LACEY LOWDOWN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Current Standings:

6-0 Rosmini

5-1 Westlake

3-2 AGS, St Kentigern

2-3 Rangitoto, MAGS

1-5 Sacred Heart

0-6 Liston

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shoutout to Shilo Caffery who scored 16 points for Avondale.

Avondale 24 – Caffery 16, Maria Aoyagi 3

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

Standings:

5-0 Takapuna, Northcote

4-1 Massey

3-2 Manurewa

1-4 AGGS, Mt Roskill, One Tree Hill

0-5 Avondale

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