The Burnside High Boys basketball team  finished with a high 6^th placing at the National Secondary school championships at Nelson this afternoon beaten in the play-off by Tauranga Boys College 92-81, its highest placing for a number of years and should qualify over the next few seasons with its Under 17 team winning its grade this winter. The usual backbone of the team has been Oli Davies  with 33 points along with side-kick Nick Erwood while Tim Brown had a more useful game.

Sharon E writes: Disappointing end to the tournament with a loss today but hard to get the boys intensity levels up when the game didn’t count for a lot.  A very slow start and poor shooting percentage meant we had to play catch up the whole game. Tauranga shot unbelievably well (six players hit double figures) and I guess wanted the win a little more than us! Gutted Oli didn’t make tournament team.

 

In an all-North Shore “AA” Boys Grand Final battle between Westlake Boys High (3^rd in 2011) and the defending champion Rosmini College, Rosmini took a narrow first quarter lead but Westlake, fired up by new Tall Black star Tai Webster and Jack Salt, powered away from Rosmini to win the Grand Final 88-74.

The North Shore rivals were evenly poised after the opening quarter, with Rosmini ahead by three points early in the second. But an eight-point run gave Westlake momentum to a 43-35 halftime lead and the advantage reached 18 early in the final period.

Webster, who made his national senior debut this year, led all scorers with 24 points. Jake Seymour had 21 points and Josh Howe 10 point/13 rebounds, as Westlake dominated their rivals on the boards, grabbing 20 offensive rebounds.

For Rosmini, Junior Tall Black guard Derone Raukawa scored 22 points, while fellow guard Matt Lacey had 20 points/eight rebounds/six assists.

Earlier, Hamilton Girls High, 4^th placegetters in 2011, remained unbeaten and overwhelmed Mt Albert Grammar 26-8 in the third quarter to seize the girls “AA” title with a 74-56 victory.

MAGS led 32-30 at halftime, but lost control of the contest after the break, when Hamilton rattled off 16 straight points. Shemaiah Parai led all scorers with 17 points and Jaylen Hawea had 15.

 

Cashmere High Boys pipped Aranui High school 71-70 in a tight game in the 21^st place play-off game, a disappointing placing for both teams.

 

In the afternoon Rangiora High Girls also finished more strongly, outpointing arch-rivals Christchurch Girls High 68-51 in the ninth place play-off. An even first half but Rangiora shot better and had more intensity in second half. It was a record 7^th appearance at the Nationals for Rangiora and had finished 15^th last year while Ch Ch Girls improved on their 18^th placing in 2011.

Rangiora High Coach Clinton reports:  
We beat Girls High today 68-51 after only leading by two points at half time. It was a tight first half and both teams missed a number of easy scoring opportunities. We were happy with the pace and speed of the game we were able to impose. That is our strength and it took its toll on Girls High in the second half, when they tired and offered us easy baskets. Mary Goulding led our scoring and rebounding with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Alex Svoboda scored 11 points and Marnie Block 10 in the second half. The team are very proud to finish the week against the best in the country with a 6 win - 2 loss record. Both losses were against top four teams. While a little disappointing not finish higher - it has been good motivation for the younger players. The whole team have stepped up when needed and improved greatly this week. Mary Goulding has scored 165 points for the tournament at an average of just 20.7 and 8 rebounds a game. Alex Svoboda has scored 144 for the week at 18 per game and averaged 5 steals a game. 

 

Buller High school which finished in a high 6^th place last year beat Hawera High 69-45 to capture 11^th place this year.

The Cashmere Girls finished strongly beating Tauranga Girls College 55-49 to capture 13^th place, improving on their 16^th place last year, but with an ounce more luck could have been in the Top eight quarters when it finished Pool play with four wins and one loss.

 

Results from Day six Saturday 6th October

National AA Secondary Schools Championships

Boys

Play-off for 23^rd place: Lynfield College 83 Otumoetai College 68.

Play-off for 21st place: Cashmere High 71 Aranui High 70 HT: 22/21.

Play-off for 17^th place: Massey HS 87 Otago Boys HS 76.

Play-off for 15^th place: Palmerston North Boys 75 Hastings Boys HS 57.

Play-off for 13^th place: Melville HS 77 Nelson College 66.

Play-off for 11^th place: Fraser HS 77 St Johns College, Hamilton 75.

Play-off for 9th place: St Patricks College 70 St Kentigern College 47.

Play-off for 7th place: Auckland Grammar School 64 New Plymouth BHS 58.

Play-off for 5th place: Tauranga Boys College 92 (Ashton McQueen 19, Caelen Wood 16. 10R, Brad Fullerton 15, Nicholas Reid 13) Burnside HS 82 (Oli Davies 33, Nick Erwood 13, 16R, Tim Brown 15).

Play-off for 3rd place: Hutt Valley HS 101 Nayland College 63.

Boys Grand Final: Westlake Boys High 88 (Tai Webster 24, Jake Seymour 21, Jaylen Gerrand 10, Josh Howe 10) Rosmini College74 (Derone Raukawa 22, Matt Lacey 20, Stephen Robertson 15, Tohi Smith-Milner 15). HT: 43-35

Tournament Team - Tohi Smith-Milner (Rosmini), Ashton McQueen (Tauranga), Tai Webster (Westlake), Nico Buckrell (Hutt Valley), Logan Poloai (Westlake), Lachlan Campion (Nayland), Jackson Stubbins (Hutt Valley), Steven Robertson (Rosmini), Jordan Harries (New Plymouth), Jack Salt (Westlake)
MVP - Tai Webster (Westlake)

Officials – Matt Bathurst and Marty Davison - Canterbury

 

Girls:

Play-off for 15th place:  Rotorua Girls HS 60 Marlborough Girls College 44.

Play-off for 13th place: Cashmere HS 55 Tauranga Girls College 49.

Play-off for 11^th place: Buller HS 69 Hawera HS 45. 

Play-off for 9th place: Rangiora HS 68 (Mary Goulding 26, 10R, Alex Svoboda 11)Christchurch Girls HS 51.

Play-off for 7th place: New Plymouth Girls HS 70 Fraser HS 46.

Play-off for 5th place: Wellington Girls College 52 Westlake Girls HS 47.

Play-off for 3rd place: Rangitoto College 73 Auckland Girls Grammar 44.

Girls Grand Final: Hamilton Girls High School 74 (Jaylen Hawea 23, Shemaiah Parai 20, Ves Wilkinson 12) Mt Albert Grammar High School 56 (Kezeiah Lewis 18, Idaho-Maree Purcell 15). HT: MAGS led 32-30.

Girls Tournament Team - Camece Salmon (Wellington), Breana Jones (Fraser), Wuanyei Ah-Hing (Auckland), Brooke Blair (Rangitoto), Pennina Davidson (Rangitoto), Kezeiah Lewis (Mt Albert), Deena Franklin (Westlake), Chelseah Savage (Hamilton), Jaylen-Rose Hawea (Hamilton), Shemaiah Parai (Hamilton)

MVP - Jaylen-Rose Hawea (Hamilton)

Officials - Gareth Teahan (referee), Sam Pan (umpire).

 

CBOA supplied eight referees at the tournament.

Canterbury Officials at Nationals: Marty Davison, Matt Bathurst, Sam Dixon,

Raelene Forde, Richard Kenny, Raghav Pratap. Evaluators:Raewyn Willocks, Nick Warren