Basketball: Schools showcase their skills in premiership finals

Hamilton Girls' High School's Ashton Morris drives the lane during the tightest of finals at the AA Secondary School Zone 2 Girls Premiership at QEII. PHOTO/ ANDREW WARNER

The boys' and girls' finals at the AA Secondary School Zone 2 Premierships at QEII produced two vastly different spectacles on Saturday night.

The girls' showpiece between Hamilton Girls' High School and Fraser College went down to the wire, before Fraser College blew out St John's College in the boys' decider.

Hamilton Girls' were locked at 32-32 with Fraser High at halftime, before a 15-11 fourth quarter effort delivered them the title by a margin of one bucket, 65-63. Za'ya Poulava and Alyssa Hirawani poured in a combined 49 points for Hamilton Girls' to withstand 23 points from Fraser's Kasee Leef.

The boys' final had no such drama, with Jethro Taylor of Fraser High dropping 30 points to pace his team to a comfortable 91-56 win after they had crafted a 26 point halftime lead.

Hamish Sheridan (16) and Isaiah Taylor (12) carried the offensive load for a St John's side that had no answer for the myriad attacking options at Fraser's disposal.

Tauranga Boys' College was the best performed Bay of Plenty team, finishing third after a tight 66-63 defeat of Rotorua Boys' High School, while Bethlehem College got the better of Otumoetai College 66-34 in the play-off for seventh.

In the girls' division Western Heights High School beat Rotorua Girls' High School 75-66 for fifth, while Tauranga Girls' College were too strong for Waikato Diocesan School in the play-off for seventh.

AA Secondary School Zone 2 Premierships:

Girls' final: Hamilton Girls' High School 65 (Za'ya Poulava 25, Alyssa Hirawani 24) Fraser High School 63 (Kasee Leef 23, Kendall King-Hawea 18)

Boys' final: Fraser High School 91 (Jethro Taylor 30, Hyrum Harris 15) St John's College 56 (Hamish Sheridan 16, Isaiah Taylor 12)