LACEY LOWDOWN

The Round 8 roundup of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier competition, brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport New Zealand saw wins for Mt Albert Grammar, Auckland Grammar, Rosmini College and a remarkable encounter between Westlake Boys and St Kentigern College.

With time expiring and the scoreboard showing the Westlake lead at 98-94 you could be forgiven thinking a high scoring thriller had finished. In fact, that was the three-quarter time score and another 69 points would be scored in a pulsating final ten minutes – St Kentigern College winning an epic dual 132-129.

It’s a scoreline usually reserved for All-Star games and for much of the contest that is what the game resembled. Questionable defence possibly – but eye catching shot making definitely!

Rocco Chang, Hamza Zahran and Daniel Ottenhoff for the hosts, Merrick Rillstone and Hunter Te Ratana, for the visitors drilled shots from all angles but nothing quite matched the efforts of Dontae Russo-Nance as he racked up a staggering 57 points.

Step-backs, put backs, fadeaways, the St Kent’s guard displayed his full arsenal of scoring options – the most absurd a three-quarter court Hail-Mary on the half-time buzzer that didn’t appear to travel more than 10 feet off the ground until it found the net.

The score at that stage favoured St Kent’s (70-66), little did we know the pace wasn’t to slacken.

Westlake’s ploy to double-team Russo-Nance paid dividends for a while – they regained the initiative to lead 87-78 in the middle of the third and 98-94 at its conclusion.

A Ned Shearer put back followed by a Chang drive gave the home side a 127-119 lead with just over two minutes to play but within a flash Rillstone and Russo-Nance trimmed the margin to two points with 1:13 on the clock.

A heads up play saw Te Ratana tie the scores at 129 apiece with 50 seconds to play.

Westlake failed to score on the next possession enabling Russo-Nance to draw a foul and score the go-ahead points from the foul-line.

Westlake still had 6 seconds to tie or win the game but a botched in-bounds play allowed Rillstone to garner a rebound and convert a following a foul.

A remarkable 261 points scored – Prems basketball’s version of T20 cricket could catch on!!

Westlake 129 – Zahran 35, Chang 31, Ottenhoff 23, Ned Shearer 18, Jonty Strawbridge 13

St Kentigern 132 – Russo-Nance 57, Rillstone 34, Te Ratana 18, Max Johnson 10, Cooper Lepou 8

Kade Cartwright produced a career best 30 points to catapult Mount Albert Grammar to a 66-62 home win against Rangitoto College.

Eight points from Tautoko Wynyard enabled Rangitoto to jump out to a 17-13 lead in the first ten minutes but with MAGS edging a low scoring second by the same margin the scores were tied at 24 points each at half-time.

The scoring picked up after the break – Baxter Riley made 9 third quarter points for Rangi.

However, the MAGS shooters began to find their range – Harri Coker-Grey dropped a triple in a prelude to Cartwright making a trio of treys as the home team edged the third frame 20-16 in a spell that would prove decisive.

Wynyard scored a further ten points in the fourth but another barrage of threes from Cartwright, with assistance from Louis Uri, saw MAGS home.

The result means that MAGS join Rangitoto in fourth spot on the Prems ladder with an identical 4-3 record.

MAGS 66 – Cartwright 30 (7/16 3PG), Coker-Grey 14/7assists, Uri 7, Will Leger 6/8rebs
Rangitoto 62 – T Wynyard 20, Jimmy Kim 10, Riley 9, Michael Ropotini 9, Jed Barlow 6

A customary slow start hindered Sacred Heart College as they fell behind 20-10 at quarter time against Rosmini College.

Zion Anderson, on his way to a season best 20 points, was in double digits by the second quarter. A pair of threes from Tom Beattie, and a single from Charlie Dalton helped the visitors kick on to a 45-29 half-time advantage.

Six straight points from Josh Tengblad, and a pair of scores from Dalton Dennis, highlighted an improved showing from Sacred Heart in the third quarter although they still trailed 63-46 ahead of the fourth after Josh Batty had landed a triple for Rozza.

Beattie an Anderson converted from beyond the arc before the consistent Josh Stewart took his personal haul past 20 as Heart made a small, but not match defining, dent in the Rosmini lead.

Sacred Heart 66 – Stewart 24, Tengblad 13, Dennis 12, Matt Fautuaalii 10

Rosmini 79 – Beattie 24, Anderson 20, Dalton 15, Kane Murphy 9, Jameer Reed 6

Sebastian Alan made a couple of early scores for Liston College before Cody Brown and Josh Muggleston took charge of proceedings for Grammar.

Rasheed Ieremie and Jackson Kiss provided double figure contributions for their respective teams – Mikaere Tait’s brace of threes putting the finishing touches to a solid Grammar victory. 

Liston 37 – Alan 12, Rasheed Ieremie 10, Dhon Lao 6

AGGS 84 – Muggleston 30, Jackson Kiss 17, Cody Brown 8, Mikaere Tait 6

Congratulations to Aucklanders Julius Halaifonua (Rosmini College), Dante Matakatea (Mt Albert Grammar), William Passi (Manurewa High School), Brody Perry (Pukekohe High), George Turner (St Kentigern College), Kalid Petzer and Will Shortt (both Auckland Grammar) 

All are members of the New Zealand U17 Men’s National Team that won a bronze medal at the Asian Champs in Doha. In addition, the team have qualified for the U17 Men’s FIBA World Cup to be played in Spain in July.

Current Standings:

8-0 Rosmini

5-3 Westlake

5-2 AGS

4-3 MAGS, Rangitoto

3-4 St Kentigern

1-7 Sacred Heart

0-8 Liston

*The Rangitoto v AGS and St Kentigern v MAGS fixtures will be played at a later date.

The 7th Round scoring wrap of the Auckland Schools Boy’s Senior A games is brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport NZ.

Game reports service will resume next week.

Dilworth 42 – Damon Kitchen 9, Soane Tavite 8, Tama Schaumkel 8

Aorere 72 Chris Gordon 30, Jovanni Prasad 13, Franklyne Gordon 12, Moroki Tauhara 8

Macleans 74 – Levi Smyth 21, Christian Mutti 19, Oliver 11

Mt Roskill 122 – Mitch Greenaway 37, Daniel Greenaway 19, Josh Wadams 15

Manurewa 70 – Richard Campbell 20, Alex Hughes 20, Brian Tapu 11, Jarel Tuhega  8, Issachar Pati 7

St Peter’s 90 – Scott Errey 21, Dorian Sula 16, Bailey Smith 16, Andrei Manio 15

Avondale College defaulted the game against Northcote College.

Standings:

7-0 St Peter’s

6-1 Northcote

4-3 Avondale, Manurewa

3-4 Mt Roskill, Aorere

1-6 Dilworth

0-7 Macleans

The 7th Round scoring wrap of the Auckland Schools Girl’s Senior A games is brought to you in conjunction with Northern Kāhu.

Game reports service will resume next week.

Takapuna 87 – Bailey Flavell 24, Manaia Watson 20, Amy McKenzie 15, Qaizden Stephano 10

Massey 54 – Allyah Leusogi-Ape 19, Zhoey Tilby-Woods 13, Kortni Waikiki 9, Cyntalia Schuster 8

One Tree Hill 53 – Harriate Heta 20, Milla Eckford 7, Melaia Tuisuva 7, Kizyra Thompson 7

Mt Roskill 44 – Nellie Ioane 18, Bree Ioane 18

Avondale 18 – Shiloh Caffery 5, Napsugar Benfiavi 3

Northcote 119 – DJ Hannah 26, Nikki Gear 18, Lizzie May 15, Lily Morgan 14, Emma Lavemaau 14, Grace Lai 9, Alex Hodgkinson 13

Manurewa 74 – Shirley Tuilimu 24, Beautiful Campbell 19, Sela Uluheua 14

AGGS 43 – Fuschia Traill 8, Ryn Nikoia 8, Faith Hurt 6, Harmony Hurt 5

Standings

7-0 Takapuna

6-1 Northcote

5-2 Manurewa

4-3 Massey

3-4 One Tree Hill

2-5 AGGS

1-6 Mt Roskill

0-7 Avondale

The 7th Round scoring wrap of the Auckland Schools Girls Premier Grade games is brought to you by Northern Kāhu.

Full report service will resume next week.

St Mary’s College 70 – Kodee Williams-Sefo 26, Layla Aholelei 10, Faith Ualika 9, Tamzin Jakeman 8, Christiana Setu 7

Rangitoto College 55 – Tamsin McAsey 20, Nina Nguyen 11, Maddy Skelton 8, Mela Andrew 7

Baradene College 58 – Deyna Topia 22, Ritorya Tamilo 12, Amelia Nathan 6, Summer Faleafa 6

Mt Albert Grammar 39 – Danae Tait 14, Valana Pupuke-Robati 8, Tiger-Lily Coker-Lemalie 8, Sienna-Rose Tawera 7

St Kentigern College 73 – Ashleigh Tuumaialu 21, Maia Bennett 16, Sharmaine Tapling 13, Maia Mealamu 8, Nerisa Vavau 6

Epsom Girls Grammar 62 – Draun Forbes 32, Maia Fowler 14, Talia Vea 5, Te Aroha Kukutai-Wairau 5

Carmel College defaulted the fixture against Westlake Girls.

Best of luck to New Zealand U17 team members Waimanu Clarken (Mt Albert Grammar), Amy Pateman (Westlake) and Ritorya Tamilo (Baradene) who head off to the FIBA Asia Cup this week.

Current Standings:

7-0 Westlake 

6-1 Baradene

5-2 MAGS

4-3 St Kentigern

3-4 Epsom

2-5 St Mary’s

1-6 Rangitoto

0-7 Carmel

The Round 7 results wrap of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier competition is brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport New Zealand.

Full report service will resume next week.

Westlake Boys 95 – Daniel Ottenhoff 37 (6 x 3-pointers), Hamza Zahran 27, Rocco Chang 18, Malachi Book 5

Rosmini College 105 – Tom Beattie 29, Charlie Dalton 21, Kane Murphy 18, Jameer Reed 11, Zion Anderson 10

Sacred Heart College 60 – Josh Stewart 18, Preston Tuaputa 14, Josh Tengblad 7, Matthew Fautuaalii  6

Mt Albert Grammar 64 – Harri Coker-Grey 27, Victor Keil 16, Kade Cartwright 13, Will Leger 8/15rebs

St Kentigern College 92 – Dontae Russo-Nance 45 (5x 3-pointers), Merrick Rillstone 29, Ari Taylor 8, Hunter Te Ratana 5

Auckland Grammar 94 – Josh Muggleston 36 (5 x 3-pointers), Cody Brown 34, Theo Brothers 8, Ryan Hunt 5

Liston College 38 – Dhon Lao 10, Sebastian Alan 9, Rasheed Ieremia 8

Rangitoto College 73 – Joel Brown 25, Tautoko Wynyard 13, Jed Barlow 9, Michael Ropotini 7, Baxter Riley 6

Congratulations to Aucklanders Julius Halaifonua (Rosmini College), Dante Matakatea (Mt Albert Grammar), William Passi (Manurewa High School), Brody Perry (Pukekohe High), George Turner (St Kentigern College), Kalid Petzer and Will Shortt (both Auckland Grammar) 

All are members of the New Zealand U17 Men’s National Team that have qualified for the U17 Men’s FIBA World Cup to be played in Spain in July.

The Kiwis defeated Iran 72-66 v at the quarter-final stage of the FIBA Asian Championship in Doha overnight.

New Zealand joins Australia, Japan and Lebanon as semi-finalists at the Asian Championship and with it passage to the World Cup in Spain next month.

Current Standings:

7-0 Rosmini

5-2 Westlake

4-2 AGS, Rangitoto 

3-3 MAGS

2-4 St Kentigern

1-6 Sacred Heart

0-7 Liston

*The Rangitoto v AGS and St Kentigern v MAGS fixtures will be played at a later date.

The 6th Round review of the Auckland Schools Boys Senior A games, brought to you by Dynamic Sport New Zealand, features wins for Avondale College, Northcote College, St Peter’s College and Aorere College.

It took a career high 45 points from Scott Errey to preserve St Peter’s unbeaten start to the season. With seven minutes remaining Mt Roskill trailed by just five points (68-63), the home team looking to cause an upset.

Through the closing minutes Wai Tonga scored 7 points for Roskill with Dante Halafihi and Zachan Keman chiming in with points but eventually they were undone by Errey’s career night. He made 10 points down the stretch, and with Toby Cox and Ralph Ocfemia saving their best until last, it was St Peter’s that would prevail.

Earlier the first quarter was tied 20 points apiece, Mitch Greenaway, Keman and Kees Mataroria edging the hosts to a narrow 37-36 lead.

St Peter’s had the better of the third, Errey and Dorian Sula dominating, Bailey Smith making a handy three – St Peter’s ahead 60-51 at three-quarter time.

Haisem Osman and Ngawaka Rakete put a dent into the deficit but St Peter’s, and in particular Scott Errey, could not be denied.

Mt Roskill 78 – Greenaway 17, Keman 14, Rakete 11, W Tonga 10, Mataroria 7, Osman 6, Dante Halafihi 6

St Peter’s 90 – Errey 45, Sula 19, Tait Moran 6, Ralph Ocfemia 6, Cox 6

Northcote College remained second on the ladder after an 81-61 home win against Dilworth.

Owen Pattison scored 11 first quarter points for Dilworth but with Shunta Shinzaki scoring their first 7 points it was Northcote ahead 26-16 at the first break.

Northcote continued that momentum during the second – threes from Aaron Sievert helped  but tellingly Cote had seven different scorers in the period to lead 50-26 at half-time.

In and even second half Damon Kitchen, Tamati Schaumkel and Nepia Moore were prominent for Dilworth while Rico McPherson, Tom Bates and Tane Cook were amongst the major contributors for the hosts. 

Northcote 81 – Sievert 17, Shinzaki 15, Rico McPherson 12, Tom Bates 10, Tane Cook 9

Dilworth 61 – Damon Kitchen 16, Tamati Schaumkel 12, Pattison 11 Nepia Moore 11, Finlay Edwards 7

Aorere College, 17-7 ahead at quarter time, and 41-14 up at the interval cruised to a 67-35 home win against Manurewa High School.

Jovanni Prasad, Moroki Tauhara, Franklyne Gordon and Chris Gordon were all in double figures for Aorere. 

In contrast Richard Campbell’s 11 points was the best for Manurewa.

Aorere 67 – Prasad 19, Tauhara 16, F Gordon 13, C Gordon 10, Tanielu Taito 6

Manurewa 35 – Richard Campbell 11, Annum Leng 9, Jarell Tuhega 6

Macleans College won the 3-point shooting contest 11-9 but went down 122-87 in a free scoring encounter with Avondale College.

Avondale got out to 26-16 quarter-time lead, extended that to 55-40 by half-time before going on to win all four quarters. Connor Gleeson made the first of his four 3-pointers in the second period.

Macleans’ Christian Mutti would match the quartet of threes as he posted a team high 20 points.

Jimitose Iosia-Sipeli continually peppered the basket for a game high 42 points, ably supported by Kabir Bhargava (27) and Connor Gleeson (25).

Macleans 87 – Mutti 20, Levi Smyth 15, Jamie Carville 14, Dale Babaran 13, Quinn Hakaraia 8, Declan Puffy 8

Avondale 122 – Iosia-Sipeli 42, Bhargava 27, Gleeson 25, Andrew Murphy 14, Blaze Phillips 8, Tola Omisakin 6

Standings:

6-0St Peter’s

5-1 Northcote

4-2 Avondale, Manurewa

2-4 Mt Roskill, Aorere

1-5 Dilworth

0-6 Macleans

The 6th Round review of the Auckland Schools Girl’s Senior A games, brought to you in conjunction with Northern Kāhu, features wins for Takapuna Grammar, Manurewa High and Auckland Girls Grammar.

In the clash between the top two sides Takapuna Grammar claimed a convincing 83-47 victory at Northcote College. Guard Bailey Flavell and power forward Qaizden Stephano were the architects of the win scoring 29 and 18 points respectively.

Misha Aitchison made an early three for the hosts but Flavell and Manaia Watson converted from deep as Takapuna raced to a 19-10 lead.

It was much tighter in the middle periods. 

Lily Morgan scored 6 points for Cote in the second, Amy McKenzie with 7 for Takapuna as they took a 34-23 lead into half-time.

DJ Hannah made 8 straight in the third but Flavell matched that to keep her team in the ascendancy (53-37) at the three-quarter mark.

Any thoughts of a fourth quarter comeback from the home side, in front of a good Monday night crowd, were extinguished by Q’s work in the paint and Flavell’s speed in transition – Takapuna completing the win in style.

Northcote 47 – Morgan 17, Hannah 15, Lizzie May 8, Aitchison 5

Takapuna 83 – Flavell 29, Stephano 18, McKenzie 16, Watson 13

A game high 23 points from Sela Uluheua, her sixth straight game of 20-points or more, enabled Manurewa High School to claim a valuable 61-55 win against Massey High.

Alyssa Uluheua and Waimihi Hetaraka-Brown landed early threes for Manurewa but Massey took a 16-11 lead into the first break.

Zhoey Tilby-Woods and Tahlya Waikiki converted from long range in the second as Massey maintained their advantage at half-time, albeit a slender 33-31.

Scoring slowed in the third, a Mykah Togiatu basket putting Manurewa ahead 45-44 at the last break.

Kortni Waikiki scored 7 final quarter points for Massey but momentum was with Manurewa. Sela Uluheua nailed 8 points in the fourth to keep Manurewa ahead – Shirley Tuilimu sealing the deal with the final two scores.

The victory means Manurewa move up to third spot on the Senior A ladder with the same 4-2 record as Massey.

Massey 55 – K Waikiki 19, T Waikiki 19, Tilby-Woods 7, Cyntalia Schuster 6

Manurewa 61 – A Uluheua 23, Tuilimu 15, Lavinia Liufau 6, Bella Manu-Moore 6

Nellie Ioane, on her way to a game high 20 points, scored all of Mount Roskill’s opening quarter points as they fell behind 19-9 against Auckland Girls Grammar.

Adra Kaufusi made a couple of scores for Mt Roskill in the second but a balanced scoring effort from Grammar, with Faith Hurt leading the way, meant they had a 31-19 half-time lead.

Teniqua Oldenamsen made threes either side of the half-time break but Tatyana Ioelu also landed a couple from the land of plenty – AGGS drawing away in the second half with Ryn Nikoia and Harmony Hurt also reaching double figures.

Mt Roskill 34 – Nellie Ioane 20, Kaufusi 6, Oldenamsen 6

AGGS 69 – F Hurt 19, Nikoia 11, H Hurt 11, Fuschia Traill 8, Tatyana Ioelu 8

One Tree Hill beat Avondale College by default.

Standings:

6-0 Takapuna

5-1 Northcote

4-2 Massey, Manurewa

2-4 AGGS, One Tree Hill

1-5 Mt Roskill

0-6 Avondale

The 6th Round review of the Auckland Schools Girls Premier Grade games, brought to you by Northern Kāhu, features wins for St Kentigern College, Mt Albert Grammar, Epsom Girls Grammar and Westlake Girls High.

Some of the expectancy evaporated from the top of the table clash between Westlake Girls High and Baradene College when it was found that New Zealand U17 representative Ritorya Tamilo wasn’t available for the visitors.

That expectancy dissolved further when Westlake posted the first 10 points of the game inside two minutes.

Baradene scored the next six but were 28-14 down after 10 minutes with the opposition’s extended defence causing them issues – Holly Williams the biggest irritant for the visitors.

Deyna Topia and Summer Faleafa steadied the Baradene ship for a while but Mackenzie Chatfield and Izzy Pugh were in double figures by half-time with Westlake’s lead a healthy 52-32.

Topia enjoyed a stellar third quarter, making three triples on her way to 16 points in the period, but treys from Chatfield and Jaelah Clayton helped Lake move out to 77-50 with ten minutes to play.

Tamilo’s, NZ U17 teammate Amy Pateman warmed up for the trip to Jordan with a quiet 14 points – Westlake now with six straight wins.

Westlake 104 – Chatfield 28, Pugh 17, Pateman 14, Clayton 12, Williams 11, Rebecca Moors 10, Sarah Moors 6

Baradene 62 – Topia 22, Faleafa 18, Harriet Burrell 10, Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs 6

On her way to a game high 27 points Ashleigh Tuumaialu racked up 24 of them in the first half as St Kentigern College claimed a road win at Rangitoto College 81-41.

Zaara Sain made an early three for Rangitoto but pickings were small for the hosts as they fell behind 55-18 by half-time.

Aroha Riley and Tamsin McAsey, coming off a player of the game performance on Friday at Carmel, gave St Kent’s a few troubles but double digit efforts from Anamia Rangihaeata and Sharmaine Tapling pathed the way for a third win of the season for the Saints. 

Rangitoto 41 – Riley 12, Tamsin McAsey 9, Sain 8, Alicia Carr 6

St Kentigern 81 – Ashleigh Tuumaialu 27, Anamia Rangihaeata 14, Sharmaine Tapling 12, Nerisa Vavau 8, Manawa Rogers 6

18 points apiece from Danae Tait and Sienna-Rose Tawera propelled Mount Albert Grammar to a comfortable 74-42 win against St Mary’s College.

Kodee Williams-Sefo scored 6 points in the opening quarter but St Mary’s trailed 17-12 after ten minutes.

It was Tawera’s turn to score half a dozen in the second, the hosts ahead 38—22 at half-time.

MAGS pulled further away in the second half with Tiger-Lily Coker-Lemalie and Shekinah Kuresa contributing double figures for MAGS – Trinity Atiga doing the same for St Mary’s.

MAGS 74 – Tait 18,  Tawera 18, Coker-Lemalie 10, Kuresa 10, Pupuke-Robati 8,

St Mary’s 42 – Williams-Sefo 18, Atiga 12, Leyla Aholelei 7

A captains knock of 24 points from Jemma Cammell wasn’t quite enough to get Carmel College the win against Epsom Girls Grammar – Draun Forbes and Maya Fowler getting the job done as EGGS claimed a 69-61 road win. 

Cammell made 9 points in the opening frame edged 19-18 by the hosts. 

Despite 6 points from Hannah Bellett, Epsom took the second to edge ahead 34-32 at half-time – triples from both Forbes and Fowler aiding the effort.

Epsom made a decisive run after the interval – contributions from Mihinoa Tanghaere and Andrea Ape-Paia helping them to a 58-48 three-quarter time lead.

Cammell and Ruby Railton produced scores in the fourth but it wasn’t enough to seriously dent the Epsom advantage. 

Carmel 61 – Cammell 24, Railton 11, Bellett 11, Imogen O’Rourke 6, Zoe Tibbotts 6

Epsom 69 – Fowler 25, Forbes 19, Mihinoa Tanghaere 10, Andrea Ape-Paia 9

Current Standings:

6-0 Westlake 

5-1 MAGS, Baradene

3-3 St Kentigern, Epsom

1-5 St Mary’s, Rangitoto

0-6 Carmel

Round 6 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier competition, brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport New Zealand, produced wins for Mt Albert Grammar, Rangitoto College, Rosmini College and Westlake Boys High.

The closest game of the round was played at Carmel College where Rosmini College went toe-to-toe and point-for-point with Auckland Grammar before edging home 71-68 with the contest only decided on the last possession. 

Grammar made the better start, 9 points from Josh Muggleston giving them a 17-9 start.

Rosmini trimmed the deficit slightly in the second but were still adrift at half-time – behind 35-29.

A pair of threes from Kane Murphy and buckets from Charlie Dalton were instrumental in Rosmini taking the lead with a 14-6 run but a three from Jackson Kiss and another from Muggleston, in the shadows of the break, meant the scores were tied 51 apiece at three-quarter time.

From there it was a dog fight with neither side able to gain the ascendancy – the scores were still tied with six minutes to play and remained knotted with 2:50 on the clock after Muggleston cancelled out a Dalton score.

Dalton earned a visit to the free throw line – his one from two gave the hosts the lead but livewire guard Cody Brown put Grammar ahead (68-67) with 90 seconds remaining.

Tom Beattie’s And-1 play was timely for Rosmini, ahead 70-68 with 23 seconds to play.

AGS couldn’t score from the ensuing play with Dalton able to add a free throw to further advance the margin. 

With 13 seconds remaining on the clock Grammar were able to advance the ball with their final timeout but the final shot of the game was off the mark – Rosmini the winners by three points.

Rosmini 71 – Dalton 31, Beattie 17, Murphy 9, Jameer Reed 6

AGGS 68 – Muggleston 26, Brown 20, Blake Manning 8, Jackson Kiss 8

A double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds from Jacob Fotu, plus 26 points from Kaia Kemp, propelled Rangitoto College to an 86-66 home win against St Kentigern College. Playing against his former school Dontae Russo-Nance scored a game high 29 points for St Kent’s.

Saint Kent’s had marginally the better of the opening spell claiming it 19-18 but were outscored in the three subsequent periods.

Jimmy Kim nailed a couple of threes in the second period to cancel out the pair from Hunter Te Ratana as Rangi took a 43-35 half-time lead.

Russo-Nance claimed 8 third quarter points, Fotu matched that and with Joel Brown nailing a three just before the last break Rangi were well clear at 66-50.

The two number 8’s Kemp and Merrick Rillstone shared the scoring limelight in the final period but it was Rangi that eased to win number three. 

Rangitoto 86 – Kemp 26, Fotu 21, Michael Ropotini 16, Kim 9 (3/6 3PG), Brown 7

St Kentigern 66 – Russo-Nance 29, Te Ratana 17, Rillstone 16

Kade Cartwright knocked down 4 from 8 three-pointers on his way to a game high 22 points as Mount Albert Grammar School won their home tie with Liston College 91-43.

Harry Coker-Grey and Victor Keil were the first to land from deep as MAGS forged a 24-12 lead.

The Liston scoring limped along in the middle stages although Rasheed Ieremia made a double figure contribution for the visitors.

MAGS had a 45-19 lead at half-time and, with Cartwright blitzing 17 points in the third, they wereout of sight with ten minutes to play – ahead 73-28.

MAGS 91 – Cartwright 22 (4/8 3PG), Coker-Grey 15, Will Leger 10, Keil 10, Ben Skelton 7/11rebs

Liston 43 – Ieremia 10, Duncan Alexander 7, Kelvin Mensah 6

Westlake Boys High, with Daniel Ottenhoff, Rocco Chang and Hamza Zahran all enjoying 20-point games, led from the outset against Sacred Heart College and went on to register a 110-84 victory

It has been a common theme in the early part of the season for Sacred Heart to get off to a slow start – once again they found themselves down a dozen points in the first quarter (27-15) despite a couple of threes from the Josh Stewart.

Adding to their woes Heart also lost Adam Davies to a shoulder injury part way through the period to some unfortunate friendly fire – he’d compiled 9 quick points early in the game.

Heart achieved a degree of parity in the middle quarters as the likes of Preston Tuaputa, Cass Reynolds and Josh Tengblad found ways to the hoop.

Seven different Westlake players made triples – Max Riechelmann and Chang two each.

Ahead 79-62 at three-quarter time Ned Shearer and Ottenhoff put the result to bed with eight points apiece in the closing period.

Westlake 110 – Chang 26, Ottenhoff 21, Zahran 20, Shearer 10, Riechelmann 8, Andre Bautista 7, Tai Rhodes 7

Sacred Heart 84 – Stewart 23, Tuaputa 16 Davies 9, Reynolds 9, Tengblad 8, Matt Fautuaalii 7, 

Current Standings:

6-0 Rosmini

5-1 Westlake

3-2 AGS, St Kentigern

2-3 Rangitoto, MAGS

1-5 Sacred Heart

0-6 Liston

*The Rangitoto v AGS and St Kentigern v MAGS fixtures will be played later in June.

The 5^th Round review of the Auckland Schools Girl’s Senior A games, brought to you in conjunction with Northern Kāhu, features wins for Massey High, Northcote College, One Tree Hill College and Takapuna Grammar.

Free scoring Angelica Vahai posted the highest score in Girl’s Senior A basketball this season to take One Tree Hill College to a come from behind 68-62 victory against Auckland Girls Grammar.

Vahai finished with 42 points making a dozen in the critical fourth quarter after AGGS had held a 55-50 lead at three-quarter time. Milla Eckford, Jesse-Lee Upu and Harriate Heta also made important contributions as the hosts were outscored 18-7 in the final ten minutes.

OTH made a fast start forging a 22-15 first quarter lead before Grammar dominated through the middle stages. 

Ryn Nikoia, Faith Hurt, Harmony Hurt and Fuschia Traill all made double figure scores for Grammar but even a fourth quarter three from Tatyana Ioelu, her second of the game, wasn’t enough to hold off the fast finishing OTH.

AGGS 62 – R Nikoia 17, Hurt 15, Hurt 12, Traill 10, Tatyana Ioelu 6

One Tree Hill 68 – Vahaui 42, Eckford 10, Upu 6, Heta 6

In another close encounter Northcote College grabbed a 71-60 victory at Manurewa High School. 

Manurewa made the stronger start forging a 13-8 lead which was cut to one point (27-26) in a low scoring first half. 

The tempo increased in the third period.  Sela Uluheua, on her way to a game high 26 points, and Beautiful Campbell scored all but two of Manurewa’s points in the quarter – Northcote kept pace with the hosts through D J Hannah and Grace Lai. The point guard’s triple meant the Manurewa advantage was just two points at three-quarter time (48-46).

Northcote went on to boss the final frame taking it 25-12 with Lizzie May scoring a dozen and Lily Morgan 7 points in a dominating spell from the visitors. Bella Manu-Moore added to her more than useful tally but it was Captain Gear and Northcote that got the W – their fifth straight.

Manurewa 60 – S Uluheua 26, Manu-Moore 13, Campbell 10

Northcote 71 – May 17, Nikki Gear 15, Morgan 14, Hannah 12, Lai 7

A game high 29 points from Tahlya Waikiki propelled Massey High to a 66-48 win at Mount Roskill Grammar.

Bree Ioane knocked down an early three for Roskill but 6 points from Zhoey Tilby-Woods got Massey off to a 12-8 start.

More points from Bree Ioane and a triple from Teniqua Oldenamsen helped the Roskill cause before a three, late in the half, from Tahlya Waikiki ensured Massey would lead at the break – ahead 26-22.

Massey made their move in the third – the Waikiki sisters Kortni and Tahlya peppering the Roskill defence for a combined 15 points to open up a 47-34 lead.

Adra Kaufusi, Ioane and Oldenamsen knocked down threes for the hosts but Massey were untroubled as they wrapped up a fourth straight win.

Mt Roskill 48 – B Ioane 18, Kaufusi 11, Oldenamsen 6, Havana Iaea 6

Massey 66 – T Waikiki 29, K Waikiki 14, Tilby-Woods 11, Cyntalia Schuster 8

20-point hauls by Bailey Flavell and Manaia Watson were the features of Takapuna Grammar’s 108-24 victory over Avondale College.

Shoutout to Shilo Caffery who scored 16 points for Avondale.

Avondale 24 – Caffery 16, Maria Aoyagi 3

Takapuna 108 – Flavell 26, Watson 20, Mariah Parker 16, Carmen Selby 14, Emily McNamara 10, Anna Dyachenko 8

Standings:

5-0 Takapuna, Northcote

4-1 Massey

3-2 Manurewa

1-4 AGGS, Mt Roskill, One Tree Hill

0-5 Avondale