St Kentigern College celebrate beating Kelston Boys High in their 1A rugby final. Photo / Richard Robinson
Looking for a long shot during next week's annual New Zealand Secondary Schools winter tournament week? The Rosmini College basketball team might be worth a look.
Against all odds, the team, coached by Kevin Goodwin with Ambrose Samuels as his assistant, won the recent Basketball NZ zone one premiership at Trusts Stadium, beating four teams from the Auckland premier SS league en route to their first tournament triumph.
They beat the top Auckland premier school AGS by two points in the semifinals and near neighbours and long-time basketball powerhouse WBHS by six in the final. Not bad for a team that has never qualified to play in the premier league.
Last year they did not get close to claiming a spot in the national tournament after finishing a distant eighth in the zone one tournament, so the turnaround is impressive.
"The interest here has gained momentum and the number of basketball teams at the school has almost tripled - to 18 - in the past three years," said Samuels, who is also head of basketball at Rosmini.
There is no time to reflect for Goodwin and his 12-strong squad.
They play Kristin in the North Harbour open final on Friday before heading to the national tournament in Palmerston North on Sunday.
That too is a first for the team who have gone through the North Harbour competition unbeaten.
After tournament week they will play in the wider Auckland qualifying play-offs. A win there would guarantee them a spot in next year's premier league while a second placing would earn them a play-off with the second-bottom team from this year's competition.
Captained by Elliott Bryers and with Breakers Development squad members Tohi Smith-Milner and Ana Haku as key team-mates, Rosmini are shaping up as the team to beat.
And, for those schools hoping they might be one-season wonders, forget it. Ten of this year's team will be back on the boards next year.
Basketball is one of a dozen sports which will be in action next week - weather permitting - with competition stretching from Whangarei in the north to Invercargill in the south.
In premier league action, AGS made certain of top spot after round-robin play with a comfortable 90-40 win over KBHS.
Blair Manners returned to action after a two-week absence with a dominating rebounding performance and 18 points for AGS, while Mark Kelly (18) and Aart Fahrensohn (16) were also impressive.
Auckland Grammar gave their bench some game time ahead of next week's tournament in Palmerston North, with Jayden Duff working hard and Andy Armstrong impressive on offensive rebounds.
Kelston battled hard and managed to restrict AGS to 16-14in the first quarter, but could not maintain that pressure.
For KBHS captain Graham Hohapata top- scored with 16 points, while the lively Monceur Ah Chee scored 13.
Kelston finish the season second-to-last, ahead of automatically relegated Sacred Heart, and will now play for premier league survival at the beginning of next year. AGS will meet Dilworth in next month's semifinals with WBHS to play St Kentigern in the second semifinal.
CYCLING
St Kentigern dominated the racing in round six of the Avantiplus time trials with victories in both the senior and junior boys' races on the Auckland Waterfront.
For the senior A team of Cooper Rand, Rogie Tomlinson-Gillies, Alexi Carlier, William Tremlett and Charles Finnigan the win continued their unbeaten run in the Sunday morning races this season and guaranteed the series win.
The St Kentigern B team of Cameron Urgert, Nick Iwan, Jono Bacon, Will Salwey and Scott Salwey finished third to retain their hopes of third spot overall.
The junior boys A team also won - with previously unbeaten AGS back in fourth place.
The St Kentigern girls' teams failed to repeat previous wins but should hold on for podium finishes in the series which should give the school a team on the podium in all four grades.
The final round is on September 4 with those races doubling as the Auckland Championship.
HOCKEY
Old rivals St Cuthbert's and Diocesan will be at it again in tomorrow's inter-city girls' final after both secured close semifinal wins.
St Cuthbert's and EGGS turned in another tight battle between two quality sides who were only separated by two points after round-robin play. EGGS' strong defence made it hard work for St Cuthbert's and the teams were locked at 0-0 at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half Su Ann Kwek struck the match-winning goal for St Cuthbert's, finishing off a tidy penalty corner.
Diocesan continued their unbeaten run in the competition, beating Rangitoto College 2-0 in the other semifinal. Inside the opening minute Diocesan took the lead through an own goal.
They doubled that advantage early in the second half when Tyler Lench scored.
In today's boys' final WBHS meet defending champions King's at King's while Rosmini meet St Kentigern at North Harbour Hockey Stadium in the 3rd/4th play-off - a match of some significance for Rosmini's George Muir.
After playing his first game for the school's 1st X1 in 2006 while in Year 8, Muir has gone on to notch 99 games for the team and will reach his century today before leading his team at next week's Mayhill Cup tournament in Napier.
NETBALL
AUCKLAND: Baradene made a good fist of their first semifinal appearance in the Auckland premier championship but could not match a slick MAGS side who won 42-34 to book their place in tonight's final against old rivals EGGS.
Baradene were competitive in the first half and led 20-19 at halftime with Kathleen Solia and Jessica Milicich shooting at 100 per cent.
Mid-courters Brittany McNeil and Tyla Walker also worked hard with assistance from LaChey Meredith.
It was still close at three-quarter time with MAGS in front by two goals.
The experience of New Zealand Secondary Schools players Tera Amani and Erikana Pedersen came through in the final quarter - lifting the intensity in the MAGS attack.
Baradene will meet St Kentigern in the bronze match.
COMBINED POINTS TOURNAMENT: Second-place finishes behind MAGS in the premier and year 9 competitions and a stronger showing in the year 10 grade were enough for WGHS to claim overall honours in the annual combined points tournament hosted by AMI Auckland Netball.
Seventy-five teams from as far afield as Palmerston North took to the courts in the popular tournament with visiting Cambridge HS claiming the year 10 final 10-8 over AGGS. MAGS beat WGHS 18-13 and 12-7 in the premier and year 9 finals respectively. Finals were quick-fire affairs played over two nine-minute halves.
RUGBY
AUCKLAND: St Kentigern claimed their second Auckland 1A championship - and their first in 10 years - with a convincing 38-17 win over
Kelston BHS in a rousing final at Pakuranga's Bell Park.
The victory completed a fairytale season for St Kentigern who lost to King's and Sacred Heart in the regular season but bounced back to beat King's in their semifinal.
In the final, and with a large share of crowd support, St Kentigern started strongly and hit the front after 10 minutes when JJ Taulagi crossed for the opening try. A second converted try, scored soon after by James Raea, took St Kentigern to a 14-0 lead which was reduced to 14-6 by halftime as Chris Neri landed two penalties.
St Kentigern continued their domination in the second half with a TJ Fiane try under the posts and another from Sootala Fa'aso'o before Setareki Tamanivalu added a fifth.
With Mariu Grace converting all five and kicking a penalty, St Kentigern raced to a big lead. Neri added another two penalties and Taylor Adams a try for KBHS but they were still well short at the finish.
NORTH HARBOUR: Massey High School sealed a gripping 11-10 victory in the much-anticipated 1A final to collect their first title since 2004.
They did it the hard way - playing in front of a large crowd at Rosmini who had earned the right to host the season's showpiece encounter after going through the regular season unbeaten.
A great individual and opportunistic break by Massey flanker Richard McQuarrie, followed by a perfectly executed draw and pass, put openside flanker Dylan Masters over for the first try of the game.
The score was unconverted and the visitors held on for a 5-0 halftime lead.
Massey's Ngapo Wehi landed a penalty to make it 8-0
but Rosmini prop Philip Meki drove over for a try and the conversion put the home team to within a point.
With 15 minutes to play Rosmini went ahead when fullback Ben Hyatt-Brown kicked a penalty.
Then, with time up, Massey won a penalty 30m from the Rosmini line and Wehi slotted over the winning kick.
In the 1B division Northcote comfortably beat Kaipara 23-5 to secure second place behind Glenfield, whose only loss in the second round was to Northcote but Glenfield gained more bonus points.
Whangaparaoa and Long Bay drew 17-17.
SOCCER
The dream run for MAGS teams - boys and girls - continues.
While Kevin Fallon's 1st X1 had already wrapped up their 10th title in 15 seasons, there was plenty of interest elsewhere last week.
The senior girls completed the Central Zone/Auckland Provincial Championship double with a 2-1 win over Rangitoto in the final.
That success followed the junior team's 2-0 triumph over five-time winners EGGS with goals from Tessa Naden and Holly Wilson in the final.
It was a first title for the juniors who completed their league campaign with a nine-from-nine record and a 57-3 goal tally.
The senior final between two evenly matched teams was locked 0-0 at halftime. Rangitoto went ahead after the break when Tiffany Paterson scored with an early penalty but MAGS equalised through a retaken penalty from TJ Hetherington.
The deadlock was broken by Piyawan Khanthee in the 47th minute to give MAGS victory and their third successive APC title.
The school will be represented in all three finals on September 3 - the last day of the season - at Bill McKinlay Park after the success of the MAGS' under-15 and under-13 teams in their respective knockout semifinals.
The 1st XI end their local premier season with Saturday's trip to WBHS before heading to Napier for the Lotto Premier tournament.
SQUASH
Well-led by Eleanor Epke, Taylor Flavell and Hayley Hughes - all later named in the tournament team - EGGS were convincing winners of the national secondary schools tournament.
Handed a win by default over Ruapehu College in the first round, EGGS then thrashed Waihi College 5-0 and followed that with wins by the same margin over Te Puke High 2 and Waikato Diocesan.
In the semifinals EGGS romped home 5-0 over Whangarei GHS to book a place in the final against Te Puke No 1.
In their toughest encounter of the tournament, EGGS lost the first match - their only loss - but bounced back to win 4-1 and claim the coveted Susan Devoy Trophy.
ON THE WEB
Auckland City FC gave up five goals in the second half to Benfica.