The Grand Finals of the top two Boy’s and Girl’s Divisions of Auckland Secondary Schools High School Basketball leagues were played at Trusts Arena last Thursday with Harbour schools involved in three of the four finals. 

Westlake Girls High won the Girl’s Premier Grade title while Rosmini College had to settle for runners-up in the Boy’s Prems and Rangitoto College were also silver medalists in the Girls Senior A competition.

Westlake Girls claimed their third successive Girl’s Premier Grade Championship with a 92-68 Grand Final victory over Mt Albert Grammar School.

Amy Pateman scored a game high 31 points with her fellow starters all making big contributions. Rebecca Moors was close to a double-double with 20 points and 8 rebounds, Lily Fotu scored 15 points, Emma Schroeder 12 points and Zenthia Stowers 10 points.

2022 champions Rosmini and 2023 regular season champs Mt Albert Grammar School produced a fitting climax to the Prems season which wasn’t decided until Harri Coker-Grey converted two free-throws with just 7 seconds left on the clock – Mt Albert prevailing 79-78.

Jameer Reed (22 points) and Zion Anderson (18 points) topped the Rosmini scoring with other strong contributions made by Josh Wyllie (9pts), Bart Jackowski and Harlan Roudon, both with 8 points.

Rangitoto College had to settle for runners-up medals after being pipped 74-71 by Manurewa High School in the Girls Senior A championship game – it was the first loss of the season for Rangitoto.

Eva Veale was outstanding in a losing cause scoring 35 points while Mela Andrews and Maddison Skelton scored 12 points and 11 points respectively.

The Qualifying Tournament for the Secondary Schools National Championships will be taking place at Eventfinda Stadium from Wednesday to Saturday this week. We wish the Harbour based schools well in their quest for a berth at the National Champs.:

Girls – Westlake Girls, Takapuna Grammar, Rangitoto College, Northcote College and Carmel College

Boys – Westlake Boys, Rosmini College, Rangitoto College, Northcote College and Long Bay College.

The New Zealand Tall Blacks had to cope with a furious fourth-quarter comeback by Jordan before earning a tough 95-87 overtime win at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila on Monday – and in the process, keeping their Second Round hopes well alive.

After carrying an eight point lead into the final quarter, Jordan stormed back late in the period; led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who hit a three pointer plus the foul with 10 seconds left to tie the game in dramatic fashion. Undaunted, the overtime period belonged to New Zealand as they outscored Jordan 10-2 in extra time to seal their first World Cup 2023 win.

Izayah Le’afa led the Kiwis with 23 points, while the Harbour duo of Yanni Wetzell and Isaac Fotu made major contributions.

Yanni had 6 rebounds and 13 points on 6-9 shooting while Isaac tallied 11 points and 5 rebounds. 

Two days earlier the Tall Blacks were beaten 72-99 by the United States in their first FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup game. 

New Zealand was led by Reuben Te Rangi’s 15 points, while Yanni chipped in with 10 points and Isaac contributed 5 rebounds and 4 points.

Next up is a clash with Greece on Thu 31 August at 12.40am, with the winner of this game proceeding to the Second Round of the FIBA World Cup. A Tall Blacks loss will see them playing for places 17th-24^th in the 32 team tournament.

Northern Kāhu moved into outright top spot on the Tauihi Aotearoa women’s national league ladder after a hard fought 82-75 victory against Southern Hoiho at Eventfinda Stadium on Sunday evening. The victory also guaranteed a semi-final berth for the Kāhu.

Akiene-Tera Reed scored 10 points while Penina Davidson constructed a double-double of 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Tauihi Standings with one round remaining:

26 points – Northern Kāhu (P10, W7, L3)

22 points – Tokomanawa Queens (P10 W 5 L5)

22 points – Southern Hoiho (P11 W7 L4)

18 points – Whai (P10 W5 L5)

16 points – Mainland Pouākai (P11 W2 L9)

The Kāhu close out the regular season with a trip to meet 2022 champions Tokomanawa Queens on Saturday in Porirua before a final home game against Whai on Monday September 4^th at Eventfinda Stadium. The Rapid League game will begin at 6.30pm before the main game, the Tauihi  fixture, tips-off at 7.30pm.