LACEY LOWDOWN

In the final round of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grade regular season there were victories for Auckland Grammar, St Peter’s College, Rosmini College and Westlake Boys.

Mt Albert Grammar School’s unbeaten run came to a halt at 12 games after suffering a 62-60 home loss to Rosmini College.

The top two teams on the Premier ladder went toe to toe with never more than six points separating the two sides.

Dante Matakatea opened proceedings with a two handed flush – the NZ U17 rep scored 9 points as MAGS opened up a 16-13 lead.

Threes from Chris Wyllie and Harlan Roudon gave Rosmini their first lead of the game although that drew a quick response from Louis Uri and Kade Cartwright.

With 15 points to his name MAGS unfortunately lost the services of Matakatea, with a shoulder injury, shortly before the interval – a Josh Batty corner three giving Rosmini a 34-33 lead on the stroke of half-time.

Uncompromising defence dominated the third frame with neither side able to find any offensive fluidity.  Zion Anderson scored a couple of baskets for the visitors but a pair of trade mark inside buckets from Louis Uri gave MAGS a 46-43 three-quarter time lead.

Scores from Uri and Romani Keith-Peraua enabled MAGS to open up a six point lead before a Rosmini 9-0 run, initiated by Liam Bates, clawed back the lead.

An And-1 play from Harri Coker-Grey was countered by a Wyllie three – Rosmini 56-55 ahead.

Again Wyllie and Coker Grey exchanged baskets, ahead of Roudon and Keith-Peraua doing the same  – the scores locked at 60 points apiece with 2:10 to play.

Both sides had scoring opportunities in the final seconds but it was Anderson that produced the winning play to deny MAGS a 13^th straight win.

MAGS 60 – Matakatea 15, Coker-Grey 14/4steals, Uri 10, Cartwright 9

Rosmini 62 – Wyllie 17, Roudon 14, Anderson 13, Reed 10

Auckland Grammar School locked in third spot on the ladder with an 83-73 win at Rangitoto College.

Grammar opened up a 16-12 lead before Rangitoto College went on a spirited run, either side of the quarter time break, to lead 30-18 in the second quarter. Joel Brown was into double figures for Rangi, George Milburn and Jackson Kiss likewise for Grammar.

Grammar closed the half strongly to claim the narrowest of leads (40-39) at half-time.

Jaren Reiri joined Brown in double figures although Grammar would go on to boss the third period as Milburn racked up 19 points in the quarter. Kalid Petzer and Ryan Hunt waded in with points to carry Grammar to a 73-55 lead.

Rangi had the better of the closing frame with Max Mudford and Arnod Nam amongst the points.

Grammar now prepare for a final regular season meeting with Mt Albert Grammar on Monday.

Rangitoto 73 – Brown 15, Reire 13, Nam 12, Elys Taher 10, Cooper Allen 8, Mudford 7

AGS 83 – Milburn 29, Kiss 16, Petzer 13, Hunt 12, Roere Tipene 8

On the back of a strong fourth quarter showing St Peter’s College earned their second win of the season with a 103-99 home victory against St Kentigern College.

Trailing 74-69 at three-quarter time St Peter’s sailed home in the final term amassing 34 points. Gus Dallow and Bryan Marsters made key scores in the period although it was a dozen points from Spencer Carr, including a pair of threes, that tilted the tie the way of St Peter’s.

Earlier 12 points from George Turner gave St Kent’s a 27-25 quarter time lead.

Double figures from Merrick Rillstone, and a triple late in the frame from Cooper Lepou kept St Kent’s ahead (54-53) at the end of a high scoring first half – Dallow and Ralph Ocfemia in double digits for St Peter’s.

Turner and Rillstone combined for 14 points as St Kentigern shaded the third stanza before Carr drove St Peter’s home in the final period.

St Peter’s 103 – Dallow 26, Carr 16, Ocfemia 13, Bailey Smith 11, Milan Tolich 8,  Marsters 8

St Kentigern 99 – Turner 29, Rillstone 28, Lepou 14, Frankie Groves 9

In another high scoring encounter Westlake Boys High proved too strong for Sacred Heart College winning 112-80 with Noah Rasmussen scoring 29 points and Hadi Alshami bagging 23.

Westlake also enjoyed double figure scoring from Max Riechelmann, Malachi Book, Braden Gibb and Harper Wilson. Tyrell Cocker top scored for Sacred Heart with 17 points while Sam Snowdon, Preston Tuaputa and Matt Fautuaalii-Taia were also major contributors.

A couple of threes from Book helped Westlake run up 39 first quarter points. There was little let up in the second as Lake took a 65-44 lead into half-time.

The scoring frenzy continued in the second half – four triples from Rasmussen one of the highlights.

Westlake 112 – Rasmussen 29, Alshami 23, Riechelmann 15, Wilson 15, Gibb 11, Book 10

Sacred Heart 80 – Cocker 17, Snowdon 16, Fautuaalii-Taia 15, Tuaputa 12, Tyler Wilson-Voyce 7

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Standings

12-1 MAGS

12-2 Rosmini

10-3 AGS

8-6 St Kentigern

————————-

6-8 Westlake

3-11 Sacred Heart

2-12 Rangitoto, St Peter’s

NB The AGS v MAGS catch-up game is scheduled for Monday August 14.

Aaron Sievert scored a scarcely believable 67 points as Northcote College wrapped up the Auckland Secondary Schools Senior A regular season title by defeating Manurewa High School 117-62.

Sievert has posted numerous 50-plus scores in the past two seasons but his haul against Manurewa sets a new Northcote record and one that your editor doesn’t recall been bettered by any player in recent years.

In other games Mt Roskill Grammar (10-3) wrapped up runners-up spot with a convincing 73-58 win over Liston College who are now tied with Dilworth School in third spot – both teams boasting 8-5 records.

If games go with form in the final round on Friday the semi-final match-ups will be Northcote v Dilworth and  Mt Roskill v Liston.

Richard Campbell and Jarell Tuhega led the Manurewa effort at Northcote but nothing was getting in the way of the Sievert bombardment.

Northcote 117 – Sievert 67, Tane Cook 9, Noah Blandford 8, Shunta Shinzaki 7

Manurewa 62 – R Campbell 21, Tuhega 17, Issacher Pati 6

In the head to head between the second and third placed teams Mt Roskill proved too good for Liston College winning 73-58 with Mitchell Greenaway posting 27 points.

Rasheed Ieremia put up 16 points for Liston but Roskill, coming off a very good win against Northcote, carried that form into this clash.

Mt Roskill 73 – M Greenaway 27, Ngawaka Rakete 12, Haisem Osman 11, Daniel Greenaway 11

Liston 58 – Ieremia 16, Dhon Lao 11, Zhymon Moreno 8

Also in good form are Dilworth. With a 2-4 record after six games they have won six of their last seven games to steadily climb up the ladder. Their latest success was a 77-61 defeat of Selwyn College with George Hardie and Ezrah Eagle putting together 20-point games.

The consistent Ashton Muraahi scored a team high 23 points for Selwyn.

Selwyn 61 – Muraahi 23, Alfred Casiple 11, Luca Vietri 9, Jerry Hing 8

Dilworth 77 – Hardie 24, Eagle 21, Kingston Kailahi-Aso 18, Ikahui Mahe 12

In the final game of the round Kelston Boys High had a come from behind victory against Avondale College winning 95-74 with Sam Tuitupou, Rodman Fuaivaa and Alec Phillips combining for 65 points.

With AJ Tsukada and Liam Takenaka-Wesley in good form Avondale led 44-42 at half-time but were run down in the second half.

Avondale 74 – AJ Tsukada 23, Takenaka-Wesley 23, Akram Al Wakeel 9, Jacob Holmes 8

Kelston 95 – Tuitupou 23, Rodman Fuaivaa 21, Alec Phillips 21, Real Wheaton 15, Sione Filimoehala 10

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Boy’s Senior A Standings

12-1 Northcote

10-3 Mt Roskill

8-5 Liston, Dilworth

5-8 Selwyn, Kelston

4-9 Manurewa

0-13 Avondale

Unfortunately the news from the Girls Senior A competition is scarce. Rangitoto College defeated Manurewa High School to remain unbeaten but we don’t have a final score and Auckland Girls Grammar beat One Tree Hill College 60-51 but no further details are available.

In the other game Carmel College beat Mt Roskill Grammar School in a thriller 65-63.

Eight points from Bree Ioane edged Roskill ahead 14-11 before Carmel enjoyed the better of the second period.  Ella Drake knocked down three triples in the spell and with Annie Gaylard also connecting from deep the Carmel lead at half-time was 36-28.

The third stanza belonged to Roskill (19-11) as Adra Kaufusi and Bree pushed the visitors ahead -a  triple from Nelly Ioane tying the scores at 47 points apiece.

There was little to choose between the two teams down the stretch. The Ioane’s combined for a dozen points in the fourth but threes from Drake (she made six in the game) and 8 points from Gaylard proved just enough to get Carmel the victory.

Mt Roskill 63 – Bree Ioane 28, Nelly Ioane 17, Billee Koonwaiyou 7, Kaufusi 6

Carmel 65 – Drake 22, Gaylard 17, Ruby Railton 14 

In the final round on Friday the winner of the Auckland Girls Grammar v Mt Roskill Grammar tie will claim the fourth semi-final berth – the winner to take on Rangitoto College.

Avondale had the bye.

Senior A Girls Standings

11-0 Rangitoto

8-3 Manurewa, Carmel

5-6 Mt Roskill, AGGS

3-9 One Tree Hill

0-11 Avondale

*Massey High School have withdrawn from the competition

Westlake Girls High bounced back from their defeat against Epsom Girls Grammar with a resounding 91-61 win against Takapuna Grammar School on Monday, the victory taking Westlake back to the top of the Prems table with one regular season game remaining.

Amy McKenzie scored 7 first quarter points but Westlake made a strong start to lead 25-15 on the back of 17 combined points from Amy Pateman and Rebecca Moors.

A three from Manaia Watson and ten points from Bailey Flavell progressed the Taka score but Moors and Pateman were bossing proceedings as the Westlake lead stretched to 48-31 by half-time.

Following a Katie Moors basket Takapuna replied with an 11-3 run to reduce the deficit to 11 points. That was as close as it got as Westlake stretched the advantage to 70-51 at the three-quarter mark before dominating the final spell to run out comfortable winners.

Takapuna 61 – Flavell 33, McKenzie 12, Watson 5

Westlake 91 – Pateman 29, R Moors 24/12rebs, Stowers 16, K Moors 16, Elin Vincent 5, Lily Fotu 3/7assists

Epsom Girls Grammar, four days after completing the double over Westlake Girls came back to earth with a thud – defeated 85-53 by Mt Albert Grammar School.

Epsom were caught on the hop as they gave up 26 first quarter points to trail by 14 at the first break – 8 points for Nia Roberts in the period.

Nine points from Maya Fowler helped Epsom in the second period although Wai Clarken scored 8 points as MAGS carried a 41-26 lead into the main break.

The third stanza was another even affair – Draun Forbes and Fowler doing good work for Epsom – MAGS 58-40 ahead.

Emina Tiatia and Sienna-Rose Tawera produced most of the scoring in the final period as MAGS eased to the win, a victory that means both teams have an identical 10-3 record with one game to play.

Epsom 53 – Forbes 20, Fowler 17, Ivy Tino 6

MAGS 85 – Clarken 21, Tiatia 10, Tawera 8, Roberts 8, Peyton Uri 8, Jorjia Fiu 8, Phoenix Kaipo 7 

Northcote College defeated Baradene College 71-66 with the the result meaning the two teams now having identical 4-9 records. Significantly Northcote hold the head-to-head advantage, therefore a win against St Mary’s on Friday will see them avoid the promotion/relegation play-off game in 2024.

For their part Baradene will need to beat league leaders Westlake and hope for an upset at Northcote.

It was a nervous opening quarter from both teams, one edged 9-7 by the hosts. Northcote also had slightly better of the proceedings in the second period. Nikki Gear and DJ Hannah shared 14 points for Northcote with Ritorya Tamilo, headed for a career high 41 points, making 16 in the spell as Baradene trailed 32-27 at the interval.

Baradene closed the gap by a single point in the third (47-43) meaning a nervy fourth quarter ensued.

A triple from skipper Deyna Topia and growing numbers from Tamilo threatened the Northcote lead but the hosts held their nerve down the stretch – Hannah and Lizzy May making crucial free-throws in the closing minutes.

Northcote 71 – N Gear 22, Hannah 18, Lily Morgan 10, May 9, Lisa Gear 6, Emma Lavemaau 6

Baradene 66 – Tamilo 41, Topia 6, Odile Dolon 6

In the other game St Kentigern College defeated St Mary’s College 67-35*

*The result is correct but the score is awaiting confirmation.

The final round on Friday will determine the order of finish for the top five places.

Standings

11-2 Westlake 

10-3 Epsom, MAGS

6-7 Takapuna, St Kent’s

4-9 Baradene, Northcote 

1-11 St Mary’s

August 8th, 2023

In the penultimate round of the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grade regular season the most significant result came at Rangitoto College where the host were pipped 90-88 by Sacred Heart College.

The two teams entered the contest with identical 2-10 records with the winner pulling out of the bottom two with just a game to play.

Details are sketchy as the scoresheet hasn’t been forwarded but we do know that Sacred Heart recovered from a poor start after falling behind by nearly twenty points.

They recovered to lead by single figures at half-time, and three-quarter time, before holding on for the vital win.

Rangi will play Auckland Grammar in their final game with Heart visiting Westlake Boys. If those games go to form it will be Rangitoto involved in a play-off game in 2024 to remain in Prems.

For the second time in as many games St Kentigern College were pipped at the post. Having been beaten in overtime by MAGS on Friday the Saints were defeated 71-70 at Auckland Grammar School.

St Kentigern made the better start easing to a 23-16 quarter time lead and were still in control at half-time (ahead 40-34) with George Turner, headed for a game high 23 points, and Merrick Rillstone in good form.

Josh Howes scored 9 third quarter points and with Jackson Kiss and George Milburn chipping in with points Grammar turned a six points deficit into a one-point lead (53-52) by three-quarter time.

Triples number four and five in the game from Turner plus points from Hunter Te Ratana posed problems for the hosts but Kiss and skipper Ryan Hunt did just enough to edge Grammar to victory.

AGS 71 – Kiss 19, Howes 15, Hunt 11, Roera Tipene 8, Milburn 6, Roman Ma’afu-Moerua 6

St Kent’s 70 – Turner 23, Rillstone 17, Te Ratana 13, Max Johnson 6

The other games in the round were won convincingly by the top two teams on the ladder.

Unbeaten Mt Albert Grammar defeated St Peter’s College 106-65 thanks to 24 points from Harri Coker-Grey and double-doubles from Louis Uri (18pts/10rebs) and Dante Tapulaaia (15pts/10rebs). Gus Dallow scored 20 points for St Peter’s.

MAGS 106 – Coker-Grey 24, Uri 18, Tapulaaia 15, Natu Amanuel 13, Jayden Eaton 7

St Peter’s 65 – Dallow 20, Bryan Marsters 11, Spencer Carr 11, Caleb Afeaki 8

At Rosmini College the home team enjoyed double figure contributions from six players as they eased past Westlake Boys High School 112-67.

Guards Chris Wyllie and Harlan Roudon had 18 points and 16 points respectively while Jameer Reed top scored with 22. Noah Rasmussen top scored for Westlake with 15 points.

Though there is a round still to play, plus a make-up game between Auckland Grammar and Mt Albert Grammar to take place, the semi-final line-up looks almost certain to be MAGS v St Kentigern and AGS v Rosmini. 

Rosmini 112 – Reed 22, Wyllie 18, Roudon 16, Zion Anderson 15, Josh Batty 12, Noah Johns 12

Westlake 67– Rasmussen 15, Troy Supple 10, Troy Wentworth 10, Hadi Alshami 10

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Standings

12-0 MAGS

11-2 Rosmini

9-3 AGS

8-5 St Kentigern

5-8 Westlake

3-10 Sacred Heart

2-11 Rangitoto

1-12 St Peter’s

NB The AGS v MAGS catch-up game is scheduled for Monday August 14

August 7th

Mt Roskill Grammar produced an impressive performance to defeat previously unbeaten Northcote College 100-75 with Mitchell Greenaway scoring 31 points.

The prodigious Aaron Sievert was once again amongst the points tallying 48 points.

With two rounds of the regular season remaining both Mt Roskill and Northcote are assured semi-final berths as are Liston College after Rasheed Ieremia (32 points) paced them to an 87-71 win against Selwyn College.

Dilworth are almost assured of the fourth play-off spot and can definitely prepare for the semi’s if they defeat Selwyn College on Monday. On Friday they were paced by George Hardie’s 21 points in the 85-41 win against Avondale College.

In the final game of the round there were fine individual scoring performances from Richard Campbell (36pts), Jarell Tuhega (27pts) and Real Wheaton (35pts) as Manurewa High beat Kelston Boys 92-82.

Mt Roskill 100 – M Greenaway 31, Daniel Greenaway 15, Josh Wadams 11, Ryan Aramoana 10

Northcote 75 – Sievert 48, Tane Cook 8

Liston 87 – Ieremia 32, Dhon Lao 25, Luke Vaipaata 12, Jeydin Ale 9

Selwyn 71 – Ashton Muraahi 19, Luca Vietri 14, Jerry Hing 13, Charlie Banfield 7

Dilworth 85 – George Hardie 21, Kingston Kailahi-Fulu 17, Ezrah Eagle 13, Ikahui Mahe 10, Mikaera Hoeta 8

Avondale 41 – Liam Takenaka-Wesley 19, Akram Al Wakeel 11

Manurewa 92 – Richard Campbell 36, Jarell Tuhega 27, Gordon Campbell 10

Kelston 82 – Real Wheaton 35, Sam Tuitupou 13, Sione Mapu 10, Rodman Fuaivaa 9

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Boy’s Senior A Standings

11-1 Northcote

9-3 Mt Roskill

8-4 Liston

7-5 Dilworth

5-7 Selwyn

4-8 Kelston, Manurewa

0-12 Avondale

Following the  Girls Senior A Round 12 action Rangitoto College remain unbeaten after defeating Mt Roskill Grammar 82-68 with Eva Veale dropping 40 points.

Nelly Ioane scored 31 for Roskill who appear to be in a battle with Auckland Girls Grammar for the fourth and final semi-final berth.

AGGS, with Faith Hurt scoring 28 points, had a great tussle with Carmel College before going down 70-66.

Ruby Railton top scored for Carmel with 19 points – Carmel assured of a semi-final spot and still in contention for a top-two finish.

Also in the same situation as Carmel are Manurewa High who had the bye on Friday. The two teams meet in the final round of the regular season next Friday!

Mt Roskill 68 – Nelly Ioane 31, Bree Ioane 21

Rangitoto 82 – Eva Veale 40, Maddison Skelton 15, Mela Andrews 10

Carmel 70 – Ruby Railton 19, Ella Drake 16, Leighton Esera 9, Annie Gaylard 9, Zahara Tibbotts 9

AGGS 66 – Faith Hurt 28, Grady Nikoia 15, Ryn Nikoia 14, Harmony Hurt 6

The One Tree Hill College v Avondale College result was unavailable at the time of publication

Manurewa High School had the bye.

Senior A Girls Standings

10-0 Rangitoto

8-2 Manurewa

7-3 Carmel

5-5 Mt Roskill

4-6 AGGS

2-8 One Tree Hill

0-10 Avondale

*Massey High School have withdrawn from the competition

Epsom Girls Grammar completed the double over Westlake Girls High with a narrow 73-69 road win. The victory means that Epsom now have the head-to-head split on Westlake should the two teams have an equal win-loss record when the regular season concludes.

A tight contest throughout Epsom made the marginally better start to lead 22-18 with 9 points from Draun Forbes cancelling out the same number from Zenthia Stowers.

The scoring slowed in the second period – Forbes and Rebecca Moors the most prominent as the teams turned around at half-time with Epsom 34-31 in the lead.

Moors reeled off 13 third quarter points as the scores became locked at 50 points apiece with ten minutes to play.

Moors and Amy Pateman scored all 19 of Westlake’s fourth quarter points but they couldn’t hold off the visitors. Maya Fowler nailed a brace of threes before she, Leah Patuwairua, Savana Feite and Forbes held their collective nerve at the foul line to close out an exciting Epsom win.

Westlake 69 – Moors 29, Pateman 17, Stowers 14, Lily Fotu 6

EGGS 73 – Forbes 22, Patuwairua 16, Fowler 8, Feite 8, Talia Vea 7

Takapuna Grammar, paced by Bailey Flavell’s 38 points, emerged as genuine top four contenders after a strong fourth quarter showing earned them a 76-57 win against Shore neighbours Northcote College.

Northcote led 35-31 at half-time and were still in front 48-47 after a Lisa Gear drive and finish deep into the third quarter.

However back-to-back baskets from Flavell and a buzzer beater from Manaia Watson saw Takapuna take a 53-48 lead into the three-quarter time break.

The Watson and Flavell combination worked again on the resumption ahead of DJ Hannah and Nikki Gear scores – the Taka advantage 56-52 with 6 minutes to play.

From there it was all Takapuna as they closed the contest with a 20-5 run. Fifteen of those points went the way of Flavell who shifted through the gears in the final quarter.

Also in good touch for Takapuna were Amy Mckenzie (12 points), Watson (10 points) and newcomer Nahikari Illarramendi who contributed 13 points and a good dose of game awareness.

Lily Morgan led the way for Northcote with 18 points while Nikki Gear was also in double figures with a dozen.  

Takapuna 76 – Flavell 38, Illarramendi 13, McKenzie 12, Watson 10

Northcote 57 – Morgan 18, N Gear 12, L Gear 8, Lizzy May 7

Wai Clarken scored 28 points as Mt Albert Grammar continued their pursuit of a top-two finish with a 57-49 win at St Kentigern College.

Despite 8 points from Ash Tuumaialu triples from Clarken and Phoenix Kaipo helped MAGS establish a 20-15 lead after ten minutes.

Anamia Rangihaeata nailed a three for the hosts but 6 points from Clarken saw MAGS through to a narrow 26-23 half-time lead.

The difference was still just three points at the end of the third period (45-42). Nia Roberts scored 7 points in the quarter for MAGS while Maia Bennett tallied 9 for St Kent’s.

An exciting fourth quarter looked in prospect but the St Kent’s challenge faded as they were held to just 5 points in the closing frame. Siena-Rose Tawera and Gianna Tiatia combined for a dozen points to close out win number nine for MAGS.

St Kentigern 49 – Tuumaialu 17, Bennett 12, Rangihaeata 10

MAGS 57 – Clarken 28, Tiatia 8, Roberts 7, Tawera 6

Baradene College suffered few alarms as they overcame St Mary’s College 76-35. 

Christiana Setu led the way for St Mary’s with 10 points while for Baradene Ritorya Tamilo, Deyna Topia, Amelia Nathen and Poppy Cavanagh-Briggs were each in double figures.

Baradene 76 – Topia 18, Tamilo 17, Nathan 16, Cavanagh-Briggs 11, Daisy Parke 6

St Mary’s 35 – Setu 10, Eva Tuala 6, Tamzin Jakeman 6

Standings

10-2 Westlake, Epsom

9-3 MAGS

6-6 Takapuna

5-7 St Kent’s

4-8 Baradene

3-9 Northcote

1-10 St Mary’s

The top four places have been confirmed following the Auckland Secondary Schools Boys Premier Grade Round 12 results. Come semi-finals time Mt Albert Grammar, Rosmini College, St Kentigern College and Auckland Grammar will contest the semi-final play-offs although the match-ups are yet to be decided.

Mt Albert Grammar School preserved their unbeaten record but it was a close run thing as they recovered from being 70-62 down with 72 seconds to play to take St Kentigern College into overtime before eventually winning 85-80.

Ahead 50-49 at three-quarter time St Kent’s built an advantage through the final period with Cooper Lepou, George Turner and Hunter Te Ratana making contributions – when  Merrick Rillstone made it an 8-point game with 1:12 on the clock a home victory looked on the cards.

However MAGS had other ideas as Louis Uri and skipper Kade Cartwright made scores before in the hectic finish Harri Coker-Gray tied proceedings from the foul line.

Rillstone made 6 points in the extra period for St Kent’s but the combined efforts of Cartwright, Coker-Gray, Uri, Stepan Kosenko and their “Get out of Jail” card earned MAGS their twelfth straight win and an almost certain regular season title.  

MAGS had the better of the opening salvo carving out a 20-16 lead – six points each from Cartwright and Coker-Grey.

Ten points from Lepou in the second helped St Kent’s share the spoils in the period – their deficit 39-35 at the main break.

The game swung the way of St Kent’s after the interval as they kept their rivals to 10 points in the third period to edge ahead 50-49. The momentum stayed with the hosts until that crazy seventy-odd seconds played out.

St Kent’s 80 – Te Ratana 20, Rillstone 20, Turner 18, Lepou 15

MAGS 85 – Cartwright 21, Coker-Grey 21/10rebs, Uri 20/15rebs, Kosenko 12, Dante Tapulaaia 6

A career high 27 points from Jackson Kiss propelled Auckland Grammar to an 86-76 win at Sacred Heart College.

Kiss scored 10 points in the opening spell and with Lawson Pryor adding half a dozen Grammar were 20-13 ahead.

Eleven points from Ryan Hunt kept the Grammar score ticking along but Heart were humming in the second – 7 points from Matt Schuler and 6 from Jamie Vile meant the hosts trailed by just a point (41-40) at half-time.

It remained tight after the resumption before scores late in the third from Preston Tuaputa and Tyler Wilson-Voyce gave Heart a 64-63 lead.

Matt Fautuaalii-Taia and Tuaputa scored all of Heart’s fourth quarter points but they weren’t enough to hold off a fast finishing Grammar with Roera Tipene and Kiss carrying the visitors to victory. 

Sacred Heart 76 – Fautuaalii-Taia 17,Vile 13, Tuaputa 12, Matt Schuler 11, Sam Snowdon 10 

AGS 86 – Kiss 27, Hunt 12, Josh Howes 12, Lipoi Tupou 10, Pryor 10, Tipene 8

Making the most from snaffling offensive rebounds Max Mudford posted 6 first quarter points as Rangitoto kept pace with Rosmini through the opening minutes trailing by just a single point at quarter time (18-17).

A Josh Batty three opened the second quarter scoring, a period where Rangi struggled for points – a Chris Wyllie triple meant the half-time score was 36-24 in favour of the hosts.

Joel Brown, headed to a game high 26 points, Mudford and Elyas Taher pegged bag the deficit to seven points early in the third before a Bart Jackowski three and jumpers from Zion Anderson and Josh Wyllie restored Rosmini’s double figure lead.

A Harlan Roudon finish in traffic propelled Rosmini to a 56-40 three-quarter time lead.

Taher, Mudford and Kyle Buenaflor put together a 9-0 Rangi run before Batty and Jackowski took the game away from their opponents – the Rosmini duo combined for 13 points in three minutes to extinguish the Rangi challenge.

The home support were on their feet in the final two minutes as Nikau Robertson and Kevin Goldstein scored late baskets to close out the win. 

Rosmini 82 – Jackowski 15, J Wyllie 15, Batty 10, Anderson 10, Jameer Reed 8, Roudon 7

Rangitoto 59 – Brown 26, Mudford 13, Taher 13, Buenaflor 5

Paced by 26 points from Troy Supple Westlake Boys High made the most of home court advantage to defeat St Peter’s College 104-91.

Gabriel Ames scored 7 points in the opening stanza for Westlake but St Peter’s benefitted from 8 points from Spencer Carr to forge a 27-19 lead.

In contrast the second spell went almost entirely the way of Westlake. Braden Gibb tallied 7 points and Malachi Book 6 as Westlake enjoyed scoring contributions from seven players in the spell to carry a 50-43 lead into the half-time break. 

The pace of scoring didn’t let up after the interval. 50 points were scored in the third period as Westlake increased their advantage to 77-66. Supple dominated the period with 16 points – Caleb Afeaki keeping the visitors in touch with 9 points.

Gus Dallow and Bryan Curtis-Marsters attempted to reduce the deficit in the closing ten minutes but Noah Rasmussen and Book closed the page on win number five for Westlake.

Westlake 104 – Supple 26, Rasmussen 18, Gibb 14, Book 11, Max Riechelmamm 10, Ames 7

St Peter’s 91 – Carr 19, Curtis-Marsters 18, Dallow 18, Afeaki 15

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Standings

11-0 MAGS

10-2 Rosmini

8-3 AGS

8-4 St Kentigern

5-7 Westlake

2-10 Rangitoto, Sacred Heart

1-11 St Peter’s

July 31, 2023

In the Auckland Secondary Schools Girl’s Senior A competition Rangitoto College made it nine consecutive victories with an 85-61 win at Carmel College in the North Harbour derby.

In an even first half Rangi led 21-17 at quarter time helped by a couple of threes from Mela Andrews.

Andrews was up to 13 points by half-time with Eva Veale on 10. Leighton Esera scored 9 points for Carmel who were just five points adrift at the interval (37-32).

Ella Drake scored 6 points after the resumption but that was matched by Sienna Maurice as Rangi moved ahead 62-48 with ten minutes to play.

Zahara Tibbotts took her contribution into double figures but Rangi were able to stretch their advantage further in the final stanza as Maia Pirie and McAsey added to their tallies. 

Carmel 61 – Drake 16, Zahara Tibbotts 13, Esera 11, Imogen O’Rourke 8, Annie Gaylard 8

Rangitoto 85 – Andrews 17, McAsey 17, Pirie 14, Veale 11, Madison Skelton 9, Maurice 8, Esther Roberts 7

Auckland Girls Grammar kept their top four hopes alive with a 66-42 home win against Avondale College.

The opening quarter went the way of Grammar 23-19 while in stark contrast Avondale won the second period 19-7. Avondale’s Hayley Abbott led all scorers at half-time with 13 points.

Ryn Nikoia scored the first 6 points after the interval and with Faith Hurt also scoring half a dozen the Grammar lead ballooned to 48-32 at three-quarter time.

From there it was plain sailing for the hosts.

AGGS 67 – F Hurt 20, R Nikoia 14, Harmony Hurt 10, Grady Nikoia 10, Zara Avaulii 6, 

Avondale 42 – Abbott 14, Shiloh Caffery 13, Zion Mann 5

A strong first half performance laid the platform for Manurewa High School’s 83-61 home win against One Tree Hill College.

Shirley Tuilimu scored 10 points in the opening quarter as Manurewa built a 22-12 lead. With Beautiful Campbell doing the same in quarter two the Manurewa advantage was 47-26 at half-time.

One Tree Hill fought back strongly in the third quarter winning the period 20-13 with Harriate Heta and Kizyra Thompson in good scoring form.

Six points apiece in the fourth quarter from Alyssa Uluheua and Tuilimu closed out the Manurewa victory. 

Manurewa 83 – Tuilimu 20, Campbell 19, Emily Tanira 15, Astrid Henricks 12, Wai Hetaraka-Brown 7

OTH 61 – Heta 18, Thompson 17, Syriah Muipu 14

Mt Roskill had the bye.

Senior A Girls Standings

9-0 Rangitoto

8-2 Manurewa, 

6-3 Carmel

5-5 Mt Roskill

4-5 AGGS

2-8 One Tree Hill

0-10 Avondale

*Massey High School have withdrawn from the competition

July 31, 2023

In a top of the table clash Northcote College recorded an 84-78 come from behind victory against Liston College to preserve their unbeaten record.

Northcote trailed 62-57 at three-quarter time but outscored their opponents 32-16 in the closing stages to move a step closer to claiming the Senior A regular season title.

Aaron Sievert scored 16 of his 39 points in those closing minutes and with Taine Cook and Shunta Shinzaki lending good support Northcote were able to run past Liston down the stretch.

Liston had made the better start getting out to a 25-19 first quarter lead – 7 points for Dhon Lao in that spell.

The six point lead was improved marginally to eight points by half-time. Lao and Rasheed Ieremia combined for 14 points as Liston carried a 44-36 advantage into the third period.

Giovanni Helu knocked down three triples in the third for Liston but 8 points from Sievert plus contributions from Tzion Manoa and Shinzaki meant the Northcote deficit had been trimmed to 5 points (62-57) at the last break.

Helu sunk his fourth triple of the game but the tide turned in Northcote’s favour allowing Sievert to orchestrate an eleventh win on the bounce.

Liston 78 – Lao 24, Helu 16, Ronnie Juan 14, Ieremia 11

Northcote 84 – Sievert 39, Manoa 12, Cook 12, Shinzaki 10

A decisive second quarter from Selwyn College led them to a 90-65 win against Avondale College. 

Selwyn had shaded the opening period 18-13 but put their foot to the floor in the second speeding to a 50-23 lead as they drained six threes in the period.

Selwyn went on to make 14 triples in the contest with Somin Mohit, Ashton Muraahi, Luca Vietri, Archie Elliot, Finn Bogaert, Alfred Casiple and Lui Pukeiti all contributors from beyond the arc.

Akram Al Wakeel and Deuel Lelaulu led the Avondale resistance with 19 and 13 points respectively.

Selwyn 90 – Muraahi 20, Casiple 19, Vietri 17, Bogaert 9, Elliot 6, Zavier Atatoa 6

Avondale 65 – Al Wakeel 19, Lelaulu 13, Liam Takenaka-Wesley 10, Jaycob Holmes 9

Mt Roskill Grammar School defeated Kelston Boys High 106-69 with Mitchell Greenaway tallying 31 points for the victors.

There was little between the two teams in the opening half. Wai Tonga landed a couple of threes for Roskill in the opening exchanges with Real Wheaton bagging 8 points for Kelston as they trailed 24-20 at quarter time. 

Rodman Fuaivaa and Alec Phillips shared 13 points in the second with a balanced Roskill scoring effort carrying them to a 48-39 half-time lead.

Roskill would break the game open in the third period outscoring their hosts 29-9 with Greenaway, Alfred Kerr and Ngawaka Rakete doing most the damage.

The win restores Roskill’s second place position on the Senior A ladder.

Kelston 69 – Wheaton 17, Fuaivaa 15, Phillips 14, Sione Filimoehala 11

Mt Roskill 106 – Greenaway 31, Tonga 13, Rakete 11, Josh Wadams 10, Ryan Aramoana 10

The Manurewa High School v Dilworth School fixture will be played on August 2.

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Boy’s Senior A Standings

11-0 Northcote

8-3 Mt Roskill

7-4 Liston

5-6 Selwyn

4-7 Kelston

4-5 Dilworth

3-7 Manurewa

0-10 Avondale

July 30 

In a game in which two players produced 40-point performances Takapuna Grammar School beat Baradene College 86-79.

In a sign of things to come Deyna Topia and Ritorya Tamilo combined for all of  Baradene’s 24 first quarter points while Bailey Flavell nabbed 17 of Takapuna’s 25.

Flavell would go on to tally 48 points with Tamilo totaling 43. The pair weren’t without support however as Baradene point guard Deyna Topia came up with a season high 31 points and Takapuna’s Amy McKenzie tallied 20 points while Nahikari Illarramendi chipped in with 9 points.

The two teams went toe to toe throughout with Takapuna leading by just five points (49-44) at half-time and six points at three-quarter time (62-56).

That pattern continued in the final spell as Takapuna shaded the period 24-23 with Flavell’s 17 fourth quarter points moving Takapuna closer to a top-four finish.

Takapuna 86 –  Flavell 48, McKenzie 20, Illarramendi 9

Baradene 79 – Tamilo 43, Topia 31

Westlake Girls High School, with six players in double figures, scored an emphatic 114-41 home win against St Kentigern College.

Ash Tuumaialu scored 11 of St Kent’s 14 first quarter points but Westlake piled on 28 with Zenthia Stowers making 8 of those.

Amy Pateman posted 14 second quarter points and Rebecca Moors added 7 as Westlake stretched their advantage to 58-25 at half-time.

St Kent’s were unable to repel the red wave in the second half – the Westlake win keeping them top of the Premier ladder.

Westlake 114 – Pateman 26, Moors 19, Stowers 14, Emily Schroeder 14, Lily Fotu 12, Elin Vincent 12

St Kentigern 41 – Tuumaialu 19, Kilani Tuineau 7, Gigi Forster 5

Hot on the heels of Westlake are Epsom Girls Grammar and they secured another victory with a strong showing against Northcote College winning 76-56.

Leah Patuwairua and Draun Forbes combined for 15 points as Epsom shaded the opening frame 22-18.

Seven points in the second period from Lily Morgan and threes from Lizzie May and Nikki Gear kept Northcote in the hunt – down 40-33 at half-time.

The gap widened in the third quarter as Threes from Maya Fowler and Forbes helped stretch the Epsom lead to 56-43 with ten minutes to play.

Year 9 debutant Kyra Tuihalangie-Midson got in on the scoring act, as did Andrea Ape-Paia, as Epsom pulled away to a 20-point win.

Epsom 76 – Forbes 29, Fowler 14, Patuwairua 11, Savana Feite 8

Northcote 56 – Morgan 14, Nikki Gear 11, May 10, DJ Hannah 9, Lisa Gear 8

Mt Albert Grammar kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive with a comfortable 99-29 win against St Mary’s College.

Opening up an initial 28-5 lead they were never troubled as six players scored eight points or more. Tamzin Jakeman top scored for St Marys with 10 points.

St Mary’s 29 – Jakeman 10, Olive Maling 6

MAGS 99 – Wai Clarken 22, Jorjia Fiu 16, Peyton Uri 16, Emina Tiatia 11, Phoenix Kaipo 10, Lara Cocker-Lemalie 8

Standings

10-1 Westlake

9-2 Epsom 

8-3 MAGS

5-6 St Kent’s, Takapuna

3-8 Baradene, Northcote

1-10 St Mary’s