LACEY LOWDOWN

Day two at the 2018 Schick Secondary Schools Nationals threw up its fair share of surprises.

In Pool C of the AA Girls Tournament Queen Margaret College remain unbeaten with a 3-0 record. Rangi Ruru got the better of Rotorua Girls 61-45 in the early game on Tuesday but then went down to St Mary’s Ponsonby 76-58. Mt Albert Grammar, despite a 68-56 loss to Queen Margaret sits second with two wins and a loss equal with Rotorua Girls High.

Pool D action saw Auckland Girls Grammar preserve their unbeaten record with a 64-52 win against Napier Girls High. These two teams plus Hamilton Girls High (also 3-0) look likely to be play-off bound.

In Pool B St Peter’s Cambridge, winners in 2016 and 2017 have won three straight games as have Hutt Valley High.

Westlake Girls sit top of Pool A with four wins alongside Sacred Heart Girls College, New Plymouth. Rangitoto College are also well placed to progress from the group.

The semi-finalists have been found in the Girls A competition with favourites Manukura and Ellesmere College progressing from Pool A. Te Aroha College join them from Pool B having defeated Stratford High (that also qualify) in the last pool game late on Tuesday.

 Mt Albert Grammar continued its strong showing in Pool A of the Boys AA Tournament. They have won four games straight to secure a play-off berth including a 76-69 defeat of Rongotai College. Rosmini pipped Hamilton Boys 72-69 with those two teams and Rongotai fighting for the remaining two spots in post pool play.

 Cashmere High appears to be on course to sweep Pool D although with two rounds to play. However Napier Boys are lurking at 2-1 with the two to meet late on Wednesday.

 With two rounds to play in Pool C each team has recorded at least one loss and no team is unbeaten – there is plenty to play for on Wednesday for all six teams. In two tight encounters Hastings Boys defeated Auckland Grammar 94-92 and in an equally tight affair Otago Boys downed Palmerston North Boys High 73-70.

In Pool B Westlake Boys and St Kentigern both have unblemished 3-0 records – the two teams clash in the final round of games on Wednesday. With two rounds to play both Rotorua Boys and St John’s, Hamilton still harbour hopes of a top three place.

In one of the best games of the day Stratford High beat Te Aroha College by the slimmest of margins 63-62 in their A Boys Pool A match up. Stratford finished the day 4-0 to book a semi-final place

In Pool B Opunake High have also claimed a semi-final slot as they also boast a 4-0 record.

The other two semi-final berths will be claimed early on Wednesday when the last round of pool games are completed.

 Boys AA Tournament standings after Day 2

Teams listed in order of seeding.

Pool A

Rosmini College 3-1

Rongotai College 2-2

Hamilton Boys HS 3-1

New Plymouth Boys HS 0-4

St Andrew’s College 0-4

Mt Albert GS 4-0

Pool B

St Kentigern College 3-0

Westlake Boys HS 3-0

Shirley Boys HS 0-3

St John’s College 2-1

Rotorua Boys HS 1-2

Fraser HS 0-3

Pool C

Rangitoto College 1-2

Auckland GS 1-2

Palmerston North Boys HS 2-1

Middleton Grange 1-2

Otago Boys HS 2-1

Hastings Boys HS 2-1

Pool D

Cashmere HS 3-0

Napier Boys HS 3-0

St Patrick’s College, Kilbirnie 2-1

Waimea College 0-3

Tauranga Boys HS 0-3

Macleans College 1-2

Girls AA Tournament standings after Day 2

Pool A

Sacred Heart Girls College, New Plymouth 4-0

Westlake Girls HS 4-0

Rangitoto College 2-2

Christchurch Girls HS 1-3

Melville HS 1-3

Hillcrest HS 0-4

Pool B

St Peter’s, Cambridge 3-0

Hutt Valley HS 3-0

St Andrew’s College 2-1

Otago Girls HS 1-2

Wellington Girls College 0-3

Tauranga Girls College 0-3

Pool C

Mt Albert GS 2-1

Rotorua Girls HS 2-1

Rangi Ruru 1-2

Queen Margaret College, Wellington 3-0

St Mary’s College, Ponsonby 1-2

Massey HS 0-3

Pool D

Hamilton Girls HS 3-0

Auckland Girls GS 3-0

Napier Girls HS 2-1

Fraser HS 1-2

Waimea College 0-3

Palmerston North Girls HS 0-3

Boys A Tournament standings after Day 2

Pool A

Stratford HS 4-0

Manukura 3-1

St Kevin’s College 1-3

Te Aroha College 3-1

Tai Wananga 1-3

Rangiora New Life School 0-4

 Pool B

Hillmorton HS 2-2

Opunake HS 4-0

Waihi College 0-4

Dunstan HS 1-3

Catholic Cathedral College 2-2

Nga Taiatea Wharekura 3-1

Girls A Tournament standings after Day 2

Pool A

Manukura 3-0

Te Kura Kokiri 1-2

Kavanagh College 1-2

Ellesmere College 1-2 (Ellesmere progress to semi-final on points differential).

Pool B

Te Aroha College 4-0

Stratford HS 3-1

Buller HS 2-2

Te Wharekura o Mauao 0-4

Te Kuiti HS 1-3

Not too many teams progress to play-off action from sixth seed in their pool at the Schick Secondary Schools Nationals but Mt Albert Grammar have given themselves every opportunity after beating Rosmini College 53-50 in the first round of action on Monday in Palmerston North.

It is widely regarded as an upset but it should be noted that MAGS beat Rosmini early in the season on their way to a 13-1 record that took them to the Auckland Premier Grade regular season title. MAGS completed a good day’s work defeating New Plymouth Boys 79-65 in the afternoon game.

In the same Pool Hamilton Boys defeated Rongotai College by the surprising scoreline of 78-48.

The closest game of the day was in Pool A of the Boys A Tournament where Manukura defeated St Kevin’s College, Oamaru by the narrowest of margins 70-69. Other tight encounters were in the Girls A Tournament, Pool B where Te Aroha beat Buller 52-50 and in the AA Boys Pool B – St John’s College edging Shirley Boys 58-56. Over in Pool C Otago Boys edged Rangitoto College 65-63, while also in the last round of the day Palmerston North Boys shaded Auckland Grammar 66-62.

In Pool B top seed St Kentigern College were given a scare by Rotorua Boys High before prevailing 81-78, a second single figure loss on day 1 for Rotorua.

Pool C of the Boys AA Tournament looks wide open with five of the six teams registering W’s on the opening day.

Hutt Valley recorded a significant win in Pool B of the AA Girls comp defeating St Andrews 74-59. Pretty much all other girls results in the AA competition followed the form book.

Boys AA Tournament standings after Day 1

(Teams listed in order of seeding.)

Pool A

Rosmini College 1-1

Rongotai College 1-1

Hamilton Boys HS 2-0

New Plymouth Boys HS 0-2

St Andrew’s College 0-2

Mt Albert GS 2-0

Pool B

St Kentigern College 2-0

Westlake Boys HS 2-0

Shirley Boys HS 0-2

St John’s College 2-0

Rotorua Boys HS 0-2

Fraser HS 0-2

Pool C 

Rangitoto College 1-1

Auckland GS 1-1

Palmerston North Boys HS 2-0

Middleton Grange 0-2

Otago Boys HS 1-1

Hastings Boys HS 1-1

Pool D

Cashmere HS 1-0

Napier Boys HS 1-0

St Patrick’s College, Kilbirnie 1-0

Waimea College 0-1

Tauranga Boys HS 0-1

Macleans College 0-1

Girls AA Tournament standings after Day 1

Pool A

Sacred Heart Girls College, New Plymouth 2-0

Westlake Girls HS 2-0

Rangitoto College 1-1

Christchurch Girls HS 1-1

Melville HS 0-2

Hillcrest HS 0-2

Pool B 

St Peter’s, Cambridge 2-0

Hutt Valley HS 2-0

St Andrew’s College 1-1

Otago Girls HS 1-1

Wellington Girls College 0-2

Tauranga Girls College 0-2

Pool C

Mt Albert GS 1-0

Rotorua Girls HS 1-0

Rangi Ruru 0-1

Queen Margaret College, Wellington 1-0

St Mary’s College, Ponsonby 0-1

Massey HS 0-1

Pool D

Hamilton Girls HS 1-0

Auckland Girls GS 1-0

Napier Girls HS 1-0

Fraser HS 0-1

Waimea College 0-1

Palmerston North Girls HS 0-1

Boys A Tournament standings after Day 1

Pool A

Stratford HS 2-0

Manukura 2-0

St Kevin’s College 0-2

Te Aroha College 2-0

Tai Wananga 0-2

Rangiora New Life School 0-2

Pool B

Hillmorton HS 0-2

Opunake HS 2-0

Waihi College 0-2

Dunstan HS 1-1

Catholic Cathedral College 1-1

Nga Taiatea Wharekura 2-0

Girls A Tournament standings after Day 1

Pool A

Manukura 2-0

Te Kura Kokiri 1-1

Kavanagh College 0-2

Ellesmere College 1-1

Pool B

Te Aroha College 2-0

Stratford HS 2-0

Buller HS 1-1

Te Wharekura o Mauao 0-2

Te Kuiti HS 0-2

The Schick Championships begin in Palmerston North on Monday with sixty-nine teams vying for four titles.

The Boy’s A champs Stratford High School and AA champs Rosmini College return to defend their titles.

The Girls tournaments will see new champions crowned with neither Opunake High or St Mary’s College, Wellington making it through the qualifying tournaments to defend the A and AA championships respectively.

Full preview

Basketball New Zealand had a record number of entries for the ‘A’ and ‘AA’ Schick Secondary Schools Qualifying Tournaments that took place last week.

Competition was fierce for the 72 spots available in Palmerston North next month. Here is a wrap on all the qualifiers.

Read more

The final three Schick National Championships qualifying spots in the Boys Tournament along with the Zone 1 championship titles were decided on Saturday at the Schick Premierships Zone 1 Qualifiers.

The Championship games were won by Rosmini College and Mt Albert Grammar Girls, both teams adding the Zone 1 Premierships title to the Auckland Premier Grade trophies they had claimed a couple of weeks ago.

In addition to those championship games there was also great interest in the trio of qualifying games.

Macleans College and Westlake were the first to secure trips to Palmerston North with wins against Selwyn College and Mt Albert respectively. Westlake were taken to the last possession of the game by MAGS before winning 85-83 but Macleans enjoyed a far more comfortable passage winning 103-56.

That left Selwyn and Westlake to contest the winner takes all 7^th/8^th play-off game.

Selwyn played their regular season games two tiers below Mt Albert and the difference in level of competition showed as MAGS claimed an easy 94-52 victory to claim the seventh and final qualifying place.

Rosmini were led by Mitch Dance (23 points), Kruz Perrott-Hunt and Marvin Williams-Dunn (16 points) as they beat St Kentigern 113-77 in the final. Shalom Broughton (17 points) and the tireless Alex McNaught (13 points) were outstanding in defeat.

Boys Results:

FINAL

Rosmini 113 – M Dance 23, K Perrott-Hunt 19, M Williams-Dunn 16, S Murphy 10

St Kentigern 77 – S Broughton 17, A McNaught 13, L Kerr 10, E Watson 9, M Shorter 9

 3^rd/4^th

Rangitoto 104 – H Payne 46, L McIntosh 22, E Skelton 13, T Te Puni 8, O Paea 8

AGS 91 – A Rissetto 27, C Ngan 14, T Caldwell 14, I Tela 10, O Shosanya 10

 5^th/6th

Westlake 101 – J Kooiman 18, J Wuthrich 18, S Mennenga 14, D Clayton 13, C Atkinson 13, D Wilkie 13

Macleans 70 – M Barbaran 14, H Smith 13, P Cheuk 12, R Jiang 10

 7^th/8^th

Mt Albert 94 – M Dorcill 22, T Hurdley 18, R Royce 15, N Wilson 11

Selwyn 52 – L Basobas 12, N Hughes 9, L Cheang 6, P Sawyer 6

For the second time in a fortnight Mt Albert Grammar got the better of Auckland Girls Grammar although it was mighty tight with only two points separating the two teams.

Down two of there starters due to injury AGGS hung around gamely with Mele Latu (15 points) leading from the front. However a game high 21 points from Sharne Pupuke-Robati and 13 points from Jada Manase were the major contributors to MAGS championship success.

Girls Results:

FINAL

MAGS 55 – S Pupuke-Robati 21, J Manase 13, R Fiatau 8, M Va’ai 7

AGGS 53 – M Latu 15, I Noble 10, L Tuaiti 10, H Blakey 9, Z Hettig 8

 3^rd/4th

Westlake 89 – E Shearer 20, P Manolas 15, J Moors 13, M Davidson 13

Rangitoto 63 – H Wentworth 13, A Rogers 11, R Blackstock 8, I Elgar 8, G Hasler-Ewins 8

 5^th/6^th

St Mary’s 86 – J Kailahi-Fulu 25, Z Kailahi-Fulu 21, S Te Nana-Williams 14, T Malolo 7

Massey 61 – S Povey 13, L Jost 12, R Fuiavaa 11, K Leslie 11

7^th/8^th

Carmel 88 – T Dalton 40, E Broomfield 12, E Davidson 11, Q Stephano 10

Epsom 68 – S Aruwa 16, F Dallow 15, A Todd-Pemerika 15, S Scoular 13

In summary the qualifiers for the Shick Secondary Schools National Championships from the Girls Tournament are AGGS, MAGS, Westlake, Rangitoto, Massey and St Mary’s.

Progressing from the Boys Tournament are Rosmini, St Kentigern, Rangitoto, AGS, Westlake, Macleans and MAGS.