LACEY LOWDOWN

The playoff picture has become a little focused now, with a three-way battle for the final spot in the Whelan Division I semi-finals being decided next week.

Middleton Grange had two wins in the #McDsTT, somewhat of an upset over Christ’s College (we did pick this though in our preview!) 75-59, as their depth proved too much for Christ’s. Seth Bryant and Angus McWilliam both had 15 apiece for the Gators, while Pedro Makaafi and Jarred Burnett had 10. Maxwell Darling led all scorers with 22, while Max De Geest (19p) and Jackson Stewart (11p) also hit double figures.

Middleton’s Second game cemented them into the Thompson Trophy playoffs, as they ran away from St. Andrew’s 92-56 in the second half, in a game which had one of the best crowds of the year. Jarred Burnett led the way this time (19p), with solid contributions from Angus McWilliam (18p) and Ben Carlile-Smith (10p). Will Hollings caught fire for a while (21p) with Jack Kelliger (11p) and Scott Hay (10p) bombing away too for the visitors.

Middleton Grange’s Whelan team also had another win – beating St. Andrew’s 78-49. Wildcats Aimee Book (22p) and Lauryn Hippolite (20p) led the charge here. The visitors were well served by Charlotte Whittaker and Lose Faingaanuku who had 15 points each. Rangi Ruru got all they could handle from Burnside, needing 31 points from Esra McGoldrick and 13 from Sophia Harrison to escape 77-73.

St. Margaret’s had a tough win over Hillmorton in Division II. Hillmorton came back from being down 16 in the third to close the gap to only three points, before succumbing 61-56. Emily Stewart (19p), Madison Eder (13p) and Emily Evans (11p) did most of the scoring for St. Margaret’s, while Hillmorton’s Michelle Scott (16p) and Kennedy Valance (10p) did the same for their team.

All Results:

Whelan Division I

Christchurch Girls’ 59-41 Ashburton

Middleton 78-49 St. Andrew’s

Rangi Ruru 77-73 Burnside

Rangiora 60-56 Cashmere

Ladder

Whelan Division II

St. Margaret’s 61-56 Hillmorton

Lincoln 57-48 Ellesmere

Avonside 55-48 Villa Maria

Ladder

Thompson Division I

Middleton 75-59 Christ’s College

Middleton 92-56 St. Andrew’s

Ladder

Thompson Division II

Riccarton 78-75 Hornby

Papanui 82-66 Kaiapoi

Ladder

In an exciting finish Liston College edged Northcote College 110-107 in an Auckland Secondary School Senior A high scoring thriller on Tuesday night.

Northcote led 92-85 entering the last five minutes and looked to be heading for a win but Tyrone McClennan scored back to back threes to pull Liston to within a single point.

Miggy Falqueza scored but was forced to the bench with a knee injury with Northcote 96-93 ahead.

A Jack Burton jump shot drew approval from the home crowd – Northcote ahead 103-99 with less than two minutes on the clock.

Another three, this time from Preston Karatau drew Liston within a point before the impressive Dru Leo Leusogi-Ape punctured the home defence to give his team a 104-103 lead with 1:15 to play

Centre Lev Prokofyev scored on consecutive Liston plays but Sam Hadley’s drive kept Northcote in touch – down 108-105 with 25 seconds remaining.

Burton made two free throws under pressure for Northcote and when Liston couldn’t fully capitalize from the foul line it was still a one possession game.

Northcote coach Colin Hodgkinson used his last timeout but to his dismay, and that of the enthusiastic home supporters, a turnover resulted from the inbounds pass.

Somehow Northcote regained possession but a desperate game tying effort from Reihana Miller hit the back of the ring and Liston scraped home 110-107.

Earlier, in probably a first for Auckland schools basketball, a lights show was used to introduce the teams to a packed audience.

However most of the illuminations on the court in the early exchanges were provided by Liston who got out to an 11-6 lead and Northcote needed a timeout.

Liston continued to control the tempo – a corner three from Preston Karatai helping them to a 23-11 quarter time lead.

Falqueza landed a triple to initiate a 7-1 Northcote run to open the scoring in the second frame.

A block from Torbe Zachariassen got the home crowd excited but Leusogi-Ape reciprocated with a more athletic rejection of his own – his breakaway basket keeping Liston ahead 32-22.

Edward Magdenburg (18 points in the first half) paced the Liston effort and although Falqueza and Burton reduced the arrears a put back from Prokofyev gave Liston a 42-37 half-time lead.

Northcote rallied in the third period as Ollie Hayward made it a one point game (53-52) and then a drive from Ropene Kurukaanga gave Northcote the lead for the first time in the game.

The lead changed hands on a number of occasions as an offence dominated quarter ended with Northcote ahead 71-67 – ten points from Northcote guard Burton doing most of the damage as Liston gave up 34 points in the stanza.

An absorbing fourth quarter followed with Liston prevailing in the frantic last few minutes

The game was played in a terrific spirit between two evenly matched teams – both still in with a chance of joining St Peter’s and Avondale in the semi-finals.

Northcote 107 – Burton 29, Kurukaanga 23, Falqueza 20, Hadley 17, Hayward 12

Liston 110 – Leusogi-Ape 32, Magdenburg 19, McClennan 12, Prokofyev 11, Fabien 10

Other Round 13 Senior A results:

St Peter’s 66 Manurewa 43

Avondale 77 Pakuranga 75

Senior A Ladder

 12-1 St Peter’s

10-3 Avondale

7-5 Pakuranga

6-6 Liston

5-7 Northcote

4-8 Western Springs

3-8 Massey

2-11 Manurewa

In the penultimate round of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade regular season there were wins for all the top four teams on Monday –three were by a substantial margin and the fourth a default.

Unfortunately Avondale College, already demoted to the Senior A competition next year, were unable to field a team against Mt Albert Grammar.

The local derby between Westlake Girls and Carmel College was something of a fizzer as Lake got out the gate in something of a rush -storming to a 37-6 quarter time lead – Sophie Dil quickly into double figures

Carmel made a much better start to the second as Tayla Dalton and Estelle Davidson made scores.

However poor transition defence hurt the Carmel cause and Rosie Dil and Jordyn Maddix took advantage to make easy baskets. That said a more even stanza ensued (26-24) – Lake ahead 63-30 at half-time.

Keeley Tini converted a couple of inside moves and Jess Moors did the same as Westlake began the third quarter strongly.

Dalton landed a long three and Emily Broomfield a neat basket but the Westlake advantage was still a convincing 74-36 after a Maddix trey.

Westlake guard Tabitha Leyson scored after her own steal at half court the lead 89-44 at the last break.

Millie Simpson scored ten points in the final quarter for Carmel who will retain their Premier Grade status if they beat Avondale College on Friday, Westlake now looking ahead to semi-final action.

Westlake 116 – Maddix 26, Tini 20, Moors 16, Shearer 10, S Dil 10, R Dil 10

Carmel 66 – Dalton 22, Broomfield 16, Simpson 14, Davidson 8

Massey High also scored 37 points in the first quarter against Rangitoto College. Three triples from Massey guard Ramona Fuaivaa were the highlights of the opening period.

Kaitlin Burgess, Mania Spooner and Bella Elgar shared all but two of Rangitoto’s first half points but with Kataleena Leslie posting ten points in the second stanza Massey led 56-38 at the break.

A dozen points from Shauna Povey ensured the momentum remained with Massey in the third as the lead extended to 77-52.

Burgess and Elgar continued their good work in the final period but Massey were relentless as they eased to a convincing 109-65 victory.

Povey, Schuster and Leslie each added threes in the closing minutes – Massey connecting with a total of ten on the night.

Massey 116 – Leslie 27, Povey 22, Schuster 21, Fuaivaa 15

Rangitoto 65 – Burgess 31, Spooner 8, Elgar 21

It was an even more one sided affair at Carmel College where Auckland Girls Grammar overpowered Orewa College 108-20.

Alex Still knocked down an early triple for Orewa but Teneva Ropati helped herself to ten points in a first quarter that concluded with Grammar 22-5 ahead.

It got worse for Orewa in the second as only Megan Hoare found the net – Zhanay Hettig and Mele Latu pushing the Grammar lead out to 51-7 at half-time.

With Mariah Ropati and Karma Skilton-Roberts joining in the scoring frenzy Grammar warmed up nicely for their top of the table clash with rivals Mt Albert on Friday.

Orewa 20 – Wentworth 6, Hoare 5, Pretorius 4

AGGS 108 – Latu 27, T Ropati 24, Hettig 13, M Ropati 12

Girls Premier Grade Standings

12-1 AGGS, Mt Albert

9-4 Westlake

8-5 Massey

5-8 Rangitoto

3-10 Carmel, Orewa

0-13 Avondale

Fittingly before the Auckland Grammar versus Rosmini College encounter began players and supporters from both teams observed a few moments silence in memory of the late Sir John Graham.

What ensued was a low scoring defence dominated affair won by Grammar 62-53.

Tom Higgins and Kruz Perrott-Hunt, teammates 24 hours earlier against Oklahoma University Sooners, opened the scoring for their respective teams.

Anzac Rissetto made a trio of inside baskets to take Grammar 13-7 ahead but a second foul benched the NZ Under 17 centre.

Sam Aruwa is not a bad replacement and he signaled his intentions with a forceful inside move – Matt Sokol did the same at the other end – Grammar ahead 18-12 at quarter time.

Rissetto picked up an untimely third foul early in the second – his replacement Aruwa keeping Grammar ahead 22-17.

Higgins and Elijah Andrews scored in transition to stretch the visitors advantage although a triple from Dance kept Rozza in touch – 30-24 with three minutes to play in the half.

Thomas Whyte had the last say in the half draining a corner three to give Grammar a 37-30 interval lead.

The score froze in the opening 3 minutes of the second half as turnovers dominated proceedings. Aruwa was the first to get the scoreboard moving before his block and that of Rehana Maxwell-Topia on consecutive possessions getting the crowd involved.

Rissetto returned to the game but in an instant was benched with a fourth foul. Peter Jenkins finally found the basket for Rosmini and with Sokol landing a triple the hosts were only down 40-35.

Campbell Green went coast-to-coast and with Aruwa dominating in the paint Grammar stretched out to 45-35.

Sokol landed a corner three – Rozza trailed 49-41 at three-quarter time.

An Aruwa tip-in stretched the Grammar lead to a dozen – a Higgins left hander a further two.

Rozza guard Terrence Abdon connected from afar – 55-44 with 6:30 on the clock.

The smaller Rozza lineup were struggling to contain the Grammar forwards and Rissetto took advantage from the foul line but clocked out with five minutes to play after incurring a fifth foul.

Abdon landed a floater and Grammar coach Dave Mackay needed a timeout with 4:50 to play but Grammar still 9 points ahead.

Whyte and Andrews continued their excellent defence on the Rosmini guards and Aruwa his fine work inside thus ensuring Rosmini were unable to make a telling run in the final quarter.

Sir John would have given good marks for effort and commitment but perhaps given extra homework for precision and execution – Grammar deserved victors 62-53.

The win moved Grammar ahead of Rosmini into second place on the ladder – the points differential between the pair just four points.

Rosmini 53 – Sokol 14, Dance 14, Jenkins 9, Abdon 7

AGS 62 – Higgins 16, Aruwa 15, Rissetto 11, Whyte 6, Green 6

Mt Albert Grammar wrapped up fifth place on the table with a solid 75-57 victory against St Kentigern College.

A couple of Jonty Vink baskets gave Mt Albert an early 5-0 lead and they were never headed thereafter.

Vink scored ten points in the first half to counter the eight from Max Shorter as MAGS led 30-23 at half-time.

MAGS dominated the third period (27-15) with multiple scorers led by Ryan Laumatia and Manu Dorcil inflicting damage on the St Kent’s defence.

In the fourth stanza Shorter and Zac Chan both converted their third triples of the game but 11 straight points from Xjana Luamanuvae-Su’a snuffed out any remote chance of a St Kent’s comeback

MAGS 75 – Luamanuvae-Su’a 15, Laumatia 14, Vink 12, Morrison 10, Pumipi 10

St Kentigern 57 – Shorter 22, Hyland 11, Chan 9, Jones 7

Westlake Boys proved too strong for Macleans College winning 92-68 with Reuben Fitzgerald scoring 23 points for the hosts ahead of a showdown with Rangitoto College on Friday.

An even opening period favoured Westlake 25-21 with that advantage extended to 50-39 by the interval. Matt Cairns-Hita lit up the scoreboard in the second quarter nailing four treys for hosts Westlake – Harrison Roper and Alex Arthur prominent for Macleans.

Blake van Uden scored 9 points either side of the half-time interval but inside points from Thabo Manyere and yet another three from Cairns-Hita made it 71-48 in favour of Lake at the last break.

Michael Babaran score 8 final quarter points but Jackson Port and Reuben Fitzgerald landed more triples and there was just time for Cairns-Hita to hit(a) his sixth triple of the night to seal a comfortable win.

Westlake 92 – Fitzgerald 23, Cairns-Hita 20, Manyere 12, Hidalgo 9

Macleans 68 – van Uden 16, Babaran 15, Arthur 13, Roper 10

Also comfortable winners were Rangitoto College who accounted for Kelston Boys 77-51 out west.

Harry Clarke led the Rangitoto effort with 20 points, Logan McIntosh (14pts), Caleb Langridge (11pts) and 8 points each from Jarrod Thornton and Joon Back did the bulk of the damage. Unfortunately no other details about the game have been received.

There is still plenty to play for in the final round of games on Friday. St Kentigern College and Macleans College will battle it out for 6^th/7^th place with the loser facing a play-off game to avoid relegation to the Senior A competition.

The regular season title is also still up for grabs with the top three teams Rosmini, Westlake and Auckland Grammar all still in contention.

Boys Premier Grade Standings

10-2 Westlake

10-3 Auckland Grammar

10-3 Rosmini

8-5 Rangitoto

6-7 Mt Albert

3-9 St Kentigern

3-10 Macleans

1-12 Kelston

* The outstanding Westlake v St Kentigern fixture will be played on Monday August 14th.

Orewa College beat Avondale College 74-41 in round 12 of the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier grade competition consigning Avondale to relegation from the top grade.

Despite the win Orewa will likely join Avondale in having to work their way through the Premier qualifying tournament early next year unless they win their remaining two games.

Seven first quarter points from Janke Pretorius propelled Orewa to an 11-8 first quarter advantage extended to 32-17 at half time as Arianna Henare and Hannah Wentworth went to work – Maclani Michael scored ten first half points for Avondale.

Orewa put the game out of reach in the third amassing 28 points helped by triples from Pretorius and Megan Hoare plus 8 points from Wentworth – 60-28 at three-quarter time.

Maria Whiu scored for Avondale before but Pretorius, with a couple of left handed drives, restored a thirty points advantage for Orewa in the fourth.

The athletic Michael scored a deft basket in traffic and Grace Nweke demonstrated some shot blocking and rebounding prowess before Wentworth bedded the Orewa win with a triple.

Orewa 74 – Pretorius 21, Wentworth 17, Henare 13

Avondale 41 – Michael 16, Whiu 10, Lemisio 6

Westlake Girls and Massey High held an identical 7-4 record heading into their top four clash at Massey.

Westlake had won the earlier encounter between the two teams last term and it was a repeat of that result on Friday as the visitors again prevailed winning 74-63.

Shauna Povey and Ramona Fuaivaa converted early threes but Westlake were given a flying start by Keeley Tini, Emme Shearer and Jordyn Maddix – the three NZ internationals scoring all of Lake’s points as they opened a 30-21 first quarter lead.

Mareta Davidson became the fourth Westlake scorer in the second but a balanced Massey scoring effort trimmed the Westlake advantage to 41-40 at the break.

A couple of Maddix triples widened the margin and although Terina Aratangi landed a late third quarter trey for the hosts they trailed 59-51 with 10 minutes to play.

Kataleena Leslie scored six final quarter points for Massey but Shearer, the game’s leading scorer, bettered that with a dozen of her own to guide Westake to the win and with it third spot on the ladder.

Massey 63 – Povey 16, Leslie 13, Fuaivaa 10, Aratangi 8

Westlake 74 – Shearer 27, Tini 24, Maddix 15

Mt Albert Grammar kept abreast of AGGS at the top of the table after registering a comfortable 112-67 victory at Carmel College.

Mt Albert began brightly chalking up a 30-16 first quarter lead – unusually eight different players registered at least one basket in the opening period – Tessa Talo-Tomokino leading the charge with 8 points.

Carmel fought back in the second, led by 10 points from Tayla Dalton, to shade the quarter 20-18, trailing 48-36 at the break.

Any prospects of the MAGS lead being further eroded were quickly dismissed as the hosts won the third frame 30-9 before cruising home in a high scoring fourth period (34-23).

Talo-Tomokino and Trinity Paeu each scored double figures in the third and with Rikki Fiatau joining that pair with a twenty points haul the result was never in doubt.

The free scoring Dalton finished with 27 points for Carmel backed by Emily Broomfield and Georgia Green who both made double figure contributions.

MAGS 112 – Paeu 34, Talo-Tomokino 27, Fiatau 20, Manase 9

Carmel 67 – Dalton 27, Broomfield 11, Green 10, Cattermole 8

Information from the Auckland Girls Grammar School encounter with Rangitoto College is sketchy although I can report AGGS were dominant winning 94-55.

A 22-11 quarter time lead was doubled by half-time (42-22) with Grammar only giving up a further 11 points in the third as they eased to an eleventh win of the season.

Kaitlin Burgess scored 18 points for Rangi with Ella Moore and Centaine Noon-Duckworth adding 11 points each. Unfortunately I don’t have the individual scorers for Grammar.

However I can report with a degree of certainty that Mt Albert entertain Auckland next Friday (August 11^th) – the winners will claim the regular season title.

Girls Premier Grade Standings

11-1 AGGS, Mt Albert

8-4 Westlake

7-5 Massey

5-7 Rangitoto

3-9 Carmel, Orewa

0-12 Avondale

With two rounds to go in the Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade the regular season title battle is still wide open but the relegation fight has become a three horse race.

Mt Albert were indebted to a 33 points haul from Xjana Luamanuvae-Su’a as they recorded a 79-70 win at Macleans College. The win secures Premier League status for another season for MAGS but leaves Macleans in a three-way scrap with St Kentigern College and Kelston Boys for top flight survival.

The win, Mt Albert’s fourth on the bounce, looked in doubt when they trailed by six points at the mid point of the third period. However they stopped the Maclean scoring flow to edge ahead 52-50 at three-quarter time and were never headed in the fourth as Luamanuvae-Su’a, Ryan Laumatia and in-form forward Te Akau Pumipi took charge.

Earlier the trusty duo of Blake van Uden and Alex Arthur gave the home side a good start despite a salvo of threes from Luamanuvae-Su’a. He hit four in the opening stanza alone connecting with 7 from 12 on the night.

Michael Babaran scored the last 5 points of the first half for Macleans, his team 35-33 ahead at half-time.

Van Uden, Harrison Roper and Sai Kuvelkar gave Macleans the edge early in the third but 10 points from Laumatia either side of the third quarter break stole back the initiative much to the relief of the travelling MAGS supporters.

Macleans 70 – van Uden 24, Arthur 17, Kuvelkar 10, Babaran 7

MAGS 79 – Luamanuvae-Su’a 33 Laumatia 19, Pumipi 13, Vink 6

As usual Rangitoto College were players down on their excursion over the Harbour Bridge to take on Auckland Grammar.

Good news for Rangitoto fans is that Dan Fotu is finally fit and ready to take the court – bad news is that he is currently in Houston representing the Asia Pacific team at the prestigious Adidas Nations Tournament. His absence and that of others brought the travelling Rangitoto team numbers down to six.

Needless to say they struggled against an in form Auckland Grammar that moved out to a 16-8 quarter time lead.

A triple from Logan McIntosh and 9 points in the second period from Harry Clarke helped Rangi but threes in reply from Rua Winitana and Elijah Andrews plus half a dozen points each from forwards Sam Aruwa and Anzac Rissetto stretched the Grammar advantage to 42-26 at the break.

The third period was shared 21 points apiece and although Ethan Mendeno landed a trio of threes the all round scoring threats (five players scoring in double figures) possessed by Grammar ensured a home win was never in doubt.

AGGS 79 – Aruwa 18, Rissetto 12, Higgins 12, Winitana 12

Rangitoto 59 – Clarke 21, Mandeno 15, McIntosh 9, Langridge 7

Another team with just six players were St Kentigern College and they, like Rangitoto, found the going a little tough at Rosmini College going down 79-38.

Peter Jenkins scored a brace of early baskets to help Rosmini to a 7-0 opening salvo. Max Shorter got the score moving for the visitors but a Kruz Perrott-Hunt triple pushed the Rozza lead out to 17-4 requiring St Kent’s coach Aaron Young to call a timeout.

Ryan Jones scored after the restart and Shorter landed a three but a corner three in reply from Terrence Abdon gave Rosmini a 24-9 quarter time lead.

Jenkins again opened the scoring in the next stanza and with turnovers proving costly coach Young was forced to burn his second timeout with his charges 34-9 down.

With just those six players to call on Young’s options were limited but Martin Gan did take St Kent’s into double figures – it was an improved showing in the second but Rozza still led 46-20 at the interval.

A dozen points from Jenkins led the first half scoring –Shorter with 9 points the main contributor for St Kent’s’.

Abdon took the margin past thirty points and although Shorter kept pegging away for St Kent’s Mitch Dance made 8 points in the quarter and the advantage was 63-27 at three-quarter time.

Back to back baskets from Thomas Hyland ended something of a scoring drought in the early stages of the fourth – a sweet drive from Marvin Williams-Dunn and a version with a higher degree of difficulty from Abdon were the highlights in the fourth as Rozza look forward to entertaining Auckland Grammar in a top of the table clash on Monday.

Credit to St Kent’s for a tireless effort, as they had to manage without Shorter in the final quarter after he twisted an ankle.

Rosmini 79 – Jenkins 16, Dance 14, Abdon 12, Williams-Dunn 10, Perrott-Hunt 10

St Kentigern 38 – Shorter 14, Hyland 12, Jones 5

Kelston Boys remain with one foot in the relegation cellar after being thumped 128-56 on their home court by Westlake Boys. Unless they win both their remaining games – and other results go their way – they will be relegated from Premier Grade at season end.

Westlake achieved the win without forwards Thabo Manyere and James Moors. Moors is also, like Fotu, attending the Adidas Nations Tournament in Houston but the presence of the Lake big men was hardly missed as the guard trio of Reuben Fitzgerald, Marc Malingin and Josh Hidalgo ran amok combining for 84 points.

Surprisingly with such a one sided scoreline the teams were tied 26 points apiece at quarter time as George Taulagi and To’o Mase kept pace with the Westlake guards.

After that it was one-way traffic in favour of the visitors.

Kelston 56 – Prescott 15, Mase 15, Taulagi 10, Brooking 6

Westlake 128 – Fitzgerald 34, Malingin 26, Hidalgo 24, Winter 14

Boys Premier Grade Standings

10-2 Rosmini

9-2 Westlake

9-3 Auckland Grammar

7-5 Rangitoto

5-7 Mt Albert

3-8 St Kentigern

3-9 Macleans

1-11 Kelston

* Westlake and St Kentigern have a game in hand.

There are a full round of games on Monday August 7^th with the regular season concluding Friday August 11^th.

In Senior A St Peter’s continued on their merry way with a 98-32 romp against an under strength Western Springs.

Christian Fromont (24pts), Phoenix Leupolu (22pts), Boston Schuster (12pts) and Finlay Morris (11pts) led the way for St Peter’s. Ike Conway was the best for the Springs with 10 points.

McDonald’s Thompson and Whelan Round Nine Recap

Shirley Boys’ just managed to put away a pesky Rangiora High team 63-58. The Spartans needed every one of Sean Kelly’s points, as he scored 23, despite shooting an uncharacteristic 0/7 from deep. Joel Jeffrey had 15 points and two blocks in the Spartan win. St. Bede’s fell to Ashburton 102-60, but had an excellent game from Richi Lugtu (14 points), while Tom Hughes did a little bit of everything as he finished with 12p 13r 6a.

St. Thomas took the number one qualification spot in Division II after beating Hillmorton 70-58. This game was tied at 36 each after two quarters, but STC had an 11-2 run early in the third quarter to grab the lead. Hillmorton was able to cut this to two points early in the fourth, but never able to completely close the gap. Izaac Beever had 23p in the win, while Jacob Sue (17p) and Sam Irving (11p) provided some needed firepower. Hillmorton was paced by Ihaia Kendrew (27p), with Maoluma Sakaria the only other Tiger to hit double figures (10p).

Middleton Grange played their deferred game against Christchurch Girls’ High on July 25, and thanks to a balanced attack, came away with a 69-55 win. Megan Ellis (19p), Aimee Book (16p) and Sofia Kennedy (15p) made up for a relatively quiet game from Lauryn Hippolite (8p). CGHS were led by the duo of Olivia McIntyre and Alana Wouters (14p apiece) and Sapphire Wairau’s 10p.

The playoff picture is starting to clear up in each competition. Division I of the Thompson Trophy Competition has a few spots sorted: Cashmere and Burnside are #1 and #2 respectively. Shirley or Christ’s College will take third and fourth, while Ashburton is locked in as #5. The final three qualifiers are all set to be decided, with St. Bede’s being the only team eliminated. Division II looks similar, with STC, Hillmorton, Papanui, Cathedral College and Kaiapoi locked into spots one through five. Riccarton, Ellesmere, and Hornby will take spots 6-8 in some order, while Linwood and Lincoln will play for 9^th and 10^th place.

The Whelan Trophy still has two rounds to play, with only four teams making the semi-finals. So far, only Middleton Grange and Rangi Ruru look particularly safe (but not mathematically guaranteed yet). Division II has three teams qualified. Avonside Girls’, St. Margaret’s and Ellesmere are all safe, while the fourth team will be one of Villa Maria, Hillmorton or Lincoln.

All Results:

Whelan Division I

Ashburton 70-36 Rangiora

Kaiapoi 72-59 Cashmere

Rangi Ruru 83-79 Christchurch Girls’ (overtime)

St. Andrew’s 66-53 Burnside

Ladder

Whelan Division II

St. Margaret’s 65-49 Lincoln

Ellesmere 52-47 Villa Maria

Avonside 57-41 Hillmorton

Ladder

Thompson Division I

Shirley 63-58 Rangiora

Burnside 87-54 St. Andrew’s

Ashburton 102-60 St. Bede’s

Cashmere 99-64 Christchurch Boys’

Ladder

Thompson Division II

St. Thomas 70-58 Hillmorton

Cathedral 106-66 Lincoln

Ellesmere 62-52 Linwood

Ladder

The Auckland Secondary Schools Girls Premier Grade resumed last Friday after the July vacation.

Auckland Girls Grammar School avenged its loss to Massey High School earlier in the season winning the game of the round 71-54. Unfortunately I don’t have further details of the game as my pigeon carrying the scoresheet has gone missing.

In perhaps the most significant result of the round Carmel College defeated Orewa College 91-60. With Carmel now holding a 2-0 head to head record against their North Shore rivals it means that Orewa will have to win two of their last three games and hope Carmel lose all three in order to preserve their Premier Grade status.

Tayla Dalton continued her good form, the Under 17 Nationals MVP, finishing with 42 points for Carmel.

Despite Janke Pretorius scoring 11 straight points for Orewa either side of the quarter time break Dalton racked up 26 points in the first half and with Millie Simpson nabbing 15 points they had sealed the deal in the opening twenty minutes boasting a 55-28 lead.

Hannah Wentworth and Megan Hoare kept pegging away for Orewa, who gave an improved showing in the second half, but Georgia Green and Simpson gave Dalton plenty of support as Carmel romped to a convincing win.

Carmel 91 – Dalton 42, Simpson 23, Green 10, Broomfield 8

Orewa 60 – Wentworth 20, Pretorius 15, Hoare 9, Henare 6

Rangitoto College have the toughest draw of all teams during the last four weeks of the season as they face the top four teams on the ladder.

It didn’t start too well on Friday going down 92-55 at home to Mt Albert Grammar.

Bella Elgar scored 6 first quarter points for Rangitoto but Rikki Fiatau was in sparkling form for the visitors scoring 13 points as MAGS sped to a 26-14 fist quarter lead.

A couple of threes from Ella Moore spearheaded a positive response from Rangi in the second but six straight points from Trinity Paeu in the shadows of half-time ensured a 47-31 lead for MAGS at the break.

Fiatau and Jada Manase stretched the lead beyond thirty points in the third. Moore and Elgar kept the MAGS defence busy but with few other scoring options Rangi struggled to keep pace with their opponents.

In contrast the joint League leaders had a variety of scoring options – one of those options Tessa Talo-Tomokino capped off a fine victory with a late triple.

Rangitoto 55 – Moore 21, Elgar 19, Noon-Duckworth 6

Mt Albert 92 – Fiatau 27, Paeu 20, Talo-Tomokino 16, Manase 14

In the fourth game of the round Westlake Girls moved into equal third spot on the ladder with a resounding 93-39 victory at Avondale College.

Westlake lost the services of Kristin Talma in the warm up and soon after the start Emme Shearer with a head knock. However with NZ U18 forward Keeley Tini dominating the early proceedings Westlake sped to a 33-13 lead.

Jordyn Maddix joined in the scoring frenzy with customary triples and with a less than 100% fit Sophie Dil also in good touch the game was over at half-time with Westlake 49-21 to the good.

Maclani Michael was massive for Avondale scoring 27 of her team’s 39 points but with little support Westlake cruised to the win.

The Westlake – Massey encounter next week will almost certainly decide third spot on the table.

Avondale 39 – Michael 27

Westlake 93 – Tini 18, Maddix 17, Dil 16, Moors 13

Girls Premier Grade Standings

10-1 AGGS, Mt Albert

7-4 Massey, Westlake

5-6 Rangitoto

3-8 Carmel

2-9 Orewa

0-11 Avondale

In Senior A Grade action St Mary’s remain top of the table after beating Pakuranga College 93-32.

The Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade competition resumed on Friday after the school holiday break.

Rangitoto College have been used to managing with a depleted roster this season due to a succession of injuries but this week there were more crosses in the absent column than ticks on the present register.

No fewer than six regulars were missing due to injury and representative duty and with coach Kenny Stone also absent Angela Perrott-Hunt was required to call on four debutants to bolster the Rangitoto ranks.

Ryan Laumatia scored a couple of early baskets for Mt Albert but a corner three from New Zealand U16 guard Obadaiah Paea kept Rangitoto in touch at quarter time – 16-14 to MAGS.

An And-1 play from Ethan Mandeno tied proceedings at 19 points each – the Rangi guard then scored again to move his team ahead.

Te Akau Pumipi scored 7 straight points for MAGS but they trailed 26-23 with 5:40 left in the second following a Mandeno three – Daryl Cartwright, back on board after Junior Tall Blacks duty, needed a timeout.

Xjana Luamanuvae-Su’a scored on the resumption, as did Jack Morrison, MAGS ahead 34-32 at the interval.

Mandeno led all scorers at the break with 17 points, Pumipi not far behind with 13.

MAGS, helped by triples from Sataan Tawera and Luamanuvae-Su’a began the second half with a 24-4 run to blow the game open at 58-36 with 5 minutes left in the third.

Harry Payne and Tommy Te Puni ended the run but Rangi had plenty to do at three-quarter time trailing 66-47.

Pumipi continued his impressive showing by opening the fourth quarter scoring, his inside presence a constant source of production for MAGS. At the other end Mandeno moved past the twenty points mark but a valuable MAGS win was never threatened.

Rangitoto 57 – Mandeno 27, Payne 9, Thornton 8, Paea 7

MAGS 81 – Pumipi 22, Luamanuvae-Su’a 17, Laumatia 10, Morrison 10

Rosmini College were also a little shorthanded, down three starters, for their visit to Macleans College but still had enough resources to come away with a 69-58 win

Sai Kuvelkar and Blake van Uden got Macleans underway but Kruz Perrott-Hunt, back from NZ Under 18 duty in Guam, nailed 11 first quarter points to give Rosmini the early advantage – 16-12 at quarter time.

That lead blossomed in the second with Reihana Maxwell-Topia claiming 9 points in the period to extend the Rozza lead to 37-23 at the interval.

The hosts got the better of the third period restricting Rosmini to eight points while van Uden and Alex Arthur shared 13 points to close the gap to eight points – 47-39.

Kuvelkar dropped his third triple of the game and van Uden added to his tally as Macleans threatened a come from behind victory in the opening stages of the fourth. However Jenkins (also a NZ U18 representative) steadied the ship with six points and Sean Murphy and Perrott-Hunt hit timely triples as Rozza kept their regular season title quest on track.

Macleans 58 – van Uden 25, Kuvelkar 18, Arthur 11

Rosmini 69 – Perrott-Hunt 19, Maxwell-Topia 11, Murphy 10, Jenkins 8

Kelston Boys now have one foot in the relegation cellar after being outgunned 87-30 at Auckland Grammar.

Grammar were missing Anzac Rissetto, on NZ U17 duty in the Philippines, but more significantly Kelston were without their talisman Kale Lawson and suffered as a result.

Matangi Prescott and Solomon Faapoi were the only real scoring threats for Kelston and they accounted for 13 of their team’s 18 points in the first half – a half in which they trailed 39-18.

It was a balanced Grammar effort with nine different scorers in the half led by Samson Aruwa with 9 points and Teancum McCarthy with half a dozen.

McCarthy and Thomas Whyte landed threes in the third and Tom Higgins scored 8 straight points as Grammar completely dominated the frame to lead 63-24 at the last break.

The final stanza was equally one sided as Grammar eased to a comfortable victory no doubt looking forward to a showdown with Rangitoto College next Friday in what promises to be one of the games of the season.

AGS 87 – McCarthy 19, Higgins 17, Aruwa 15, Andrews 9

Kelston 30 – Prescott 14, Faapoi 7

The Westlake Boys versus St Kentigern College game was postponed as both head coaches, Aaron Young (St Kentigern) and Zac Fitzgerald (Westlake), along with some players are overseas this week.

Boys Premier Grade Standings

9-2 Rosmini

8-2 Westlake

8-3 Auckland Grammar

7-4 Rangitoto

4-7 Mt Albert

3-7 St Kentigern

3-8 Macleans

1-10 Kelston

* Westlake and St Kentigern have a game in hand

In the Senior A competition the top two teams continued their winning ways. St Peter’s College got the better of Massey High (97-68) and Avondale College were too good for Northcote College winning 102-73.

St Peter’s got plenty of production out of Finlay Morris (32pts), Christian Fromont (25pts) and Gerard Boersen (16pts) but it was only in the final quarter, won 29-16, that they shook off a hard working Massey outfit.

Massey were led by Jason Cullen’s 15 points.

The Auckland Secondary Schools Premier Grade gets back underway again on Friday July 28^th with a number of intriguing Girls grade ties in prospect.

Massey High, one of the form teams in the competition, travel to Auckland Girls Grammar. Massey upset AGGS the last time the two teams met inflicting the only defeat of the season on the defending Premiers.

Whatever the result on Friday both teams will progress through to the semi-finals when the remaining four rounds are completed next month.

Shauna Povey and senior Sylvia Wieczorek have been leading the way for Massey but Grammar have greater depth this season with the addition of Zhanay Hettig, and the Ropati sisters Mariah and Teneva.

Mt Albert Grammar share the same 9-1 record as AGGS with the meeting between the two in the last regular season game of the season likely to decide the minor premiership. Sharne Pupuke-Robati, recently selected in the New Zealand Premier team to play touring University of California, Berkley, will be a key figure in that encounter.

Westlake Girls appear likely to nail the fourth semi-final spot ahead of Rangitoto College. Rangitoto (5-5) are only one win behind Westlake (6-4) but face each of the top four teams to complete the regular season. They will need plenty of scoring from Mania Spooner, Kaitlin Burgess and Bella Elgar to chalk up more victories.

In contrast Westlake only face one top four team – their meeting with Massey possibly determining which of the two secures third spot. Lake had Keeley Tini, Emme Shearer, Jordyn Maddix, Jess Moors and Mareta Davidson all on international duty in recent weeks. The experience gained at the higher level of competition can’t help but improve Westlake’s play-off chances.

That leaves three teams attempting to avoid the drop although Avondale College (0-10) look doomed already.

That leaves North Shore rivals Orewa College and Carmel College, with an identical 2-8 record, are scrapping to avoid relegation and the challenge of going through a qualifying tournament at the beginning of next year.

Both have to play Avondale plus two top four teams so their meeting on Friday has major significance. Carmel won the first encounter between the two 71-46 – the match up between Harbour U17 representative teammates Hannah Wentworth (Orewa) and Tayla Dalton (Carmel) could be key in that one.

Girls Premier Grade Standings

9-1 AGGS, Mt Albert

7-3 Massey

6-4 Westlake

5-5 Rangitoto

2-8 Carmel, Orewa

0-10 Avondale