The 2019 ‘AA’ Schick Championships Secondary Schools Nationals begin next Monday (30 September) with 24 teams contesting both the Boys and Girls Tournaments.
‘AA’ Boys
The Doug Harford Trophy, presented annually to the Boys’ champions, is held by Rosmini College. The back-to-back champions are top seeds in Pool C of the Boy’s Tournament with recently capped Tall Black Taine Murray heading Rozza’s campaign. Their main opponents in the pool appear to be Hamilton Boys’ High and Westlake Boys’ High School although St Patrick’s College Kilbirnie, Otago Boys’ High and Tauranga Boys’ College will be hoping to cause a few upsets along the way.
Otago Boys’ (once), Westlake Boys’ (5 times) and St Pat’s Kilbirnie (4 times) have had the Doug Harford Trophy adorn their trophy cabinet previously and their leaders Mitchell Hughan (Otago), Sam Mennenga (Westlake) and Filimone Waqabaca (St Pat’s) would love to leave Palmerston North with winner’s medals.
Pool D is headed by Zone 2 Premiership winners St John’s College, Hamilton with Akiva McBirney-Griffin and Finn Lally looking to make a splash. St John’s, winners of nationals way back in 1996, are touted by many to go all the way again this year.
Standing in their way will be Auckland Premier League heavyweights Auckland Grammar and Rangitoto College.
Harry Payne and Zach Riley are significant contributors for Rangitoto, who were Schick Champions as recently as 2015 and 2016. They’re coached by Tall Blacks great Lindsay Tait, while Auckland Grammar School has a dynamic backcourt in the form of Junior Tall Black Jaga Mete and Under 17 New Zealand marksman Connor Ngan.
St Andrew’s College was the second-placed team at the Zone 4 Premierships and will be testing opposition for the top three seeds particularly if Mac Stoddard plays as well as he did for the U17 NZ team recently.
Shirley Boys’ High School and Whangarei Boys’ High complete Pool D, both returning to Nationals for the first time since 2010.
St Kentigern College, winners of the Zone 1 Premiership and the form team in Auckland, head Pool A with Shalom Broughton, an Under 18 3×3 New Zealand representative this year, wanting to sign off his high school career in style.
Canterbury Schools winners Middleton Grange added the Zone 4 Premiership to their trophy cabinet recently and will test St Kent’s as will Napier Boys’ High and Gisborne. Thompson Trophy MVP Ben Carlile-Smith will be a major force for Middleton Grange School.
Mt Albert Grammar, with Nate Wilson a centre to be respected, and Nayland College make up a competitive pool.
St Patrick’s College, Silverstream are one of four Zone 3 teams in Pool B. St Pat’s Stream carry the tag of second seeds in the Pool behind Pohlen Cup runners-up and Premiership champions Scots College and will be looking for Julius Korent to help pace their challenge.
Scots have Tafara Gapara, MVP at the FIBA Under 15 Oceania Championships last year, and Haven Dixon to lead their bid for a quarter-final spot. Pohlen Cup champions Tawa and Rongotai College round out representation from the capital. Expect Joshua Johnson, Ben Gold (both Tawa) and Jaylin To’o (Rongotai) to feature strongly.
Strong opposition will come from Premiership bronze medallists Cashmere High School from Zone 4 and Rotorua Boys’ High School from Zone 2.
Cashmere big man Thomas Webley will no doubt take the experience gained at the FIBA 3×3 Under 18 Asia Cup in Malaysia on to the court for the Cantabrians.
‘AA’ Girls
The holders of the C.A. Clarke and Stone Trophy awarded to the Girls’ ‘AA’ Schick Championship are St Peter’s School, Cambridge. St Peter’s are chasing a fourth title in five years, although they will have to manage without Charlisse Leger-Walker for some games during the early rounds in Pool A.
Leger-Walker is on international duty with the New Zealand Tall Ferns at the Asia Cup in India. That Tournament concludes on Sunday 29 September with Leger-Walker, the youngest ever Tall Fern, not due in Palmerston North until late Tuesday.
The defending champion’s biggest challengers in pool play would appear to be Carmel College, Manukura and Rotorua Girls’ High School.
A regular teammate of Leger-Walker on age-group international duties over the past couple of years has been Tayla Dalton and she will be key to Carmel’s fortunes.
2018 Schick ‘A’ champions Manukura have made the step up to the ‘AA’ championship and will be hoping for good things from Rochelle Fourie and Parris Mason.
Rounding out the six in Pool A are Rangiora High School and Napier Girls’ High School who expect Melika Samia to shine.
Zone 3 champions Sacred Heart Girls’ College, New Plymouth, with the frontcourt punch of Izzy Cook and Raquel Sampson, may be slight favourites to top Pool B but there are two top-three finishers from the 2018 Schick Championships alongside them. Hutt Valley High School were the runners-up and Westlake Girls’ High School were third.
Hutt Valley, the 2019 Wellington School’s Sharp Cup winners, will be led by Jenna-Rose Mafua, while Westlake will be returning with most of last year’s team. This includes Emme Shearer, who was recently included in a Tall Ferns extended squad of 24 players. Westlake beat Sacred Heart in pool play last year so expect the rematch to be hotly contested.
Melville High School, St Andrew’s College and nationals debutants Baradene College round out the rest of Pool B.
St Mary’s College, Ponsonby recently completed the double of Auckland Premier League and Premiership titles and will be favourites to emerge from Pool C unscathed, with Jazz and Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu forming a strong frontcourt combination.
Christchurch Girls’ High School, the Zone 4 champions, will prove tough opposition, as will the ever-improving Rangitoto College with Hannah Wentworth and Aroha Riley capable of putting up points. Expect Sammy Arnold and Violet Eaton to shine for CGHS.
Hauraki Plains College and One Tree Hill College are a pair of surprise packages and along with Tauranga Girls’ College will aim to give the big guns a scare.
Hamilton Girls’ High School, runners-up in the Zone 2 Premierships Final, are in Pool D hoping for a top-four finish when the tournament concludes. Riva Walker-Pitman and Koha Lewis will lead the Hamilton Girls’ campaign.
Paris Lokotui will play a major role if Queen Margaret College is to upset Hamilton. Also, keep an eye on Wellington East Girls’ College who will be keen to topple their Zone 3 neighbours.
The remaining teams in Pool D are from the South Island with Maia Williamson and Fia Li Kong pushing the pace for Middleton Grange as they play an up-tempo style of game.
Rangi Ruru Girls’ College, with Ashlee Strawbridge to the fore, won the Canterbury Schools Whelan Trophy, the pinnacle of Canterbury basketball. Rounding out the group are Otago Girls’ High School, who will have Hannah Matehaere and Libby Briggs controlling proceedings.
SCHICK CHAMPIONSHIPS:
‘A’ SCHICK CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tournament Dates: 30 September – 3 October
City: Palmerston North
Host: Basketball Manawatu
Venue: Central Energy Trusts Arena
‘AA’ SCHICK CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tournament Dates: 30 September – 5 October
City: Palmerston North
Host: Basketball Manawatu
Venue: Central Energy Trusts Arena
Draw available here.
* The ‘A’ tournament is for schools that have a roll of less than 600 pupils for co-ed schools or less than 300 for single-gender schools. The ‘AA’ tournament is for schools with school roles over those figures.
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