Day 1:

Canterbury teams made promising starts at this week’s National Secondary schools basketball championships which began in the B&M Centre, Palmerston North  yesterday (Monday) with 68 teams attending.

Burnside high, under coach Joe Hammond, had to work hard to repulse a strong challenge from Rotorua Boys High before winning 86-75 in the Boys AA section and in the evening beat Mt Albert Grammar 86-62.

Meanwhile Christchurch Boys High had a more comfortable 71-51 win over Nayland College but late last night dropped a game to St Patricks College of Kilbirnie 81-50. Surprise qualifier St Andrews College was well beaten 105-45 by top Southern Zone qualifier Otago Boys high.

The defending girl’s champion, Christchurch Girls High edged Hastings Girls High 51-49 in a hard fought battle while regular qualifier Rangiora High squeezed past Sacred Heart (New Plymouth) 77-70 in the afternoon. Another Canterbury qualifier Ashburton College was beaten by Napier Girls High 72-64.

STAC plays St Johns of Hamilton, Burnside meets Onslow Collegeand Rangiora Girls play Auckland Girls Grammar in this morning’s matches.

Burnside and Ch Ch Boys high meet top qualifiers Rangitoto and Auckland Grammar respectively on Wednesday afternoon.

Buller High Girls recorded two wins, beating Mana College and St Mary’s, Stratford is in the A tournament for smaller schools,

Day 2:

Burnside High basketball recorded two more wins in the boys section of the National SS basketball championships‏ in Palmerston North yesterday, beating Onslow Coll 72-52 and Pakuranga High 91-65 and will meet top qualifier from Zone one Rangitoto College this afternoon before moving on to the top 8 quarter-finals on Thursday.

Ch Ch Boys High pipped Liston College 78-76 to go to 2-1.

St Andrews Coll lost now lost all 3 games but held out Hutt Valley before losing 70-77.

In the Girls AA section Rangiora remained unbeaten with wins over Auckland Grammar 71-53 and top qualifier Rangitoto Coll 67-58. Defending champion Ch Ch Girls high lost both it’s games yesterday to Wellington Girls and New Plymouth Girls.

Day 3:

Although Burnside High basketball team was beaten 53-75 yesterday by top qualifier Rangitoto College  in the boys section of the National SS basketball championships‏ in Palmerston North Burnside has earned a top 8 Quarter-final against St Patricks College, Wellington this morning.

Christchurch Boys High was beaten 71-84 by Auckland Grammar and now plays Mt Albert Grammar in the 9-16^th Quarter this afternoon.

In the Girls section of the AA Championship Rangiora High is still unbeaten, thumping Ashburton College 94-35 and will meet New Plymouth Girls High in the main semi this afternoon.

Ch Ch Girls High plays Ashburton College in the 9-16^th Semi-final.

Buller High school, playing in the A section for smaller schools won a place in the Grand final after it beat Opunake High 72-58 in yesterday’s semi.

Day 4:

National SS basketball championships Palmerston North Day 4

Bruce Martin reports

Burnside High School bowered out of the National Secondary Schools basketball championships yesterday, run down in the closing stages by St Patricks College of Wellington, losing a tight quarter-final encounter 69-70 while top South Island qualifier Otago Boys beat New Plymouth Boys 86-79. Burnside had one last chance in the closing moments to win the game but the shot was missed.

Burnside will now meet St Johns of Hamilton in the 5-8 semi this afternoon.

In the other main quarters Westlake Boys beat St Johns of Hamilton 80-75 while top seed Rangitoto College thumped Auckland Grammar 97-67.

Todays’ main semi-finals are

Boys: Otago BHS plays Rangitoto College, Westlake Boys plays St Patricks of Wellington.

Ch Ch Boys High was beaten 61-81 by Mt Albert Grammar in the 9-16 Quarter while St Andrews was beaten  69-90 by Hamilton Boys High in the 17-24 Quarter.

 Girls:

In the girls section Rangiora High’s unbeaten run came to an abrupt end in its Quarter-final, thumped 64-48 by New Plymouth Girls High while Ch Ch Girls High beat Ashburton Coll 73-57 in the 9-16 Quarter final. Rangiora will now play Avondale Coll this afternoon in the 5-8 Semi.

Todays’ main semi-finals are

Westlake Girls plays Wellington Girls, New Plymouth Girls plays St Peters Coll, Cambridge

 

Three South Island teams featured in the A SS  Grand Finals for smaller schools, Buller High taking the Girls title beating Aquinas College of Tauranga 66-47 while Kavanagh Coll of Dunedin  beat defending champion St Kevins Coll of Oamaru 64-56.

A Grand Finals

Boys: Kavanagh College 64 (R Rogers 29) St Kevins Coll 56 (H Robertson 17, T Barlow 15). HT 28-25.

Girls: Buller High 64 (Ashley Stuart 27, Nicloe Stuart 14) Aquinas College 47 (C Rogers 15, E McManaway 14). HT: 31-22.

Bottom five Round Robin: Catholic Cathedral College (Ch CH) 66 Mana Coll 62, Catholic Coll 66 Roncalli Coll 63.

National SS basketball championships Palmerston North Day 5

Bruce Martin reports

Burnside high boys and Rangiora High girls will both play-off for a high 5^th placing today at the National Secondary Schools basketball championships at Palmerston North.

In yesterday’s matches Burnside overcame St John’s College of Hamilton 73-64 in a tight game while Rangiora Girls bounced back from Thursday’s surprise defeat in Quarter-final play to whip Avondale College 80-52 in the 5-8^th semi.

Rangiora will now meet top Zone 1 qualifier Rangitoto qualifier in the 5^th place final, giving coach Clinton Olson the teams highest placing in nine consecutive times at the Nationals. Burnside’s opponents will be New Plymouth Boys High.

Ch Ch Boys High beat Hutt Valley High 76-65 and will play  for 13^th place today while St Andrews College was edged 64-62 by Pakuranga College.

Otago Boys High upset top qualifier Rangitoto College, coming from behind with a strong final quarter to win last night’s semi  77-62 and a place in the Grand Final against two times champion Westlake Boys High which beat St Patricks of Wellington 67-59. Wellington Girls High will meet New Plymouth Girls in the other Grand Final.

Ch Ch Girls high lost to St Hildas 59-45 while Ashburton College was beaten by Hamilton Girls High 69-55.

Clinton Olson, Rangiora High’s coach sent in this report:

We just beat Avondale College 80-52 in the crossover game to get into the 5/6 playoff.  The girls played exceptionally well - putting their disappointment of last night behind them and taking out their frustration on the Avondale team. Waimea lost their game against Rangitoto - so we are the highest placed South Island team now and 5th or 6th is our highest place in more than 15 years. We have been led all week by star players Jenna Heap and Mary Goulding who have played outstandingly. Leading rebounders and scorers for the team they also set the standard in our defensive system. These two have been well supported by a strong team effort where all players have made significant contributions. 

A real disappointment to not be in the semi finals tonight, with teams we are as good as, but a satisfying result overall for the season.

Clinton

 

Friday’s Semi-Final results were:

Boys:

AA Semi-finals 21-24: Pakuranga 64 St Andrews Coll 62.  
AA Semi-finals 13-16: Hutt Valley 65 Christchurch Boys HS 76.

AA Semi-finals 5-8: St Johns Hamilton 64 Burnside HS 73, Auckland Grammar 67 New Plymouth Boys HS 70.

AA Main Semi-finals: Otago Boys HS 77 (Liam Ashton 18, Benoit Hayman 16) Rangitoto Coll 62 (Isaac Davidson 17, Yuat Alok 14), HT: Rangitoto 43-35, Westlake Boys HS 67 (Mathew Freeman 21) St Patrick’s Coll Wellington 59 (Izayah Maurichooho Le’afa 28). HT: 34-32. 

Girls:

AA Semi-finals 13-16: Hamilton Girls 69 Ashburton Coll 55.  

AA Semi-finals 9-12: St Hildas 59 Christchurch Girls HS 45.

AA Semi-finals 5-8: Rangiora HS 80 Avondale Coll 52, Rangitoto Coll 73 Waimea Coll 51.

AA Main Semi-Final: Wellington Girls 60 (Caitlin Grice 23) Westlake Girls 55 (Georgia Perrot-Hunt 22, HT: 32-32, New Plymouth Girls HS 61 (Connie Poletti 18) St Peters School Cambridge 55 (Krystal Leger-Walker 27. HT: 30-26.  

Day 6:

Secondary Schools National Basketball Championships Palmerston North

By Bruce Martin

Otago Boys High has upset double defending champion Westlake Boys High school 74-69, in a very tight contest to claim the AA Secondary Schools National Basketball Championship Grand Final in Palmerston North on Saturday.

MVP winner Sam Timmins hauled Otago back into contention with a strong 26 points and 23 rebounds as Westlake threatened to take control. He dominated much of play from the post, for which Westlake simply had no answer with Joe Cook-Green and Liam Aston also strong contributors.

New Plymouth Girls High outplayed Wellington Girls High 64-46 in the Girls Grand Final.

Rangiora High was the best of the Canterbury teams, finishing a creditable 5^th placing in the girl’s section, it’s heighest placing in the 10 years that coach Clinton Olson has been taking the team and having qualified for nine successive nationals. Olson said that his girls played at their very best and dominated Rangitoto 69-54 from start to finish. At one point early in the second half we were up by 23 points as they had no answer to our defensive system. Jenna Heap shut down Junior Tall Fern Ella Fotu, keeping her to three second half points. On offense Mary Goulding (who was later selected in the Tournament team) was unstoppable - scoring 34 points from all over the court. 

Earlier in the week, a strong team effort carried Rangiora through pool play unbeaten with wins over Sacred Heart of New Plymouth, repulsing a strong comeback 77-70, Auckland Girls Grammar 71-53, top qualifier Rangitoto College 67-58 after trailing 33-22 at the break, Napier Girls High 81-62 and thrashing arch-rival Ashburton College 94-35.

Rangiora High’s unbeaten run came to an abrupt end in its Quarter-final, thumped 64-48 by second placed in Pool D, New Plymouth Girls High, with Goulding limited to 16 points and Heap 13.

Rangiora Girls bounced back from Thursday’s surprise defeat in Quarter-final play to whip Avondale College 80-52 in the 5-8^th semi. Goulding contributed 24 points while Yr 9 student Charlotte Whittaker stood out for her 10 points. Clinton Olson reports that the girls played exceptionally well - putting Thursday’s disappointment behind them and taking out their frustration on the Avondale team. Waimea lost their game against Rangitoto - so we are the highest placed South Island team now and 5th or 6th is our highest place in more than 15 years.

This season the Rangiora Girls team have played 30 games with a 27 win and 3 loss record. In the last 4 seasons we have a record of 104 wins from 117 games (89% win record), which has included 4 straight Canterbury Premier Schools Titles and 6 in the last 8 seasons. 

 

Burnside High was well beaten in the fifth place Boy’s game 93-50 by New Plymouth Boys High, their enthusiasm flagging after eight tough games in six days. Burnside started with a confidence boosting 86-75 win over Roturua Boys followed with wins over Mt Albert Grammar 86-62, Onslow College 72-52 and Pakuranga College 91-65. In its last pool game, Burnside was close for most of the game but well beaten by top seed Rangitoto College 75-53 in the final quarter.

Disaster struck in the Quarter’s as it was edged 69-70 by a strong St Patrick’s College of Wellington when a last chance shot failed to drop. St Pats contained the unstoppable Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa. Coach Joe Hammond reported that their quarter-final against St Pats was heartbreaking as we deserved to win but lost by one point. We were winning the entire game and lost the lead in the final minute, we were extremely unfortunate to have the ref not blow his whistle on clear shooting fouls down the stretch.

Burnside bounced back to take the highly favoured St Johns of Hamilton 73-64 in the 5-8 semi-final with another huge performance to get into the Top six.

Burnside’s Tom Liu impressed with his all-round ball skills and control of play to be selected in the Tournament team.

We are just so amazed that we managed to get 6th place again said Hammond and the goal was Top 8, so yes we are stoked. Tom Liu made the tournament team and he really was exceptional on both ends of the court. He hit seven threes in two different games.

Shou Nisbet also deserved tournament team and he and Tom were a deadly 1-2 punch. He (Nisbet) is so unselfish at the point guard yet scored whenever we needed him to. A true point guard. He still has another year which is scary as he is close to being the best point guard in the country.

We are extremely happy with being 6th in the country. Second time in Top 6 in last three seasons. 3rd in the country not including teams with 6'10" players. Ha ha!!!

 

Christchurch Boys High, 3-2 in pool play, dropped games to St Patricks, Wellington 50-81 and Auckland Grammar 71-84, then was well beaten by Mt Albert Grammar 61-81 in the Quarter’s, beat Hutt Valley High 76-65 in the 13-16 semi’s, only to lose the 13^th place play-off, thumped 57-87 by Liston High school.

Surprise qualifier St Andrews College, playing at the National championships for the first time for a number of years, avoided claiming the wooden spoon when it beat Onslow College in the 23-24th play-off game 74-46.

The Girls AA defending champion, Christchurch Girls high, went 2-3 in pool play beating Hastings Girls High and Fraser High, then beat arch-rival Ashburton College 73-57 in the 9-16 Quarter’s only to lose the 9-12 Semi-finals to  St Hildas 45-59. Girls High then bounced back to beat Saint Kentigern 60-47 to claim 11^th placing.

Three other South Island teams featured in the A SS Grand Finals (for smaller schools), Buller High taking the Girls title beating Aquinas College of Tauranga 66-47 while Kavanagh College of Dunedin defeated defending champion St Kevins College of Oamaru 64-56.

Catholic Cathedral College (Christchurch) finished strongly with wins over Mana Coll 66-62 and Roncalli Coll 66-63 in bottom five Round Robin play

 

 

Results were:

Boys:

AA Boys Pool A: Burnside HS 86 Rotorua Boys HS 75, Burnside HS 86 Mt Albert Grammar 62, Burnside HS 72 Onslow Coll 52, Burnside HS 91 Pakuranga Coll 65, Rangitoto Coll 75 Burnside HS 53.

AA Boys Pool C: Christchurch Boys HS 71 Nayland Coll 51, St Patricks Wellington 81 Christchurch Boys 50, Christchurch Boys 78 Liston HS 76, Christchurch Boys 84 Tauranga Boys 51, Auckland Grammar 84 Christchurch Boys 71,

AA Boys Pool D: Otago Boys HS 105 St Andrews Coll 45, Otago Boys 80 Kings HS Dunedin 53, St Johns Hamilton 94 St Andrews Coll 54, Hutt Valley HS 77 St Andrews 70, Otago Boys 73 St Johns Hamilton 64, Fraser 95 St Andrews Coll 71, Otago Boys 77 Hutt Valley 62, Kings HS 82 St Andrews 65, Otago Boys 91 Fraser Coll 70.

A Boys Pool B:  Stratford HS 76 Catholic Cathedral Coll 63,  Aquinas Coll 81 Catholic Cathedral 53,  Catholic Cathedral 77 Opunake 51, Huanui 80 Catholic Cathedral 68.  
AA Quarter Finals 1-8^: St Patricks Wellington 70 Burnside HS 69, Rangitoto 97 Auckland Grammar 67, Otago Boys 86 New Plymouth Boys 79, Westlake Boys 80 St Johns Hamilton 75. 

AA Quarter Finals 17-24: Hamilton Boys 90 St Andrews Coll 69. 

AA Quarter Finals 9-16:Mt Albert Grammar 81 Christchurch Boys 61.

AA Quarter Finals 1-8: St Patricks College,Wellington 70 Burnside HS 69.

AA Semi-finals 21-24: Pakuranga 64 St Andrews Coll 62.  
AA Semi-finals 13-16: Christchurch Boys HS 76 Hutt Valley 65,

AA Semi-finals 5-8: Burnside HS 73 St Johns Hamilton 64, Auckland Grammar 67 New Plymouth Boys HS 70.

AA Main Semi-finals: Otago Boys HS 77 (Liam Ashton 18, Benoit Hayman 16) Rangitoto Coll 62 (Isaac Davidson 17, Yuat Alok 14), HT: Rangitoto 43-35, Westlake Boys HS 67 (Mathew Freeman 21) St Patrick’s Coll Wellington 59 (Izayah Maurichooho Le’afa 28). HT: 34-32. 

Play-off 23^rd place: St Andrews Coll 74 Onslow Coll 46.

Play-off 13th place: Liston HS 87 Christchurch Boys HS 57 

Play-off 5th place: New Plymouth Boys HS 93 Burnside HS 50 

Play-off 3^rd place: Rangitoto Coll 96 St Patrick’s Coll, Wellington 90 

Grand Final: Otago Boys HS 74 (Sam Timmins 26, 23R, Joe Cook-Green 16) Westlake Boys HS 69 (Yanni Wetzell 20, 11R, Mathew Freeman 19, 13R). HT: Westlake 38-35. 

Tournament Team: Tom Liu (Burnside HS), Sam Timmins, Joe Cook-Green, Liam Aston (Otago BHS). MVP: Sam Timmins (Otago BHS).

 

A Grand Finals

Boys: Kavanagh College 64 (R Rogers 29) St Kevins Coll 56 (H Robertson 17, T Barlow 15). HT 28-25.

Bottom five Round Robin: Catholic Cathedral College (Ch CH) 66 Mana Coll 62, Catholic Coll 66 Roncalli Coll 63.

 

Girls:

AA Girls Pool B:  Napier Girls HS 72 Ashburton Coll 64, Rangiora HS 77 (Mary Goulding 23 , Jenna Heap 15) Sacred Heart New Plymouth 70, Rangiora 71 (Goulding 19 , Heap 17) Auckland Girls Grammar 53, Ashburton Coll 63 Sacred Heart New Plymouth 46, Rangiora HS 67 (Goulding 25 , Heap 20) Rangitoto Coll 58, Auckland Girls Grammar 51 Ashburton Coll 40,  Rangiora HS 81 (Goulding 30, Heap 13) Napier Girls 62, Rangiora HS 94 (Heap 21, Rosie O’Shea 13) Ashburton Coll 35, Rangitoto Coll 67 Ashburton 59.
AA Girls Pool D: Christchurch Girls HS 51 Hastings Girls HS 49, Wellington Girls College 57 Christchurch Girls 41, New Plymouth Girls 67 Christchurch Girls 54, Christchurch Girls 72 Fraser HS 70, Rotorua Girls HS 57 Christchurch Girls 54.

AA Quarter Finals 1-8^: Westlake Girls 74 Waimea Coll 72, Wellington Girls 70 Rangitoto 54, New Plymouth Girls 64 Rangiora HS 48 (Goulding 16, Heap 13), St Peters Cambridge 88 Avondale Coll 59,    

AA Quarter Finals 9-16^: Christchurch Girls HS 73 Ashburton College 57.

AA Semi-finals 13-16: Hamilton Girls 69 Ashburton Coll 55.  

AA Semi-finals 9-12: St Hildas 59 Christchurch Girls HS 45.

AA Semi-finals 5-8: Rangiora HS 80 (Goulding 24, Charlotte Whittaker 10) Avondale Coll 52, Rangitoto Coll 73 Waimea Coll 51.

AA Main Semi-Final: Wellington Girls 60 (Caitlin Grice 23) Westlake Girls 55 (Georgia Perrot-Hunt 22, HT: 32-32, New Plymouth Girls HS 61 (Connie Poletti 18) St Peters School Cambridge 55 (Krystal Leger-Walker 27. HT: 30-26.  

Play-off 15th place: Ashburton Coll 63 Napier Girls HS 52.

Play-off 11th place: Christchurch Girls HS 60 Saint Kentigern Coll 47 

Play-off 5th place: Rangiora HS 69 (Goulding 34) Rangitoto Coll 55.

Play-off 3^rd place: St Peters Cambridge 58 Westlake Girls 48. 

Grand Final: New Plymouth Girls HS 64 (Kayla Manuirirangi 23, Connie Poletti 14) Wellington Girls HS 46 (Tegan Graham 14). HT 32-31. 

Tournament Team: Mary Goulding (Rangiora HS), Gracie Roberts (Waimea Girls College).  MVP: Kayla Manuirirangi (New Plymouth). Final Officials: Martin Davidson (Canterbury).

 

A Girls Pool B: Buller 83 Mana Coll 49, Buller 63 St Marys Stratford 55, Buller 70 Te Aroha Coll 46, Buller 71 Nga Taiatea 67.

A Girls Semi Finals: Aquinas Coll 49 Te Aroha Coll 42, Buller 72 Opunake  58.

A Girls Grand Final: Buller High 64 (Ashley Stuart 27, Nicloe Stuart 14) Aquinas College, Tauranga 47 (C Rogers 15, E McManaway 14). HT: 31-22.