition was to avoid the relegation play-offs so they can take immense satisfaction from appearing in their first Grand Final since 2006.

It has been a longer wait for Manurewa. Their victory was the first Girls Premier title won by a south Auckland school since James Cook High School were victorious in 1997. Manurewa came close back in 2002 but were second best to Avondale College in that year.

In 2024 they were not to be denied and deservedly took the trophy south.

Manurewa 85 – Tuilimu 21, Manu-Moore 20, T Tanira 13, Kakapu 11, E Tanira 11, Hetaraka-Brown 8

Northcote 60 – Hannah 21, Gear 13, Lavemaau 11, Allan 8

With the top two sides in the competition going head to head many predicted the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grand-Final would be a close affair.

However, in front of a packed house at Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland Grammar School made no race of it running away from Rosmini College to win 91-55. Grammar Assistant Coach Dave MacKay was at the helm the last time they claimed the title and that was back in 2011 when future Tall Blacks captain Reuben Te Rangi led the blue and gold.

This time around the honour went to current skipper Ryan Hunt (17 points), one of three Grammar players in double figures, alongside Lawson Pryor (12 points) and the outstanding Jackson Kiss who produced an effortless looking 24.

Whilst Kiss was the outstanding individual it was a complete team performance from Grammar with all 11 players making contributions on the scoreboard and at the defensive end as they kept Rosmini to their lowest score of the season.

Hunt opened the scoring with a triple – the first of four from the Junior Tall Black – and with his team reeling off the first 10 points they were ominous signs for Rosmini.

Taye Thomson and Bobby Neels also dropped threes and with Kiss slamming down a trademark dunk Grammar were out to a 22-11 quarter time lead.

Bart Jackowski and Josh Wyllie (14 points) landed from deep in the second but another three from Hunt and an acrobatic make from Kiss helped Grammar to a 42-25 advantage at the main break.

Jameer Reed gave the large contingent of Rosmini supporters something to cheer in the third stanza – the NZ U17 representative making 13 of his team high 19 points in the period.

However Kiss, his national team colleague, was at his dominant best whether providing rim protection at the defensive end or making athletic plays in the offensive half.

Grammar led 66-43 at the three-quarter mark and soon after giving his team a 30-point advantage Kiss departed in unusual circumstances. After throwing down a two handed flush he was forced to hobble from the court, with a grin and a grimace.

The grimace was brought on by a bout of cramp – the grin an acknowledgement of a job well done.

Deep into the fourth Sunny Nair and Xavier Wells made consolation threes for Rosmini before Tom Curteis put the icing on a comprehensive victory with a late triple – Lindsay Tait and his charges finishing the season with an impressive 15-1 record (Rosmini 13-3).

AGS 91 – Kiss 24, Hunt 17, Pryor 12, Thomson 6, Carver Gibson 6, Neels 5, Noah MacKay 5, Jackson Couper 5

Rosmini 55 – Reed 19, J Wyllie 14, Hunter Johns 6, Jackowski 5

The 2024 Auckland Schools Girls Premier and Senior A semi-finals produced some intriguing clashes on Friday night.

The Premier final will see form teams Manurewa High School and Northcote College go head to head while in Senior A the top two finishers in the regular season will clash for a third time with their earlier match-ups tied at 1-1.

Premier Semi-Finals

For the second consecutive week Takapuna Grammar faced Manurewa High without Bailey Flavell – in Mexico ahead of her Tall Ferns debut.

As with the final regular season meeting Takapuna put up a strong showing before the regular season champions, led by Bella Manu-Moore, were able to exert some authority and close out the win.

Manurewa made the stronger start pulling away to a 29-13 lead with both Manu-Moore and Taisha Tanira quickly into double figures.

Natalja Burton and Adeline Lee combined to score all 16 of Taka’s second quarter points but it was a sizeable margin at half-time with Manurewa 53-29 to the good.

Shirley Tuilimu came up with 8 third quarter points for the hosts but Burton and Amy McKenzie led the Taka fight back as they edged the third frame 19-18.

Alex Castells Espino and McKenzie maintained Taka’s scoring momentum but a triple from Taisha Tanira and a brace of scores from sister Emily confirmed it would be Manurewa that were heading to the Grand Final.

Manurewa 82 – Manu-Moore 30, T Tanira 20, Tuilimu 16, E Tanira 8,Waimihi Hetaraka-Brown 6

Takapuna 70 – Burton 26, McKenzie 17, Lee 8, Mania Watson 7

In the second semi-final Northcote College continued their good run of form as they won a high scoring encounter 100-80 at St Kentigern College.

Languishing near the foot of the table at the mid-way point of the season Northcote have enjoyed a fine run recently. This was their fifth win in six games and achieved on the back of 20-point outings from DJ Hannah, Lisa Gear and Mischa Aitchison.

The afore mentioned trio along with Amelia Poorekhorsandi each made threes in the opening quarter as Northcote surged to a 27-20 lead.

Kilani Tuineau and Charlie Yock combined for all 20 of St Kent’s second quarter points but 8 from Ema Lavemaau steered the visitors to a ten point (50-40) half-time advantage.

It was nip and tuck in the third as the two teams traded baskets – Tuineau and Rosie Ward to the fore for St Kent’s, Aitchison with 10 points for Northcote and their lead 73-61 with a quarter to play.

Led by Tuineau, recently named to the New Zealand U15 national team, St Kent’s strived to get on equal terms in the closing minutes but a fourth triple from Aitchison and a combined 17 from the Hannah and Gear steered Northcote into the Grand Final for the first time since 2006.

St Kentigern 80 – Tuineau 35, Yock 15, Gigi Forster 9, Ward 6, Jeanette Tuumaialu 6

Northcote 100 – Gear 26, Hannah 24, Aitchison 20, Lavemaau 15, Poorekhorsandi 7, Abby Allan 6

The Senior A semi-finals went with seedings as Carmel College and Auckland Girls Grammar prevailed despite strong resistance from St Mary’s and McAuley.

Paced by Ella Drake (30 points) Carmel College held off a resilient St Mary’s team to win 78-71.

Carmel appeared to be cruising to victory when they led 47-29 at half-time but with Olive Maling (31 points) in good form St Mary’s chipped away at the deficit to make it a nervy final few minutes for the regular season champions.

Nine points from Drake helped Carmel establish a double digit (23-12) quarter time advantage and when the same player drained a pair of threes to compliment scores from Ruby Railton and Annie Gaylard Carmel were almost 20-points ahead.

Momentum started to swing the way of St Mary’s after the break as Maling and Abigail Alea were mainly responsible for trimming the deficit by six to 63-51 with ten minutes to play.

Maling, named as a reserve to the NZ U16 team earlier in the week, tallied 9 points in the last quarter and with India Nash adding a couple of baskets St Mary’s continued to threaten.

However 7 points from Tibbotts and a late triple from Drake eased Carmel through to next Friday’s grand-final.

Carmel 78 – Drake 30, Tibbotts 15, Railton 12, Gaylard 6, Imogen O’Rourke 6

St Mary’s 71 – Maling 31, Nash 13, Alea 10, Heaven-Leigh Schmid 8

Unfortunately the Lowdown doesn’t have full details of the other semi-final but can report Auckland Girls Grammar came back for a 35-25 half-time deficit to edge McAuley High School 63-61.

In packed gymnasiums and in front of enthusiastic supporters the 2024 Auckland Schools Boys Premier and Senior A semi-finals were staged on Friday night.

The Premier final will be a repeat of the 2022 championship game with Rosmini College and Auckland Grammar set to go head to head while in Senior A unbeaten Dilworth School will meet Rangitoto College to decide the title.

Premier Semi-Finals

Auckland Grammar won 78-62 although the regular season champions didn’t have it all their own way against an undermanned but resolute St Kentigern College for whom Cooper Lepou led the way with 19 points.

The shooting guard had 6 first quarter points and with Ari Taylor adding 7 St Kent’s were off to a flyer with a 23-14 first quarter lead.

Grammar righted the ship in the second keeping St Kent’s to just 8 points in the spell while piling on 24 themselves. A pair of threes from Lawson Pryor and half a dozen each from Jackson Kiss and Bobby Neels propelled the hosts to a 38-31 advantage at the interval.

Kiss and Pryor continued to find a way to the basket in the third and although Lepou and Hunter Te Ratana came up with scores for the visitors the Grammar lead climbed to 61-47 at three-quarter time.

Lepou, Te Ratana and Charlie Hughes knocked down threes for St Kent’s but Ryan Hunt and Kiss, to the delight of the home support, guided Grammar through the final ten minutes and improved their record to 14-1 this season.

AGS 78 – Kiss 23, Pryor 20, Hunt 10, Neels 7, Roman Ma’afu 6, Taye Thomson 6

St Kentigern 62 – Lepou 19, Te Ratana 16, Taylor 11, Hughes 6, Kolo Liku 6

In the other semi-final, with the Wyllie brothers Josh and Chris running the show, Rosmini College proved too strong for near neighbours Westlake winning 109-51.

Westlake made a promising start with Troy Wentworth and Noah Rasmussen making some early incursions but with the Wyllie’s combining for 17 points the Rosmini lead was soon out to double figures – their advantage 31-18 at quarter time.

Daley Poiho, recently named to the New Zealand U15 team, made a couple of scores for Lake but their plight took a turn for the worse as they were outscored 29-10 in the second.

Hunter Johns, Bart Jackowski and Jameer Reed continued the Rosmini momentum in the third – a triple from Harper Wilson of scant reward for Westlake as they trailed 81-37 at the three-quarter mark.

Chris Wyllie took his tally to a game high 30 points before Jack Davis made an inside basket to wrap up a comfortable victory for the hosts. One that would have impressed Julius Halaifonua who was sideline watching his former classmates before heading to Georgetown University on Monday.

Rosmini 109 – C Wyllie 30, Reed 21, J Wyllie 15, Johns 11, Jackowski 11

Westlake 51 – Poiho 15, Rasmussen 9, Wentworth 8, H Wilson 8

Senior A Semi-Finals

Dilworth School continued their unbeaten run this season with an 84-39 defeat of Liston College on their home court.

Liston made a promising start with scores from Jeydin Ale and Ronnie Juan but at the defensive end they were encountering some issues – with KC Ioane scoring 13 points and Kingston Kai’lahi-Aso adding half a dozen Dilworth had 32 points at quarter time and a 17-point lead.

Liston addressed their defensive deficiencies during the quarter time break and as a result the contest was much closer through the middle periods.

Triples from Ezrah Eagle and Soane Tavite drew rapturous applause from the home supporters but responses from Ale, Juan and Zymhon Moreno kept Liston in the contest as they trailed 46-23 at half-time and 60-38 with ten minutes to play.

The fourth period turned out to be one-way traffic with PJ Ainoa and Mikaere Hoeta putting the finishing touches to an emphatic Dilworth win.

Dilworth 84 – Ioane 27, Kai’lahi-Aso 12, George Hardie 11, Eagle 10, Tavite 10

Liston 39 – Juan 14, Ale 10, Moreno 8 Luke Vaipaata 5

The second semi-final was a far tighter affair as Brian Duckworth exploded for a staggering 55 points before Pakuranga College were pipped 98-97 at Rangitoto College.

Duckworth showed his intent from the outset leading Pakuranga to a 13-5 lead. He proceeded to hit 4 from 4 from beyond the arc making 20 of his team’s first 25 points.

Rangitoto responded through William Cheng and Max Mudford – the pair combing for 19 points to carry the hosts to a 25-24 lead.

Duckworth received good support from Moses Banno and Tyson Thomassen in the second as Pakuranga took a 52-51 lead into half-time.

Rangi were able to wrestle control in the third as Mudford made 14 of his team high 35 in the quarter and with Nikau Huggins nailing a triple the advantage was 78-67 with ten minutes to play.

Mudford and Michael Ropotini kept the Rangi lead in the region of ten points for the bulk of the fourth as they appeared to be easing to a comfortable win. However Duckworth had different ideas and further demonstrated his shooting prowess making 15 points in the period to erase the Rangi lead.

With Duckworth fouling out in the final two minutes Rangi were able to sieze their opportunity via free throws from Mudford and a couple of baskets from Ropotini.

Rangi head to the Grand Final showdown with Dilworth but it could so easily have been Duckworth and his Pakuranga posse.

Rangitoto 98 – Mudford 35, Ropotini 23, Cheng 12, Kyle Buenaflor 9, Carter Chase 8

Pakuranga 97 – Duckworth 55, Thomassen 10, Banno 8, Tristan Jasotharan 8, Dexter Molesi 8

The final round of Auckland Secondary Schools Girls Premier regular season games has been completed and the semi-final line-ups confirmed.

Manurewa High School rounded out an 11-3 record, with victory against Takapuna to secure a home semi-final tie – ironically it will be against Taka!

St Kentigern College beat Epsom Girls to lock-in second spot and will now host Northcote College in the other semi.

Northcote and Takapuna were tied in third place with identical 8-6 records and having beaten each other once placings were decided by points differential – Northcote on the right side of the ledger at +8 with Taka on -8.

Manurewa and Takapuna played out an entertaining contest eventually won 83-66 by the regular season champions.

Two-way guard Shirley Tuilimu was the game’s outstanding performer adding rebounds, steals and assists to a game high 27 points. Emily Tanira had a 23-point outing and Bella Manu-Moore scored 16.

Takapuna also had major scoring efforts from a trio of players led by point guard Amelia Glenn with 23 points, skipper Amy McKenzie made 19 while Natalja Burton scored a dozen.

Takapuna 66 – Glenn 23, McKenzie 19, Burton 12, Arabella Neville 5

Manurewa 83 – Tuilimu 27, E Tanira 23, Manu-Moore 16

St Kentigern College had the most significant win of the round defeating Epsom Girls Grammar 81-52. The victory lifted St Kent’s to clear second on the ladder after entering the round tied with Takapuna and Northcote.

St Kent’s were again led by Kilani Tuineau who scored 21 points and she had valuable support from Jorja Dixon and Rosie Ward who tallied 18 points and 11 respectively.

For Epsom Talia Vea and Draun Forbes combined for 35 points.

St Kentigern 81 – Tuineau 21, Dixon 18, Ward 11, Charlie Yock 7, Gigi Forster 7

Epsom 52 – Vea 18, Forbes 17, Kiki Reti 6, Oriwa Tipene 5

Mt Albert Grammar School continued their late season run of form with a 75-69 home win over Northcote College.

Once again Sahara Katene top scored for MAGS scoring 33 points – that’s 104 points tallied in the last three games with victory achieved in each.

Meiya Lemafa was the other major contributor with 12 points while four players were in double figures for Northcote.

Lis Gear topped the billing with 24 points, DJ Hannah had 13 , Misha Aitchison 10 and Lily Morgan, in her final game for Northcote, scored 15 points.

Morgan heads to college in Canada in the coming days and will miss Northcote’s play-off game(s) and upcoming Nationals Qualifying Tournament.

MAGS 75 – Katene 33, M Lemafa 12, Giana Tiatia 8, Amelia Nathan 6

Northcote 69 – Gear 24, Morgan 15, Hannah 13, Aitchison 10, Ema Lavemaau 7

Westlake Girls High and Rangitoto College had little to play for other than pride and it was 2023 champions Westlake that prevailed winning 100-37.

Led by Emma Schroeder’s 27 points Westlake had five players in double figures while Maddison Skelton was the only Rangi player to achieve that mark scoring 10 points.

Rangitoto 37 – Skelton 10, Mela Andrews 9, Bella Anderson 7

Westlake 100 – Schroeder 27, Zenthia Stowers 18, Imani Rasmussen 17, Charlotte Mawston 15, Honor Coates 11

Girls Standings at conclusion of regular season:

11-3 Manurewa

9-5 St Kentigern

8-6 Northcote

8-6 Takapuna

——————

7-7 Rangitoto

6-8 MAGS

4-10 Westlake

3-11 Epsom

The Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grade regular season concluded on Friday night, here are the results:

St Kentigern 74 – Hunter Te Ratana 35, Cooper Lepou 12, Charlie Hughes 8, Ari Taylor 6

AGS 111 – Bobby Neels 17, Jackson Kiss 17, Lawson Pryor 15, Ryan Hunt 14, Tom Curteis 9, Sol Anderson 9

St Peter’s 80 – Spencer Carr 19, Bailey Smith 17, Alex Davis 12, Gus Dallow 11, Bryan Marsters 10

Westlake 79 – Noah Rasmussen 27, Daley Pohio 17, Oscar Neville 10, Harper Wilson 7, Nic Bamford 6

Rosmini 97 – C Wyllie 24, Reed 20, Jackowski 19, J Wyllie 12, M Dalton 11

Sacred Heart 58 – Stewart 23, Snowdon 16, Jamie Vile 7

MAGS 78 – Logan Wood 23, Tarquinis Schwalger 14, Charl Hirschfield 11, Josh Beattie 10, Dante Tapula’aia 9

Mt Roskill 70 – Zach Kemen 18, Lincoln Tupa’I Samuel 11, Tino Seuiavatele 11, Ian Bresquar 8, Wai Tonga 7

MAGS 78 – Logan Wood 23, Tarquinis Schwalger 14, Charl Hirschfield 11, Josh Beattie 10, Dante Tapula’aia 9

Mt Roskill 70 – Zach Kemen 18, Lincoln Tupa’I Samuel 11, Tino Seuiavatele 11, Ian Bresquar 8, Wai Tonga 7

Here is the wash-up:

Auckland Grammar School rounded out an almost perfect regular season. Grammar suffered just one defeat – an overtime loss at Westlake and therefore carry top seeding into the play-offs. That begins with a home semi-final against St Kentigern, the team they beat comfortably in a dress rehearsal on Friday.

Also earning a home semi-final berth are Rosmini College as they concluded the regular season with the home win against Sacred Heart. The result means Rosmini finish runners-up so will entertain Westlake next Friday in another North Shore derby.

Westlake Boys High School faltered at the back end of the season losing three of their last four games but have a chance to right the ship when they take on local rivals Rosmini College in what is likely to be a very close semi-final.

Saint Kentigern College must bounce back from their heavy loss to AGS as they face the same opponents in their semi-final. If they are again without Noah Heke and Cooper Te Ratana it will be a big ask.

St Peter’s College enjoyed one of their best results of the season in defeating Westlake but unfortunately for them it wasn’t enough to earn them a play-off berth.

The ended up with the same record (7-7) as Saint Kent’s but lost on countback by a single basket. In their regular season games St Peter’s beat St Kent’s 79-75 (+4) at home but lost 92-86 (-6) on the road – oh so close!

Mt Albert Grammar School guaranteed their 2025 Premiership place with that nervy home win against Roskill on Friday. It’s been a rebuilding year for the 2023 champions and that work will continue at the National Qualifying Tournament next month.

Sacred Heart College (3-11) will focus on preparing for the upcoming National Championship Qualifying Tournament and next year a promotion/relegation tie with the Senior A runners-up after their loss to Rosmini.

Also facing a promotion/relegation game in 2025 will be Mt Roskill Grammar School. They came close to breaking their duck against MAGS but, not for the first time this season, came up just short.

Boys Prems Standings at conclusion of regular season:

13-1 AGS

12-2 Rosmini

10-4 Westlake

7-7 St Kentigern

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7-7 St Peter’s

4-10 MAGS

3-11 Sacred Heart

0-14 Mt Roskill