Stratford High School and Manukura are the 2018 Schick Championships ‘A’ National Secondary School Basketball Champions. Manukura beat Ellesmere College 91-70 in the Girls’ Final and Stratford High School outlasted Te Aroha College 97-75 in the Boys’ Final.
The Schick Champs ‘AA’ semi-finalists have also been found with St Pat’s Kilbirnie, Rosmini College, St Kentigern College and St John’s Hamilton prevailing in the boys’ quarter-finals.
The girls’ quarter-finals victors were Westlake Girls High School, Hutt Valley High, Queen Margaret College (Wellington) and St Peter’s, Cambridge.
2018 Schick Championships Secondary Schools ‘A’ Boys Final
An outstanding performance from Tournament MVP Morgan Trott (33 points and 16 rebounds) led Stratford High School to back-to-back Schick ‘A’ titles.
A tight opening first quarter was edged by Stratford 26-22, four treys from Te Aroha College shooting guard Leon van den Heuvel catching the eye.
Fletcher Jennings took his points tally to a dozen but van den Heuvel landed another corner three to keep Te Aroha in touch (30-29).
Back to back buckets from Trott answered a Sergio Schuler inside basket and, when Jennings converted in transition, the Stratford lead was 40-31 and Te Aroha coach Alex Stojkovic required a time out.
Te Aroha responded with scores from Nick White and William Ratu – Stratford ahead 42-38 at the interval, van den Heuvel with 18 points (6/11 3PG) the leading scorer.
Cameron Trethewey opened second half proceedings with scores from inside and out, a Jennings jumper giving Stratford a ten points advantage (53-43).
Once again van den Heuvel was the go to man for Te Aroha, his dual with Jennings one of the features of the game.
A three from White and an inside basket from Kimutahi Allen was answered by a fade away from Trott, and a steal and layup from Ratu – Stratford with its nose in front at the three-quarter mark 65-55.
Shontayne Dare-Johnson landed a long three to take Te Aroha to within six points (68-62), but the Double-T inside presence of Trott and Trethewey continued to be productive for the defending champions. They gave Stratford breathing space with a 78-64 lead inside the final five minutes.
Te Aroha were committed to the end, typified by a finish in traffic from White, but Stratford controlled the closing minutes to give coach Willie Banks and his charges consecutive Schick ‘A’ titles.
“It’s been a blast,” said Banks. “The whole tournament has been great and seeing my team grow throughout the tournament has been very satisfying. I’m especially pleased for the six seniors in the team that I have coached for the past three seasons, Banks added.
FINAL SCORE:
- Stratford High School 97 – M Trott 33/16r, F Jennings 24, C Trethewey 23/14r, W Ratu 14
- Te Aroha College 75 – L van den Heuvel 27, N White 18, S Dare-Johnson 11
BOX SCORE: http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/BNZS/987419/
In the boys 3rd/4th play-off games Opunake High School beat Nga Taiatea Wharekura 68-65.
2018 Schick Championship Secondary Schools A Girls Final
Manukura was able to bury the memory of losing last year’s championship game to deservedly win the 2018 title with a 91-70 victory against Ellesmere College.
Manukura forward Rochelle Fourie opened the scoring with an inside basket. Paris Nurse replied for Ellesmere but they were soon in need of a timeout trailing 19-8.
Megan Ellis added points for Ellesmere but Harata Coleman added to the Manukura tally to take them to a 27-15 quarter-time lead.
Hope Stanshall converted a neat inside move for Manukura but Ellis replied with a Euro-step move to keep Ellesmere in touch (35-21).
Tournament MVP Fourie moved into double figures with a put-back before Samantha Irvine replied with a long three.
Coleman completed an off-balance drive and Elizabeth Brown knocked down an elbow two but a buzzer beating three from Ellis (16 points at half-time) reduced the Manukura advantage to 49-38 at half-time.
Manukura opened the second half with a 6-0 run preceding an Irvine reverse layup.
When Coleman dropped a long three Ellesmere coach Josh Thompson needed a timeout with his team trailing 60-40 at the mid point of the third period.
The younger Fourie, Macaela, joined her sister in the scoring action as Manukura took a 70-49 lead into the final ten minutes.
Points from Kersha Timpson helped Ellesmere make a strong start to the final stanza trimming the deficit to thirteen points (77-64). However points from Junior Tall Fern Fourie and Brody Manson initiated another strong Manukura run enabling Coach Joe Frost to unleash his young bench players.
Frost was delighted with the efforts of his team.
“They have worked hard and come together well as a team. We play a high tempo game and attempt to wear the opposition down and I think that showed today. This enabled us to get on top and maintain our advantage,” said Frost.
FINAL SCORE:
- Manukura 91 –R Fourie 24/17r, H Coleman 21, B Manson 14, H Stanshall 12
- Ellesmere 70 – M Ellis 29/15r S Irvine 20, K Timpson 13
BOX SCORE: http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/BNZS/987260/
The girls bronze medal game resulted in a 76-47 win for Te Aroha College against Stratford High School.
Schick Championships ‘A’ Girls Tournament Team:
- Hineaupounamu Nuku – Te Kura Kokiri
- Harata Coleman – Manukura
- Samantha Irvine – Ellesmere College
- Dejaan Schuler – Te Aroha College
- Holly Ratu – Stratford High School
- Megan Ellis – Ellesmere College
- Meesha Ross – Te Aroha College
- Rhiannon Utton – Stratford High School
- Talon August – Manukura
- Rochelle Fourie – Manukura
Schick Championships ‘A’ MVP:
Rochelle Fourie – Manukura
Schick Championships ‘A’ Boys Tournament Team:
- Willem Ratu – Stratford High School
- Leon van den Heuvel – Te Aroha College
- Jack Andrew – St Kevins College
- Te Tuaio Rautangata – Nga Taiatea Wharekura
- Nico Hill – Opunake High School
- Cameron Trethwey – Stratford High School
- Sergio Schuler – Te Aroha College
- Hirini Edwards – Nga Taiatea Wharekura
- Harley Loveridge-Seymour – Opunake High School
- Morgan Trott – Stratford High School
Schick Championships ‘A’ Boys MVP:
Morgan Trott – Stratford High School
‘A’ SCHICK CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL TEAM PLACINGS
Girls ‘A’:
- Manukura
- Ellesmere College
- Te Aroha College
- Stratford High School
- Kavanagh College
- Te Kura Kokiri
- Te Wharekura o Mauao
- Buller High School
- Te Kuiti High School
Boys ‘A’:
- Stratford High School
- Te Aroha College
- Opunake High School
- Nga Taiatea Wharekura
- St Kevins College
- Manukura
- Catholic Cathedral College
- Dunstan High School
- Hillmorton High School
- Tai Wananga
- Waihi College
- Rangiora New Life School
AA COMPETITION
The ‘AA’ semi-finals tip-off tomorrow morning and both the girls’ and boys’ games will be on the Showcourt and livestreamed on MaoriTelevsion.com
- 1:30pm Westlake Girls High School vs Hutt Valley High School
- 3:15pm Saint Patrick’s College Kilbirnie vs St John’s College Hamilton
- 6pm Saint Peter’s Cambridge vs Queen Margaret College
- 7:45pm Saint Kentigern College vs Rosmini College
DAY FOUR RESULTS OF ALL GAMES:
https://nz.basketball/News/schick-championships-day-four-results
More information including full results, updated draw and livestream info: https://nz.basketball/Competitions/Schools/SchickChamps
For more go to www.nz.basketball and Basketball New Zealand’s social media channels: @BasketballNZ Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
* 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.
