The finalists have been found at the 2018 Schick Championships ‘AA’ National Secondary School Basketball Championships.
The Girl’s Final will feature Hutt Valley High School and, returning for a fourth straight final, St Peter’s School Cambridge.
St Patrick’s College Kilbirnie and defending champions Rosmini College will match up in the Boy’s Final.
AA Girls Semi-Final one: Westlake Girls High School v Hutt Valley High School
In the first girls’ semi-final, Westlake High’s winning run ended at six games as Hutt Valley dominated from start to finish to win 73-45.
Hutt Valley’s success was built around the all-court game of Captain Leah Mafua (32 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists) and an outstanding shooting performance – they converted 12 from 23 (52%) from beyond the arc.
A 25-13 opening salvo, with 14 of the points from Mafua, propelled Hutt Valley to a 25-13 first-quarter lead.
The lead extended to 21 points early in the second quarter and 25 points by half-time (54-29) as Jordan Rangitawa (19 points and 11 rebounds), Jasmine Troke, and the Mafua’s Jenna-Rose and Leah all connected with threes.
Westlake’s Jordyn Maddix and Emme Shearer posted double figures, but it wasn’t enough as Hutt Valley’s lead increased to 73-45 at the three-quarter mark.
Westlake scored the first seven points of the final frame as Tabitha Leyson provided some spark off the bench, but Hutt Valley had little trouble closing out the win.
FINAL SCORE:
- Hutt Valley 87 – L Mafua 32/10r, J Rangitawa 19/11r, J Mafua 13, J Troke 11
- Westlake 61 – E Shearer 15/13r, J Maddix 11, T Leyson 8, M Davidson 7
AA Girls Semi-Final two: St Peter’s College Cambridge v Queen Margaret College Wellington
St Peter’s College has booked its ticket for a fourth straight ‘AA’ Grand final after beating Queen Margaret College Wellington (QMC), 79-36.
QMC’s Grace Hunter and Rosie Campbell dropped early threes, but 11 points from Charlisse Leger-Walker ensured an 18-8 first quarter lead for St Peter’s.
QMC forward Paris Lokotui made a couple of baskets, but Waita Jennings scored with a left handed floater and Leger-Walker dropped another three as St Peter’s stretched its lead to 26-12.
Outstanding St Peter’s defence was fuelling its offence, with a twenty point lead (32-12) with three minutes to play in the second quarter.
A put back by Ohawini Kingi and a pair of baskets from Ella Bradley stretched the advantage further – QMC kept to six points in the stanza and behind 40-14 at half-time.
Diminutive guard Rosie Campbell scored baskets early in the second half for QMC as they fashioned an 8-2 run.
An Alana Paewai drive and a Bradley triple reasserted the St Peter’s dominance, the Waikato team in complete control at the last break with a 57-24 lead.
Jayze’Lee Waihi finished with aplomb, as did Paewai, as St Peter’s put the seal on a comprehensive victory.
FINAL SCORE:
- St Peter’s 79 –C Leger-Walker 30, E Bradley 14, A Paewai 10, W Jennings 8
- Queen Margaret College 36 – T Sopoaga 10, P Lokotui 9, G Hunter 7
AA Boys’ Semi-Final one: St Patrick’s College Kilbirnie v St John’s College Hamilton
In the first boy’s ‘AA’ semi-final, the battle of the ‘Saints’ was won by St Patrick’s College Kilbirnie as they eked out an exciting 70-69 win against St John’s College Hamilton, a game that saw ten ties and eleven lead changes with neither side able to gain any sustained period of control.
St Pat’s established an early 22-13 lead on the back of transition baskets and threes from Josh Hori and Filimone Waqabaca.
Eleven second-quarter points from shooting guard Kael Robinson narrowed the St Pat’s advantage before treys from Logan Rush and Wiremu Jones tied proceedings – 36 points apiece at half-time.
St John’s Coach Puke Lenden wasn’t happy with his team giving up seven unanswered points at the start of the second-half, pulling four of his starters in one substitution. The move paid dividends as St John’s scored the next five points before St Pat’s Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones made a bucket. The St Pat’s Captain earned a series of visits to the free-throw line to keep his team ahead before Simon Lafaele gave a St John’s a one possession lead (51-50) late in the third.
Hori and Kobe Olsen-Matara exchanged treys in the shadows of three-quarter time St John’s ahead 56-55 with ten minutes to play.
St John’s point guard Ethan Dromgool gave his team a seven points advantage before livewire guard Hori and Jeremiah Savali inspired a 9-0 St Pat’s run.
A thrilling final five minutes ensued as the lead was tied on multiple occasions, but a basket from Kobe Lolesio with 90 seconds to play proved to be the match-winning play. St Pat’s returns to the Grand-Final for the first time since 2008.
FINAL SCORE:
- St Pat’s 70 – A Tait-Jones 23/12r, F Waqabaca 17, J Hori 12, J Savali 10/12r
- St John’s 69 – S Lafaele 15/11r, K Robinson 13, E Dromgool 10, W Jones 5/10r
AA Boys Semi-final two: St Kentigern College v Rosmini College:
Rosmini College put together a dominant second quarter, outscoring their City Of Sails rivals 29-6 before eventually winning 91-65.
Shalom Broughton made five points late in the opening quarter to keep St Kentigern on the tails of Rosmini trailing 22-18 at the first break.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt dropped a couple of triples early in the second period, but St Kent’s swingman Max Shorter replied with one from beyond the arc.
Eight points from Mitch Dance and a Terrence Abdon three fuelled a 20-0 Rosmini run. The dominance of Rosmini’s second quarter performance capped by Abdon’s ‘Hail-Mary’ from his own half finding nothing but net on the half-time buzzer. Rosmini able to take a 51-24 lead into the break.
Broughton opened the second half with an And-1 play, Levic Kerr converted off the offensive glass, Shorter made a three and Alex McNaught scored in transition. The Rosmini lead was reduced to 58-36 in the middle stages of the third.
Rosmini were kept to 11 points in the third quarter and St Kent’s were back in contention trailing 64-44.
Back to back threes from Taine Murray kept Rosmini 20 points clear with seven minutes to play, but St Kentigern weren’t finished. Shorter and Kerr found their way to the basket: 77-61 with four minutes to play.
Reihana Maxwell-Topia eased the Rosmini nerves with a couple of threes, his team off to a second straight Schick Championships Grand Final.
FINAL SCORE:
- Rosmini 91 – M Dance 20/15r, K Perrott-Hunt 14, T Murray 14, R Maxwell-Topia 12
- St Kentigern 65 – S Broughton 21/15r, M Shorter 17, L Kerr 14, A McNaught 8
LIVESTATS:
- 3:30pm: AA Girls Grand Final – Hutt Valley High School V St Peters School
http://livestats.geniussports.com/webcast/BNZS/990587/
- 5:30pm: AA Boys Grand Final – St Patricks College V Rosmini College
http://livestats.geniussports.com/webcast/BNZS/990594/
LIVESTREAM TOMORROW ON WWW.MAORITELEVISION.COM:
- 9am: Westlake Girls High School vs Queen Margaret College (AA Girls 3/4 playoff)
- 10:45am: St John’s College, Hamilton vs Saint Kentigern (AA Boys 3/4 playoff)
- 3:30pm: Hutt Valley High School vs St Peter’s School, Cambridge, New Zealand (AA Girls Grand Final)
- 5:30: St Patrick’s College, Wellington vs Rosmini College Basketball (AA Boys Grand Final)
