LACEY LOWDOWN

The fifth round review of the Auckland Schools Boys Senior A games, brought to you by Dynamic Sport New Zealand, features one-point wins by Mount Roskill Grammar and Northcote College – Aaron Sievert making ten threes for Northcote! There were also wins for St Peter’s College and Avondale College.

Northcote College won a thriller at Manurewa High School, pipping the hosts 80-79 with Aaron Sievert again putting on an eye-catching, probably record breaking, shooting display.

In the opening round of the season the Northcote guard made eight 3-pointers only to improve that mark to TEN in this game – I doubt that number of threes have been made before in Auckland Senior A or Prems basketball.

A shout-out also to Manurewa’s skipper Ryan Ancha who also made the three-point arc his friend knocking down six triples!

Perhaps affected by William Passi’s absence on New Zealand U17 duty, Manurewa made a slow start to the game and by the end of the first quarter they were down 16 points.  

A vastly improved second quarter saw them score 30 points to Northcote’s 10 which gave Manurewa a 42-38 lead at the end of the half. Sievert was going well but so too were Ancha, Richard Campbell and Jarell Tuhega for the hosts – Ancha had five threes to Sievert’s four at that stage!

Tzion Manoa joined in the three-point party for Northcote and by the end of the third quarter only one possession was separating the two teams – 61-59 to Northcote.  

Campbell scored 7 fourth quarter points but more long range artillery from Sievert and Tane Cook got Northcote the W, but only just.

Manurewa 79 – Campbell 20, Tuhega 19, Ancha 18, Alex Hughes 8, Maaveave Taimalelagi 8

Northcote 80 – Sievert 40, Tane Cook 13, Shunta Shinzaki 12, Manoa 7

In an equally exciting contest Mount Roskill Grammar’s Ryan Aramoana coolly sank a go-ahead free throw inside the last 30 seconds to propel his team to a 60-59 victory against Aorere College. 

Earlier, led by Chris and Franklyne Gordon, Aorere powered to a 24-13 first quarter lead. Mitchell Greenaway scored a dozen second quarter points as Roskill had the better of the second period – Aorere ahead 40-35 at half-time.

After a high scoring second period the third stanza was pedestrian in comparison with Roskill edging it 11-9 to close within three (49-46) headed to the final quarter.

K Witana added to the good work of the Gordon’s but Haisem Osman came up with a couple of useful baskets either side of an Aramoana triple ahead of that game winning freebie and a second win of the season for Roskill.

Mt Roskill 60 – Greenaway 18, Osman 14, Aramoana 6, Alfred Kerr 5, Zachan Keman 5

Aorere 59 – F Gordon 23, C Gordon 20, J Tuafao 6, Moroki Tauhara 4

It’s not often that you concede a 20-point lead in the opening quarter and go on to win a game of basketball. And that’s what transpired at Avondale College as the hosts put 29 points on Dilworth who could respond with just 9 in the opening period, Dilworth eventually going down 78-67.

Connor Gleeson led the way for Avondale making 6 triples as he amassed 27 points. Gleeson made a couple of his threes in that opening frenzy – Jimi Iosia-Sipeli and Kabir Bhargava also landing triples in that spell.

Ivan Kerr and Finlay Edwards scored six points apiece for Dilworth in the second but they still had a lot of work to do at half-time as Avondale had doubled their 24 points.

Andrew Murphy joined in the Avondale three-party after the break – they made 12 in the game – but Dilworth enjoyed much the better of the third frame as the Kerr-Edwards duo combined for 15 points to whittle the deficit down to 10 points (58-48) at three-quarter time. 

Soane Tavite made a couple of treys for Dilworth in the fourth but timely scores from Tola Omisakin ensured Avondale claimed the spoils and cement their place in the top four.

Avondale 78 – Gleeson 27, Bhargava 18, Iosia-Sipeli 16, Omisakin 7, Murphy 7

Dilworth 67 – Kerr 19, Edwards 16, Owen Pattison 11, Tavite 6, Tamati Schaumkel 5

A balanced scoring effort saw St Peter’s College maintain its unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 108-54 home win against Macleans College.

Twelve first quarter points from Toby Cox helped St Peter’s to a 27-11 advantage, with threes from Cox, Matt Thompson and Cobain David extending the lead to 53-18 at half-time.

14 points apiece from Jamie Carville and Levi Smyth plus 10 from Christian Mutti kept the Macleans score ticking over but not at the pace St Peter’s were travelling, especially Vinnie Morris who dropped three second half triples.

St Peter’s now five straight wins to head the Senior A ladder.

St Peter’s 108 – Cox 21, Morris 19, Andrei Manio 13, Bailey Smith 12, Thompson 10, Ralph Ocfemia 8

Macleans 54 – Carville 14, Smyth 14, Mutti 10, Declan Puffy 6

Standings:

5-0 St Peter’s

4-1 Northcote, Manurewa

3-2 Avondale

2-3 Mt Roskill

1-4 Dilworth, Aorere

0-5 Macleans

The fifth round review of the Auckland Schools Girls Premier Grade games, brought to you by Northern Kāhu, features wins for Baradene College, Mt Albert Grammar School, Rangitoto College and Westlake Girls.

It took overtime but eventually Rangitoto College prevailed against Carmel College winning by the narrowest of margins 77-76.

Consecutive baskets from Lily Farman had given Carmel a 15-point lead (55-40) early in the fourth quarter but serious foul trouble and an unfortunate injury to the impressive Farman opened the door for a Rangitoto comeback.

Ruby Railton kept Carmel in the ascendancy but Tamsin McAsey and Aroha Riley pecked away at the deficit. Inside the final 30 seconds a McAsey steal led to a Riley layup to give Rangi a 64-63 lead – Carmel skipper Jemma Cammell made one from two from the foul-line with just two seconds on the clock and overtime ensued.

Cammell gave Carmel a 4-point buffer but when she became the fourth home player to foul out the scales tipped the way of the visitors.

Still Carmel found life via a Tara Hodson bucket and when Railton landed a triple – Carmel ahead 76-75 with 1:12 to play.

However it was player of the game McAsey that had the final say – her game winner, amongst 7 overtime points, the difference in an excellent contest.

Carmel 76 – Cammell 18, Farman 16, Railton 16, Imogen O’Rourke 7, Hannah Bellett 7

Rangitoto 77 – Riley 29, McAsey 28, Alicia Carr 6, Maddie Skelton 6

Mt Albert Grammar defeated Saint Kentigern College 69-65 with the closeness of the contest also reflected in the performances of the games two outstanding players – opposing #4’s Ashleigh Tuumaialu scored 29 points for St Kent’s and Danae Tait 27 points for MAGS.

Tuumaialu scored 9 points in the opening quarter but half a dozen from Tiger-Lily Coker-Lemalie propelled MAGS to a narrow 17-16 lead.

There was still a single point difference at the interval but in favour of the hosts (36-35). A couple of threes from Nerisa Vavau helped the St Kent’s cause – Valana Pupuke-Robati and Tait keeping MAGS in the hunt.

A couple of baskets from Madison Sanele and further accumulation from Tuumaialu was cancelled out by Shekinah Kuresa and Te Arini Roberts – MAGS ahead 56-53 at the last break.

Once again the two  number 4’s were in the thick of the action in the deciding quarter – Tuumaialu scored 8 points but Tait shaded it, as did her team, with 10 points.

The return contest next term promises to be equally close and entertaining.

Saint Kentigern 65 – Tuumaialu 29, Sharmaine Tapling 12, Vavau 8, Maia Mealamu 6

MAGS 69 – Tait 27, Pupuke-Robati 12, Coker-Lemalie 11, Kuresa 8, Roberts 7

With five players scoring in double figures Baradene College cruised to a 79-30 win against St Mary’s College and remain undefeated ahead of a top of the table clash with Westlake Girls High on Monday.

Ritorya Tamilo continued her good form with 19 points, ably supported by Harriet Burrell, Deyna Topia, Summer Faleafa and Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs.

For St Mary’s Kodee Williams-Sefo scored 10 points and Layla Aholelei tallied 9.

Baradene 79 – Tamilo 19, Burrell 16, Cavanagh-Briggs 10, Topia 10, Faleafa 10

St Mary’s 30 – Williams-Sefo 10, Aholelei 9, Trinity Atiga 5

Ahead of a sterner test against Baradene College on Monday, Westlake Girls cruised to a 114-29 win at Epsom Girls Grammar.

Mackenzie Chatfield scored 31 points for the second time this season, the Moors sisters Rebecca and Sarah combined for 36 points, while Holly Williams, Zoe Richardson and Emma Schroeder were also in double figures.

Maia Fowler was the best for Epsom with 9 points.

Epsom 29 – Fowler 9, Ivy Tino 6, Mihinoa Tanghaere 5

Westlake 114 – Chatfield, 31, R Moors 22, S Moors 14, Z Richardson 11, Williams 10, Schroeder 10

Current Standings:

5-0 Westlake, Baradene 

4-1 MAGS

2-3 St Kentigern, Epsom

1-4 St Mary’s, Rangitoto

0-5 Carmel

Round 5 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier competition, brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport New Zealand, produced wins for Auckland Grammar, Sacred Heart College and Rosmini College. The Saint Kentigern College v Mt Albert Grammar game was postponed to a later date.

In the battle between the two winless teams Sacred Heart College were able to hold off Liston College to record a first win of the season (86-74).

Sacred Heart got off to a strong start behind the scoring of Joshua Stewart, Adam Davies and Matthew Fautuaalii, ending the first spell 32-16 ahead. Heart continued to build on their lead in the second finishing the half  54-30 ahead and appearing to be cruising to victory.

However Liston, with Manu Tuaere, Deon Helu and Rasheed Ieremia leading the charge, had other ideas. The  trio scored all but three of Liston’s third quarter points as the deficit was reduced to 70-51.

Liston still had unfinished business, a late charge trimming the Heart lead to just 6 points. However, Joshua Tengblad made critical plays at both ends of the court to enable Heart coach Mike Robinson and his charges to celebrate a deserved first Prems win. 

Sacred Heart 86 – Stewart 24, Davies 14, Fautuaalii 13, Tengblad 10, Preston Tuaputa 7, Dalton Dennis 6

Liston 74 – Tuaere 20, Ieremia 17, Marvellous Michael 10, Landon Smith 9, Dhon Lao 7, Deon Helu 6

Down 13 points with seven minutes to play Auckland Grammar produced a blistering 29-9 finish to beat Westlake Boys 81-74 on their home court.

Josh Muggleston, headed to a game high 28 points, Cody Brown and Blake Manning were each major contributors as the hosts dominated the closing minutes in a topsy-turvy encounter.

AGS took the opening 10 minutes, Muggleston’s late three giving them a 25-19 advantage.

That preceded a dominant second spell from Westlake – Hamza Zahran’s 8 points propelling the visitors to a 39-36 half-time lead.

That lead was extended further in the third as Daniel Ottenhoff, Rocco Chang and Zahran went to work – Lake up 57-50 with ten minutes to play. 

Malachi Book pushed the lead out into double figures early in the fourth but from there it was all Grammar. 

AGS 81 – Muggleston 28, Brown 21, Manning 15, Jackson Kiss 7, Theo Brothers 6
Westlake 74 – Chang 20, Zahran 19, Ottenhoff 13, Ned Shearer 7, Book 6

The closest game of the night was at Rosmini College where in an attritional defensive battle the hosts defended their home court to edge Rangitoto College 62-59.

The contest went down to the last possession of the game. Sideline possession, with 5 seconds left on the clock, Rangitoto were unable to get off a clean shot enabling Rosmini to secure the rebound and record a fifth straight win.

A low scoring opening ten minutes was edged 14-12 by Rangitoto – Kaia Kemp with 8 of those.

The outstanding Charlie Dalton, on his way to a game high 25 points, had 14 points by the interval but Kemp was also in double figures and Ropotini very close – Rangi ahead 31-26 at the main break.

Kane Murphy landed triples either side of half-time and when he nailed another late in the third Rosmini had its first lead of the game. Kemp ensured that was short lived – Rangi 46-45 to the good at three-quarter time.

There were six lead changes in the first five minutes of the final period, a corner three from Arnold Nam prompting a Rosmini timeout with Rangi 58-54 ahead.

Murphy connected with his fourth triple on the resumption and with Zion Anderson scoring inside on consecutive possessions Rosmini were three ahead inside the final two minutes. Jacob Fotu earned a trip to the foul line but Rangi were held to just a single point in the final four minutes as they slipped to a second consecutive three-point defeat.

Rosmini 62 – Dalton 25, Murphy 14, Zion Anderson 8, Noah Johns 7

Rangitoto 59 – Kemp 16, Ropotini 14, Nan 7, Jacob Fotu 6

The New Zealand U17 Men’s National Team are playing at the FIBA Asia Cup in Doha, Qatar this week. The 13-team Tournament, postponed from 2021 due to Covid, doubles as a Qualifying Tournament for the U17 Men’s FIBA World Cup to be played in Spain in July – the top four teams in Doha will qualify for the Word Cup.

There is strong Auckland representation playing for New Zealand with

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) donning the black singlet.

The boys play their first game on Sunday June 12 (8.15pm NZT) against Kazakhstan. Live streaming and stats will be available on this link:

https://www.fiba.basketball/asia/u16/2022

Current Standings:

5-0 Rosmini

4-1 Westlake

3-1 AGS 

2-2 Rangitoto

2-1 St Kentigern, MAGS

1-4 Sacred Heart

0-5 Liston

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

On the back of standout performances from Draun Forbes (27 points) and Maya Fowler (25 points) Epsom Girls Grammar School recorded a 69-34 away win at Rangitoto College.

Originally scheduled for Round 3 Epsom led the contest from the start, 6 early points from Forbes propelling them to 15-5 start. 

Maya Fowler knocked down a couple of threes in the second period and when Forbes drained one from deep Epsom were out to a commanding 37-12 half-time lead.

A couple of scores from Casey Devonshire threes from Zaara Sain – all of her four triples made in the second half – got the Rangi scoring moving.

However, Andrea Ape-Paia and Talia Vea were able to add to the efforts of Forbes and Fowler as Epsom eased to a second win of the season.

Next up for Epsom is a matchup with Westlake Girls on Friday June 10. Rangitoto will take on Carmel College on the same evening – both teams looking for its first win.

Rangitoto 34 – Sain 12, Devonshire 7, Tamsin McAsey 4, Kaitlan Hartley 4

Epsom 69 – Forbes 27, Fowler 25, Ape-Paia 8, Vea 6

Standings:

4-0 Westlake, Baradene 

3-1 MAGS

2-2 St Kentigern, Epsom

1-3 St Mary’s

0-4 Carmel, Rangitoto

Westlake Boys High maintained an unbeaten start to their Prems season with a keenly fought 78-71 road win at Mount Albert Grammar School on Monday night. Hamza Zahran’s game high 21 points paced the Westlake effort with Rocco Chang (18 points) and Daniel Ottenhoff (14 points) providing valuable support.

Originally scheduled for Round 3 the re-arranged contest was decided either side of three-quarter time.

Westlake closed out the third period with a 10-2 run to lead 60-57 at the last break. With Luke Don landing consecutive triples they then opened the final 10 minutes with a 12-3 run, to lead by 12 (72-60), a lead that proved too difficult to overcome for the hosts.

Will Leger, and the Dante’s – Matakatea and Tapula’ala – did make some inroads narrowing the deficit to 7 points late in the fourth – Rocco Chang and Daniel Ottenhoff ensured it got no closer.

The two teams had gone toe for toe in the first twenty-five minutes, neither side able to wrestle the advantage. Victor Keil and Kade Cartwright went back-to-back-to-back with triples to end the first half but 15 first half points from Zahran endured Westlake held a narrow 37-35 interval lead.

Consecutive scores from Harri Coker-Gray were cancelled out by a pair of long threes from Chang. Coker-Gray also produced the loudest cheers of the night, from the large home crowd, for an athletic defensive block. However, Mikal Maiquez quietened the local support with a triple and that decisive Lake run was underway.

Dante Matakatea, ahead of his trip to Doha with the New Zealand U17 National team, tallied a nice stat line of 13 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block. NZ open their Asia Cup campaign against Kazakhstan on Sunday June 12. Go well Dante!

MAGS 71 – Keil 16, Coker-Grey 15, Cartwright 13, Matakatea 13/10rebs/, Leger 8/16rebs 

Westlake 78 – Zahran 21, Chang 18, Ottenhoff 14, Don 7. Maiquez 5

Standings after 4 Rounds:

4-0 Rosmini, Westlake

2-1AGS, Rangitoto 

2-2 St Kentigern, MAGS

0-4 Liston, Sacred Heart

*The Rangitoto v AGS game will be played later in June.

The fourth round review of the Auckland Schools Boys Senior A games, brought to you by Dynamic Sport New Zealand, features wins for Manurewa High School and the colleges of St Peter’s, Northcote and Aorere.

A game high 35 points from Aaron Sievert propelled Northcote College to a 77-59 home win against Mount Roskill Grammar School. The sharp shooting guard had 16 points in the opening half as the hosts established a 31-18 advantage.

Alfred Kerr sparked a scoring surge from Roskill and with Mitchell Greenaway and Ngawaka Rakete chipping in with useful points the visitors edged the third period, although they still trailed 50-38.

Sievert’s sixth triple on the night and points from Ethan Ring and Tom Bates snuffed out the possibility of a Roskill comeback, Northcote moving to 3-1 on the season.

Sievert has now amassed an impressive 139 points in the opening four games of the season.

Northcote 77 – Sievert 35, Tom Bates 14, Tane Cook 6, Ethan Ring 6, Marley Rennie 6

Mt Roskill 59 –Greenaway 19, Rakete 10, Kerr 6, Ryan Aramoana 5, Kees Mataroria 5

In the game of the round Macleans College almost pulled off the comeback win of the season against Aorere College. Down 12 points in the middle of the final period they rattled off a bunch of threes to take the lead with 60 seconds to play.

Aorere somehow wrestled back the initiative with Franklyne Gordon tying the game before brother Christopher Gordon made the buzzer beating winner!

The Gordon brothers scored a remarkable 69 points between them to take Aorere to a first win of the season.

The other intriguing stat is that Macleans made 16 threes in the game, six of those during that fourth quarter revival. Declan Puffy made the last of them, plus the go ahead two, only to see his efforts cancelled out by Chris Gordon.

Jamie Carville scored a team high 18 points for Macleans, one of six different players to land at least one triple for the hosts. Levi Smyth and Puffy were the other players in double figures.

Macleans 81 – Carville 18, Smyth 16, Puffy 12, Teegan La Grange 9, Christian Mutti 8

Aorere 83 – F Gordon 37, C Gordon 32, Eletise Eletise 5, Moroki Tauhara 4

Manurewa came out firing and by the end of the first quarter had a 13-point lead while holding Dilworth to a single figures (22-9).  Ryan Ancha and Jarell Tuheg both nailed triples in the opening period.

Damon Kitchen was in double figures by half-time but Macleans trailed 50-24 at that stage. Alex Hughes led all scorers at the break with 14 points.

Buoyed by the support of the home crowd Dilworth surged back into contention in the third as they reduced the Manurewa advantage to 12 at the end of the period (66-54). Owen Pattison led the comeback with 18 of his game high 28 coming in that quarter.

Manurewa were able to find another gear in the fourth – William Passi, soon headed to Doha with the New Zealand U17 National team for the Asia Cup, moved his tally to 25 points while Annun Leng  provided the finishing touches to the win with a pair of late threes.

Dilworth 65 –Pattison 28, Kitchen 16, Ivan Kerr 8

Manurewa 91 – Passi 25, Hughes 24. Ancha 16, Richard Campbell 15

Nine points in the opening quarter from Jimitose Iosia-Sipeli helped Avondale College to a 25-15 lead at St Peter’s College.

Skipper Scott Errey scored 8 points in the second for the hosts but scores from Blaze Phillips and Kabir Bahgrave kept Avondale in the ascendancy – ahead 37-33 at half-time.

St Peter’s made their move in the third quarter piling on 28 points with Errey, on his way to a game high 32 points, Andrei Manio and Dorian Sula dominating the scoring.

Trailing 61-52 at the three-quarter mark Connor Gleeson and Andrew Murphy did their best to wrestle the initiative from the hosts but more points from Errey and late contributions from Christian Donne and Cobain David carried the Saints to a fourth straight win.

St Peter’s 94 – Errey 32, Manio 13, Sula 11, Bailey Smith 10, Toby Cox 9

Avondale 73 – Iosia-Sipeli 15, Gleeson 12, Nathan Tivoli 11, Andrew Murphy 11, Phillips 6

Standings:

4-0 St Peter’s, Manurewa

3-1 Northcote

2-2 Avondale

1-3 Dilworth, Mt Roskill, Aorere

0-4 Macleans

The 4^th Round review of the Auckland Schools Girl’s Senior A games, brought to you in conjunction with Northern Kāhu, features wins for Northcote College, Takapuna GS, Massey High and Auckland Grammar.

Penetrative incursions from DJ Hannah and solid work under the boards from Lily Morgan propelled Northcote College to a handy 21-12 early lead against Mount Roskill Grammar.

A triple from Grace Lai was the highlight of a low scoring second quarter – hosts Northcote 32-14 to the good at the interval.

Nellie and Bree Ioane were at the heart of Roskill’s good moments but Cote cut loose in the third piling on 35 points. Morgan, on her way to a game high 23 points had 13 of those in the period and with Hannah and Lizzie May also cutting lose Northcote were on their way to a fourth straight win.

Northcote 86 – Morgan 23, Hannah 18, Nikki Gear 13, Lai 11, L May 10

Mt Roskill 39 – N Ioane 17,  B Ioane 14, Journey Cassidy 4

A season high 28 points from Amy McKenzie propelled Takapuna Grammar to a convincing 80-52 win against previously unbeaten Manurewa High School.

McKenzie scored 10 points in the opening 10 minutes, and with Qaizden Stephano tallying 8 points the Takapuna advantage was 24-14.

Despite Sela Uluheua making scores for Manurewa, McKenzie, Stephano and Bailey Flavell were scoring at twice the rate to propel Takapuna to a 48-24 half-time lead. 

Manurewa shaded the third stanza 16-14 but a comeback of major proportions didn’t materialize. With a 4-0 record Takapuna remain top of the table alongside Northcote. 

Takapuna 80 – McKenzie 28, Flavell 23, Stephano 18, Manaia Watson 5 

Manurewa 52 – S Uluheua 25, Beauty Campbell 11 Mariana Monga 7, Shirley Tuilimu 7, 

After missing last week’s game Angelica Vahai returned to the One Tree Hill Colleg lineup and gave them the scoring boost they needed. On her way to 27 points, she scored 13 in the opening period as OTH edged ahead of Massey High 18-16.

The second quarter was a tight, low scoring affair – Harriate Heta and Allyah Leusogi-Ape traded threes in the shadows of half-time. The scores were locked at the interval at 29 points apiece.

The third quarter proved pivotal as Massey gained the ascendancy courtesy of 14 points from Leusogi-Ape and contributions from Kortni Waikiki and Cyntalia Schuster.

Ahead 50-41 at three-quarter time Massey extended their lead in the fourth but it was far from straightforward against a resilient One Tree Hill.

OTH 52 – Vahai 27, Heta 15, Milla Eckford 6
Massey 67 – Leusogi-Ape 32, Kortni Waikiki 15, Cyntalia Schuster 14

In the final game of the round Auckland Girls Grammar gained their first win of the season defeating Avondale College 100-13.

AGGS 100 – Faith Hurt 16, Fuschia Traill 16, Harmony Hurt 14, Ryn Nikoia 13, Grady Nikoia 12, Tatyana Ioelu 12, Aja Tarawa 8

Avondale 13 – Shilo Caffery 8 Maya Loomes 3

Standings:

4-0 Takapuna, Northcote

3-1 Manurewa, Massey

1-3 One Tree Hill, AGGS, Mt Roskill

0-4 Avondale, One Tree Hill

*These standings differ from the College Sport version as I believe they are showing the Massey result above as a win to One tree Hill. 

The fourth round review of the Auckland Schools Girls Premier Grade games, brought to you by Northern Kāhu, features wins for Saint Kentigern College, Mt Albert Grammar and unbeaten sides Westlake Girls and Baradene College.

A season high 21 points from Valana Pupuke-Robati and 19 points apiece from Danae Tait and Tiger-Lily Cocker-Lemalie propelled Mt Albert Grammar to an 89-44 road win at Carmel College.

The three, along with Waimanu Clarken, were prominent as MAGS sailed to a 42-20 half-time lead.

Without skipper and leading scorer Jemma Cammell, Leighton Esera and Lily Farman carried the bulk of the scoring load for Carmel.

MAGS carried too much scoring weaponry – 8 points in both the third and fourth quarters from Pupuke-Robati propelled the visitors to victory and solidified their top-four position.

Carmel 44 –  Leighton Esera 11, Lily Farman 11, Hannah Bellett 8, Imogen O’Rourke 6

MAGS 89 – Pupuke-Robati 21, Tait 19, Cocker-Lemalie 19, Shekinah Kuresa 12, Waimanu Clarken 10

In the game of the round Baradene College preserved their unbeaten record with a 70-58 home victory against Epsom Girls Grammar.

Summer Faleafa scored 11 first quarter points as Baradene opened up a 20-17 advantage.

Epsom couldn’t buy a basket in the second, three-point plays from Mila Vikauta and Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs helped the hosts to a commanding 43-20 interval lead.

Maya Fowler and Draun Forbes, who posted a game high 27 points, led the Epsom effort in the third – the two teams scoring 17 points each (Ritorya Tamilo scored 12 of those 17 for Baradene).

Epsom continued to prosper in the final period but scoring just three points in that second quarter left them too much ground to make up.

Baradene 70 – Tamilo 22, Faleafa 22, Cavanagh-Briggs 10, Harriet Burrell 9

Epsom 58 – Forbes 27, Fowler 19

Saint Kentigern College raced to a 21-5 opening quarter lead and were 35-12 to the good at half-time.

Kodee Sefo-Williams had 7 of the St Mary’s points but Ashleigh Tuumaialu had 8 for St Kent’s who had contributions from seven different players.

Tamzin Jakeman pushed the St Mary’s score along while Tuumaialu added a dozen points to her tally, including a couple of threes.

Sophie Jones also scored from deep as the hosts secured an emphatic win.

St Kentigern 72 – Tuumaialu 27, Jones 13, Madison Sanele 10, Sharmaine Tapling 9

St Mary’s 39 – Sefo-Williams 13, Jakeman 7, Layla Aholelei 6

In a one sided encounter a depleted Rangitoto College were no match for unbeaten Westlake Girls High.

Rangitoto 17 – Zaara Sain 4, Tamsin McAsey 4

Westlake 111 – Mackenzie Chatfield 26, Jaelah Clayton 15, Izzy Pugh 14, Rebecca Moors 11, Holly Williams 11, Emma Schroeder 10.

Standings:

4-0 Westlake, Baradene 

3-1 MAGS

2-2 St Kentigern

1-2 Epsom, St Mary’s

0-3 Rangitoto

0-4 Carmel

The 4^th Round of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier competition, brought to you in conjunction with Dynamic Sport New Zealand, produced wins for Auckland Grammar, Rosmini College, St Kentigern College and Westlake Boys.

Despite being without starters Jacob Fotu and Zeke Priest Rangitoto looked destined to secure a home win when they led 48-30 at half-time. 

However, the game swung dramatically in favour of the visitors at the back end of the third and early in the fourth.

Tautoko Wynyard (23 points) had dominated the early proceedings but with his production stymied Westlake were able to gain control.

Nine third quarter points from Luke Don, with good support from Malachi Book and Rocco Chang (a game high 26 points), initiated the Westlake revival.

Chang’s buckets either side of the three quarter time break shifted momentum the way of the visitors – Hamza Zahran and Ned Shearer nudging Westlake ahead.

A triple from Arnold Nam helped the Rangi cause but Lake held their nerve down the stretch to eke out a valuable win.

Earlier it was Wynyard doing early damage supported by a three-point barrage from Jed Barlow and Jimmy Kim. With Michael Ropotini also in good scoring touch it was all Rangi.

Momentum is key in basketball and Westlake went on to harness that priceless commodity in the second half.

Rangitoto 77 – Wynyard 23, Ropotini 15, Barlow 12, Kai Kemp 8

Westlake 80 – Rocco Chang 26, Hamza 14, Dan Ottenhoff, 9, Don 9, Malachi Book 7

Mt Albert Grammar trailed by just four points at half-time (39-35) but 7 points apiece from Tom Beattie and Julius Halaifonua helped Rosmini establish a 14-point lead in the third.

An emphatic dunk by Will Leger, in the shadows of three-quarter time, and a Dante Matakatea And-1 play at the start of the fourth reduced the Rosmini lead to single figures.

Zion Anderson, Beattie and Halaifonua kept MAGS at bay although when Leger scored with five minutes to play (66-58) the away fans sniffed a chance. 

A 10-2 run from Rosmini doused that optimism – MAGS needing to regroup quickly for a Monday night showdown with Westlake in a rearranged fixture.

Earlier Rosmini, after speeding to a 22-14 lead, were pegged back in the second quarter – Matakatea scoring a dozen points and skipper Victor Keil nailing a couple of threes.

Charlie Dalton also had a dozen for the hosts (courtesy of four triples) before heading to the airport at half-time to link up with the New Zealand U19 Beach Volleyball team flying out to Thailand late Friday night. 

Rosmini 78 – Beattie 25, Halaifonua 18, Anderson 14, Dalton 12

MAGS 64 –Matakatea 15, Keil 12, Leger 10/9rebs, Harri Coker-Grey 9

Auckland Grammar were dominant from the opening tip at Sacred Heart – scoring at will, denying, shots at the defensive end and generally using their size and speed to great effect. Ahead of his trip to Doha with the New Zealand U17 National team Will Shortt was the scourge of the Heart offence, blocking shots (8 was the conservative estimate) and denying the hosts any offensive flow.

Grammar established a 25-9 opening quarter advantage – Shortt and Josh Muggleston scoring all but five of the twenty-five.

Cody Brown scored 13 points in the second quarter although Heart were much improved in the period as Adam Davies and Tyler Wilson-Voyce provided some scoring momentum; 44-28 at half-time.

Grammar put the foot on the pedal in the third as Jackson Kiss, Muggleston and Shortt took the game away from the hosts with a 29-point surge.

Ben Blake-Howling rounded out proceedings with Grammar’s tenth triple of the night – both coaches giving extended minutes to the bench players during the closing minutes.

Sacred Heart 55 –Davies 11, Wilson-Voyce 8, Muli Ma’asi 7, Cassius Reynolds 6

AGS 90 – Muggleston 23, Brown 21, Kiss 18, Shortt 9, Ryan Hunt 7 

Dontae Russo-Nance (129 points in three games) kept up his points harvesting form with 39 points as Saint Kentigern saw off a plucky Liston College team 105-73.

Liston held their own in the opening quarter as Dhon Lao, Oliver McElhinney and Rasheed Ieremia made life uncomfortable the hosts.

Up by just two at quarter time (26-24), it was all St Kent’s in the second period piling in 40 points to establish a 66-37 half-time lead. 

St Kent’s made six threes in the quarter (12 in the game) with Hunter Te Ratana, George Turner, Merrick Rillstone, Cooper Lepou and Russo-Nance all successful from the land of plenty. 

Turner, soon headed to Doha with the New Zealand U17 National team for the Asia Cup, added to his tally whileMcElhinney joined in the three-point fun for Liston. However, the damage had been done in the second, St Kent’s easing to a comfortable second win of the season.

St Kent’s 105 – Russo-Nance 39, Rillstone 23, Turner 14, Cooper Lepou 13, Te Ratana 8

Liston 73 – Ieremia 19, Lao 14, McElhinney 11, Deon Helu 10

Standings after 4 Rounds:

4-0 Rosmini

3-0 Westlake

2-1 AGS, Rangitoto 

2-2 St Kentigern

1-2 MAGS

0-4 Liston, Sacred Heart

*MAGS will host Westlake on Monday May 30 for a re-arranged Round 3 fixture.

The third round review of the Auckland Schools Boys Senior A games, brought to you by Dynamic Sport New Zealand, features wins for Mt Roskill Grammar, St Peter’s College, Northcote College and Manurewa High School.

The Mount Roskill Grammar versus Dilworth School encounter witnessed Ivan Kerr (Dilworth) playing against younger brother Alfred Kerr (Mt Roskill) for the first time in a high school game.

Many will remember older brother Levic Kerr was a standout performer for Saint Kentigern College in their 2019 Secondary Schools National Championship success.

A couple of baskets from Zach Kemen helped Roskill forge an early 12-10 lead but the platform for their win came in the second period when they held Dilworth to 11 points while the home team poured in 24.

A decisive 17-4 run featured three successive threes – a pair from Ryan Aramoana and another from Mitchell Greenaway. 

Alfred Kerr and Owen Pattison were the main threats for Dilworth – Pattison ending the third with a spectacular fade away three, falling into the crowd as he landed, despite having two defenders in his face.

Down by 19 points at three-quarter time displayed plenty of spirit in the fourth but a dagger three from captain Ngawaka Rakete sealed the deal for Roskill.

Roskill with their first win of the season and Alfred with the bigger smile, although you would never guess it from the photo below!

Mt Roskill 72 – Greenaway 22, Kemen 13, Aramoana 12, A Kerr 8

Dilworth 56 – Pattison 13, I Kerr 15, Gene King 5

Scoring 30 points or more in each quarter and with five players in double figures Northcote College proved too good for Macleans College winning 129-68.

Northcote and Aaron Sievert in particular set the tone in the opening frame. The shooting guard accumulated 16 points as the hosts opened up a 34-14 lead.

Led by Christian Mutti and Declan Puffy, Macleans gave a much improved showing in the second but still trailed 67-41 at the break.

In addition to Sievert, Northcote enjoyed major contributions from Dontaye Sowman-Faaee, Tane Cook (three triples in his 20 points), Tom Bates and Ethan Ring.

Levi Smyth led the way for Macleans with 15 points but it was a night that belonged to Northcote as they moved into the top-four with a 2-1 record.

Northcote 129 – Sievert 38, Sowman-Faaee 21, Cook 20, Bates 13, Ring 11 Rico MacPherson 9 

Macleans 68 – Levi Smyth 15, Christian Mutti 14, Declan Puffy 12, Teegan La Grange 8

Manurewa High maintained its unbeaten start to the season with an 84-65 away win at Avondale College.

Connor Gleeson and Ryan Ancha exchanged a brace of threes apiece as Manurewa edged the opening 10 minutes 19-16.

Nine points from Richard Campbell, headed for a game high 24 and 8 from Jarell Tuhega, extended the Manurewa lead to 46-32 at half-time.

Avondale relied almost exclusively on threes in the third, Gleeson and Jimi Iosia-Sipeli with a pair each.  In contrast Manurewa opted for the more orthodox route, mainly via William Passi and Tuhega, to extend out to a 69-50 advantage at the three-quarter mark – their offensive rebounding earning them extra possessions.

The two teams tied the fourth splitting 30 points. 

Avondale 65 – Iosia-Sipeli 21, Gleeson 21, Kabir Bhargava 6

Manurewa 84 – Campbell 24, Passi 16, Ancha 15, Tuhega 14, Brian Tapu 10

Also unbeaten are St Peter’s College after a comfortable 99-47 victory against Aorere College.

Toby Cox, destined for a game high 22 points, scored eight in the opening period as St Peter’s stormed out to a 26-9 lead.

Aorere found a response through Franklyne and Chris Gordon but 8 points from Andrei Manio in the second helped the Saints to a 53-26 half-time lead.

Cobain David and Scott Errey joined Cox and Manio in double figures on a night St Peter’s enjoyed scoring contributions from eleven players.

Aorere 47 – F Gordon 12 C Gordon 9, TJ Taito 6, Moroki Tauhara 5

St Peter’s 99 – Toby Cox 22, Errey 14, Manio 12, David 11, Gus Dallow 8, Dorian Sula 8

Standings:

3-0 St Peter’s, Manurewa

2-1 Avondale, Northcote

1-2 Dilworth, Mt Roskill

0-3 Macleans, Aorere