Basketball New Zealand

AA Secondary Schools National Championships

Rangitoto College had one Junior Tall Black foul out and another leave the court with a dislocated finger in the fourth quarter of a close game.

And yet it was no problem.

Amid a number of near-misses, Auckland’s Rangitoto College provided the only upset in the quarterfinals on day four of the AA Secondary Schools National Championships – presented by Furnware – on Thursday, knocking off second seed Otago Boys High 72-63 for a spot in the Final Four.

Rangitoto centre Duane Bailey fouled out with over eight minutes remaining, then forward Sam Butler followed minutes later after dislocating a finger as the North Shore school clung to a narrow lead over Otago Boys.

With Matt Graham, Marko Alexander, top-scoring with 18 points, and Stefan Mandic lifting their game, and an every-man defence closing down on the Southerners, Rangitoto scored two crucial fast-break lay-ups after getting behind Otago Boys full-court press.

Otago Boys, led by Tom Rowe with 23 points, got within four points in the final two minutes but could not get the stop at the defensive end.

“It’s more of the team effort that got us there,” said Rangitoto coach Lawrence Levi Lianda, an assistant coach with the New Zealand Breakers Academy.

“And again it just goes to show the character of the boys. For a lot of them, in Auckland, they’ve always been considered second best so it’s great for them to come down here and to do well.

“It was just about the boys being disciplined enough to defend with their feet, keep their hands out, help each other out and make them take contested shots, and we did that.”

Otago Boys, the last remaining South Island team in the boys bracket, led by as many as 13 points in the second quarter but could not handle Rangitoto’s all-court defensive pressure in the third period, turning the ball over too often. Rangitoto out-scored OBs 22-10 in the quarter, going ahead 51-47.

Rangitoto will meet defending champions St Patrick’s College in Friday night’s semifinals, after St Pat’s made comfortable work of Westlake Boys High 83-56, powering away with a 34-8 second quarter to lead 49-22 at the major break.

Last year’s MVP Brook Ruscoe produced 26 points and Jake Ashby 18 points as St Pat’s kept their title defence alive against zone one champions Westlake, who got 21 points from Junior Tall Black Rob Loe.

The second boys semifinal is an all-Waikato with Hamilton’s Fraser High meeting Church College. Fraser High defeated New Plymouth Boys High 73-55, with Daniel Green top-scoring with 22 points, while Church survived against fellow Hamilton school St John’s College in the final quarter, 62-52.

Church College, resting their MVP Letava Whippy, did not have it all their own way as they moved through to the girls Final Four with a 92-66 win over Hamilton’s Fraser High. Shannon Randell top-scored with 20 points in the absence of Whippy as Church pulled away in the fourth quarter after only leading by six points after three.

Church, looking for back-to-back titles, will meet New Plymouth Girls High, who needed a last-second three-pointer to even reach the quarterfinals, before accounting for Auckland Girls Grammar 66-43 in the first quarter.

Second seeds Rangitoto College got all they could handle from zone one rivals Massey High, edging away late for a 65-57 win, to reach the semifinals, where they will meet third-ranked Waimea College, who had to work the full 40 minutes before putting away fellow South Islanders Rangiora High 66-60, thanks to 28 points from Jelena Vucinic.

Semifinals are scheduled for 5.45pm and 7.30pm on Friday night at the B&M Centre in Arena Manawatu.

AA Secondary Schools National Championships Results

Game On - Daily News (158KB pdf)