Schick Zone 3 Premierships (National Qualifying Tournament)

Napier Boys High School were largely considered the prohibitive favourite to retain their Lower North Island crown. All plans were on track with 3 big wins in Pool Play before a 95-78 victory over New Plymouth Boys High in the final pool. St Pat’s Town from Wellington emerged as the Quarter-Final opponent for Boys High, who were dispatched 95-82. The much anticipated matchup between Scots and Napier in the semi-final looked to be a mouth watering affair, however Napier Boys starters Kobe Kara and Jacob Murphy were declared out with injury. Napier and Scots exchange the lead several times in the game with a slew of dunks from Tafara Gapare (Scots) and Clifton Bush III during the game. The last two minutes saw a real see-saw encounter with a single digit lead for each team at different points. A Scots offensive rebound with 5 seconds left ended up being the final basket of the game and saw Scots come away with the victory 87-86. Napier beat Tawa in their final game to claim 3^rd place. While they didn’t come away with the spoils, Napier Boys still look every part the national championship contender they expect to be.

Napier Girls High School knew the task would be tough for them to qualify this year. Many experts around the country of the belief that the 10^th placed team in Zone 3 would qualify handily in any other zone. Two big wins in Pool Play set up a quarter-final against back to back Wellington Champions Hutt Valley High School. Hutt ran riot over Napier Girls before Girls High closed to 42-28 at the half. It would be the closest margin of the match before Hutt ran out 84-58 victors. Girls High now faced a do-or-die match to qualify for nationals against New Plymouth Girls High. It was a 3pt game at the half as nothing was quite going right for Girls High. Disaster struck for Girls High when star player Melika Samia picked up her 3^rd foul, and with a sub waiting at the Scorebench to come in, she picked up her 4^th foul plus a technical foul to be fouled out of the game with 16 minutes remaining in a single digit game. Girls High showed their depth of talent and resilience to come away with an eventual 70-50 victory to lift a weight and qualify for nationals once again. They finished 6^th after going down 79-72 to a strong Wellington East side in the final game.

Hastings Boys High School knew it would be difficult, but they had a very real chance of emerging from Pool D. Things started out on a promising note with a 81-65 victory over Onslow. However Francis Douglas Memorial College proved to be too good in their second game with Akina falling 76-61. This meant that, after defeating Kapiti College, Akina would need to pull off a major upset against Top 4 Wellington side Rongotai College in order to make the Top 8. A resilient and tough Akina team was up to the challenge but ultimately Rongotai was too classy in a 86-61 victory for Rongotai. Akina defeated St Bernard’s 65-63 to advance to the 9^th-12th Semi Final where Upper Hutt was too good 78-68 before Hastings repeated their opening game success with a 86-85 victory over Onslow to claim 11^th Place. Given Hastings Boys High placed 5^th (2018) and 1^st (2019) over the last two years of Zone 3 Juniors, nobody should expect Hastings Boys to be out of the Lower North Island Top 6 for much longer.

St John’s College Hastings have a young side and knew this tournament would provide them with vital experience for 2020 and beyond. Top 5 Wellington side St Patrick’s Kilbirnie baptised them with a 74-42 defeat in game one where St John’s never gave up. Wellington champions Tawa showed their class with a 126-59 victory in game 2. St John’s did not let that dampen their spirit however with a 88-69 victory over Wainuiomata in Game 3 before falling to Wellington College 89-52 in their final pool game. This set up a 9^th-16^th QF against New Plymouth Boys High would many would consider unlucky to not make the Top 8. After that loss, St John’s faced Palmerston North Boys High who were cosigned to the 13^th-16^th bracket after failing to make the 8 and unexpectedly losing their 9^th-16^th QF. Another big loss set up a final game against Wellington College. A 37 point loss to Wellington College on Thursday became a 6 point loss on Saturday as St John’s closed their tournament with a 93-99 loss to Wellington College. It was never about results, but about learning and experience for this young side who will look to take these lessons into 2020 to push for a Top 8 finish.
 

Boys
3^rd Napier Boys High School (Qualified for National Champs)
11^th Hastings Boys High School
16^th St John’s College Hastings

Girls
6^th Napier Girls High School (Qualified for National Champs)

Schick Zone 3 ‘A’ Premierships (Small Schools National Qualifying Tournament)
Flaxmere College girls travelled to Palmerston North in an attempt to qualify for the small schools National Championships for schools with co-ed rolls of 600 or less, or 300 or less for single sex schools. A fantastic exposure to a higher level of competition is a great experience though results didn’t quite fall Flaxmere’s way this time. The most competitive pool play game for Flaxmere was a 57-77 loss to Te Kura Kokiri Wahine. 0-5 in Pool Play saw Flaxmere participate in the 9^th-11^th Round Round. Two competitive games saw Flaxmere finish 11^th with a 50-51 loss to Waihi College and a 63-81 loss to Tai Wananga.

Girls
11^th Flaxmere College

Schick Central Boys Secondary Schools Cup (Division 2)

Hawke’s Bay was well represented in this tournament with HB Div 1 schools Taradale High, Havelock North High and Central Hawke’s Bay College attending along with HB Div 2 runners-up Flaxmere College and semi-finalists Lindisfarne College.

Flaxmere College found themselves in a tough pool where they secured two 7-point victories over Palmerston North Boys High B and Te Puke High respectively. This pitted Flaxmere against local rivals Lindisfarne College in the Quarter-Final.

This was after Lindisfarne eeked out an opening 64-62 victory over Taihape Area School before falling 70-83 to Porirua College in Pool C.

The form from the Hawke’s Bay Secondary School season prevailed and Flaxmere advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Lindisfarne College 89-76. Elliot Edwards very much the star for Flaxmere. Flaxmere went down to tournament favourites Waiopehu 105-77 in the semi-final before repeating their success against Palmerston North Boys High B 89-88 in a thrilling final match to claim 3^rd place.

This result was Lindisfarne fall into the 5^th-8^th bracket where they matched up against local rival Taradale High School. Taradale had advanced to the quarter-finals after splitting their Pool B games against Whanganui Collegiate and an impressive Aotea College outfit that looked sure to make the final. Taradale fell in the quarter-final against one of the other major favourites in Waiopehu College.

It was HB Div 2 side Lindisfarne College that upset their more fancied local rivals 65-60 against Taradale High School in the 5^th-8^th Semi-Final. Taradale defeated Porirua College 72-68 to claim 7^th place, while Lindisfarne would face yet another HB Div 1 opponent in Central Hawke’s Bay College in the 5^th/6^th match, but this time couldn’t kill another giant as Central Hawke’s Bay claimed 5^th place with a 74-65 win over Lindisfarne College.

Central Hawke’s Bay College was the most competitive against tournament favourite Waiopehu College in Pool D play where they went down 75-79 before advancing to the quarter-finals with a 10-pt victory over St Paul’s Hamilton and a tight 65-63 victory over Havelock North High School.

Unfortunately for Havelock North, this result saw them unable to advance to the quarter-finals after falling to CHBC and Waiopehu College. An unfortunate pool for Havelock North, as they were easily the best team to not make the quarter-finals. Havelock North easily secured 9^th place with their remaining wins.

Boys
3^rd Flaxmere College
5^th Central Hawke’s Bay
6^th Lindisfarne College
7^th Taradale High School
9^th Havelock North High School

Schick Northern Girls Secondary Schools Cup (Division 2)

HB Div 2 Champions Taradale High School travelled up to Auckland to expose themselves to some more competition. A large loss to Pukekohe High in the opening game didn’t dampen spirits as Taradale was very competitive in their second game going down 36-31 to Kelston Girls. However a third consecutive pool play loss to Long Bay College saw Taradale fall into the 9^th-14^th section where a 52-25 loss to Pakuranga saw Taradale playing off for 13^th/14^th. A fantastic effort from the Taradale girls saw them go down 69-63 to Orewa College in the final game of their tournament.

Girls
14^th Taradale High School