In that competition, City Lights and Old School have 20 points; the Dragons have 19; Pure Sound, 14; SE Systems, 13; East Coast, 11; Campion, 9; the 9ers, 8; Lytton, 7; and Gisborne Boys’ High School, 5.
The Campion girls trailed Paikea 9-5 at quartertime and 20-16 at halftime before taking a 26-25 lead into the fourth period.
Sixteen-year-old Year 12 student Jayda Banks — playing in only her third game of basketball — was at the forefront of the College’s comeback.
Banks finished four fast-breaks with great touch in situations where anyone new to the game could be forgiven for failing to finish. Instead, she and Te Oriwa Tuipulotu-Collier (13pts) were outstanding.
Campion captain Petra Sparks said Tuipulotu-Collier had been “awesome” for them since she arrived from Rotorua.
Campion appreciated having Tuipulotu-Collier, Anna Spring and Brittany Lemaua on deck all the more as Paikea’s ranks were bolstered by skilful left-handed guard O’Neill Wilson-Peipi and Cinta Wharerau.
Paikea are now a well-rounded team. Harata Hailey (7pts) again impressed with her strong inside game, while fellow forward Meri Rauna matched Tuipulotu-Collier’s 13 points and scored Paikea’s first three field goals. The third shot in the sequence was a sensational put-back off a missed three-pointer from captain Amoe Tarsau.
“Campion played really well,” Tarsau said.
“For me, the neat thing was to be able to play with O’Neill, Cinta, Harata and Meri . . . Miri Katipa and I coached them at under-17 level.”
One basket was proof of Campion’s hustle and polish in 2017: from a loose-ball situation near halfway, the hard-working Spring tapped the ball upcourt to Banks, who then broke for the hoop and made the lay-up to beat the clock with two seconds left for 26-25.
~
They didn’t just win the game — they were dominant.
Hearty’s 50-19 win against Girls’ High was spearheaded by Tiara Weir’s 18 points and the stellar start given to them by Nat Mackey (14pts), who scored their first three field goals.
Weir made three three point-plays: against Peyton Riri for 9-3, Nepe for 17-5, and Susan Desai for 48-14.
Hearty controlled the score 14-5, 27-7, 37-9 at the quarters to record their first win of the season. But Girls’ High — in a tough season — again gritted their teeth and competed hard.
Nepe’s effort is always 100 percent. In one play, Miriata Callaghan chased her down the floor and made her miss the lay-up, but then Nepe rebounded the ball, took one dribble to the right baseline and hit the jump shot.
The improvement of the Riri sisters was apparent when Tyler Riri passed to Nepe, who cut to the basket, drew a foul from Weir and hit two free throws, and Peyton Riri gave Gisborne Girls’ a bright start to the fourth quarter with a basket from the outside.
Hearty captain Melissa Mackey-Huriwai was pleased that her team put an end to their losing streak.
Girls’ High’s Nepe said it was a tough, fast game but her team never gave up.
“They kept playing hard.”
~
Ngati Porou got a real fright as Lytton High School played their game of the season so far and restricted the reigning champions to a winning margin of only six points.
The score was 10-8, 19-16 and 22-21 through the quarters.
Shay Waikawa (13pts) and Tamara Hedge (11pts) led Ngati Porou’s scorers, and Te Mai Ora Olsen-Baker showed tremendous speed for eight points.
Those three experienced players played solidly at both ends of the court, and their captain, Pare Ahuriri-Leach, appreciated that.
“Our ball-movement was good but Lytton have developed both their inside game and their outside game,” she said.
“I thought Kiara Swannell stepped up for them.”
Lytton captain Swannell was proud of her team’s performance.
“Jayda (Waititi-Leach) shot the ball well and Manaia (Hutana) played well for us,” Swannell said.
“She’s really important for us at the defensive end — teams have to try to get around her or shoot over her.
“We could have won that. Next time, if it’s close, we’ll take the ball to the basket.”
~
Some games are hard to play. For the Dragons, last night’s game against the 9ers was one of those.
The Dragons won 50-36, with Jasper Wills scoring 22 points as the mood took him and his captain Keenan Ruru-Poharama scoring eight.
The Dragons are a strong all-round team, but the 9ers are unencumbered by structure and their experienced opposition played . . . similarly.
Veteran Ray Noble, who came into the game five minutes into the first period, was called for a reach-in foul against 9ers guard Hoera Mohi by lead referee Adrian Sparks in the second quarter but Noble at least played defence. He has always been a good organiser.
But there was nothing he or Te Angi Te Hau could do as the only Dragons to make it back on defence when Jesse Fleming hit a three-pointer from the left wing to close it to 42-30.
Fifteen seconds later, Noble was the only man back, guarding the basket, when Fleming hit exactly the same shot again for 42-33.
Such a situation would frustrate any competitor — especially as Fleming had rung the Dragons’ alarm bells with a “trey” from the left side for 32-17, over a diving Mercy Bristowe.
Fleming (12pts) and Mohi (19pts) were the 9ers’ best, and they now have a big man — Williamson Maraki — who, though he was rusty last night, could be an enormous factor for them. His athleticism, strength and passing ability are considerable.
Sparks and Shay Waikawa controlled the late game, Waikawa calling the season’s most hair-raising foul of the year to date on the Dragons’ Dave Rameka, who raced after Mohi to stop the breakaway basket just after three-quartertime.
Dragons captain Keenan Ruru-Poharama said it wasn’t the style of basketball they were used to playing or wanted to play.
“We expected to play better,” he said.
His opposite, Marquand Samuels, who missed Week 7 with ligament damage to his left ankle, said: “For us, it was a good game in that we upset their rhythm. We broke their pressure-defence. And as for Jesse (Fleming), he’s got to be up there with the best shooters in the league.”
