The fastest league in basketball is back and Mike Lacey is here with the week 1 Rapid Wrap to get you up to speed on all you need to know to keep pace
Rapid Wrap
Amongst the winners in the opening week of the 2025 Sky Broadband Rapid League were defending champions NBS Nelson Giants while we also saw the Indian Panthers, in their inaugural game, bound to a win with a team that met for the first time at game day shootaround.
With the Indian players away on international duty the Panthers had very much a Kiwi look for their debut Rapid League appearance and the hastily recruited squad did the new franchise proud winning 36-35 in Napier on Wednesday night.
A total of nine teenagers were on show with six of them in the Total Energies Hawks lineup that found themselves 27-16 down at half-time.
The Hawks closed to within 5 points at three-quarter time and when Jacob Murphy converted with 56 seconds to play the hosts were within two (34-32).
A three from Maz Taylor looked to have sealed a come from behind win for the hosts but Te Aroha College standout Vince Lenden had the final say to secure the Panthers a historic win and an exceptional, exciting way to start the season.
Total Energies Hawks 35 – Keighley 12pts & 7rebs, Murphy 6pts & 6 assists
Indian Panthers 36 – Lepou 11pts, Matakatea 10pts & 5rebs, Sipeli 9pts
BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams were never headed as they recorded a comfortable 39-27 victory in Tauranga on Thursday.
The Rams welcomed back ‘old boys’ Max de Geest and Sam Smith although, in an all-round team effort, it was Mana Martin and impressive debutant Tony Worthington with 9 points apiece that led the way for the 2024 Rapid League runners-up.
The Rams edged a tight opening half 16-13 but pulled away to an 8-point lead in the third quarter despite Te Tui Lewis, the second highest scorer in last season’s Rapid League, making three tiples in the spell.
Jayden Bezzant made a couple of scores but a fourth quarter Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai comeback failed t materialised.
Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai 27 – Lewis 11pts, Bezzant 8pts
BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams 39 – Martin 9pts, Worthington 9pts, Jake Holmes 7pts, Marco Sula 7rebs
The first Southern Stoush of the season went the way of Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets as they beat Southland Sharks 27-18 at the Edgar Centre, Dunedin on Friday night.
Hayden Collier gave the Sharks the early lead but that was quickly extinguished as Christian Martin and Noah Mcdowall made triples. Dane Bertenshaw and Will Leger replied for the Sharks but they trailed 14-10 at half-time.
McDowall and Martin did further damage as the Nuggets lead increased to double figures and, although the Sharks had the better of the final period, the Nuggets easily maintained their lead to close out the win.
Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets 27 – Martin 9pts & 9rebs, Mcdowall 6pts, Boomer 6rebs
Southland Sharks 18 – Collier 7pts, Bertinshaw 6pts
Playing their second home game of the round the Hawks made amends for their loss to the Panthers on opening night by defeating Manawatu Jets 37-29.
The architect of the win was Jacob Murphy who equaled the Hawks single game record score in amassing 18 points. In just 9 minutes of action his perfect 6 out of 6 from the field included 4 from 4 from beyond the arc.
Tyson Thata was almost as productive for the Jets – the former Saints man producing a Rapid best 15 points in a losing cause.
Thata received good support from fellow guard Tinashe Matambanadzo while for the Hawks rookies Maz Taylor and Ezrah Eagle contributed 7 and 6 points respectively.
Total Energies Hawks 37 – Murphy 18pts, Taylor 7pts, Eagle 6pts
Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 29 – Thata 15pts, Matambanadzo 7pts
Former Bull Dylan Wilkie torched his former club for 17 points (3/4 3PG) as Auckland Tuatara won the 09 derby against Franklin Bulls 42-26 at Eventfinda Stadium on Saturday.
Wilkie scored 10 points in the opening half but with Christian Vano and Harri Coker-Grey prominent the hosts led by just three points (20-17).
The schoolboy duo of Mattie Dalton and Krisnan Cole-Ioane helped Tuatara dominate the third period (11-2) to carry a 31-19 lead into the final quarter.
KC Nwafor showed some nice touches around the rim in the final minutes as he top scored for the Bulls while for Tuatara Wilkie’s third three of the contest capped off a fine individual and team performance.
Auckland Tuatara 42 – Wilkie 17pts, McIntosh 8pts, Ioane 6pts & 3stls, Barrow 6pts
Franklin Bulls 28 – Nwafor 7pts & 5rebs, Vano 6pts
In the capital on Sunday afternoon Albert Pathways Wellington Saints put the defensive clamps on the Taranaki Steeelformers Airs, keeping them to 5 points in the second half, to win 33-22.
Geordie Hoeata scored 6 points as the Airs claimed the opening half 17-16.
The Airs held the ascendancy for most of the third period before a Dougall-Mita triple and 5 points from Plumtree gave the home team a 26-21 three-quarter time lead.
The fourth also belonged to the hosts – Plumtree demonstrating some exquisite offensive footwork for the finish, a dozen points and a Saints victory.
Rangimarie Dougall-Mita was also in double figures with 10 points while Hoeata led the way for the Airs although was unable to add to his 6 first half points.
Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints 33 – Plumtree 12pts & 8rebs, Dougall-Mita 10pts Taranaki Steeelformers Airs 22 – Hoeata 6pts, Telfer 5pts
The first and second placed teams from last season went head to head at Cowles Stadium on Sunday and it was the 2024 title winners that got the upper hand as NBS Nelson Giants defeated BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams 36-27.
Smothering defence from the Giants held the Rams to just 3 first half points and with the NZ U17 trio of James Matthews, Lachie Crate and Hayden Jones featuring at the offensive end the Giants were 13 ahead.
Ihaka Cate, Mana Martin and Kaleb Chamberlain belatedly gave the Rams some impetus and they were able to reduce the deficit to six points but that was as close as they could get to the defending champions.
BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams 27 – Martin 9pts, I Cate 7pts
NBS Nelson Giants 36 – Jones 11pts, Crate 7pts, Chamberlain 7pts
Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai consigned Franklin Bulls to their second loss in as many outings with a 30-27 victory in the Stock Yard on Monday evening.
Threes from Xanda Marsters and Te Tuhi Lewis – the second player to accumulate 200 Rapid League points - gave Whai an 11-4 quarter time lead.
Harri Coker-Grey pulled the margin to within a single point before Marsters second triple gave the visitors a 15-12 half-time lead.
Jayden Bezzant, headed for a game high 12 points, kept Whai in the ascendancy in the third.
The rebounding prowess of KC Nwafor and scoring punch of Christian Vano meant the Bulls were always in the hunt but they were unable to do quite enough to roundup the Whai in the closing minutes.
Franklin Bulls 27 – Nwafor 8pts & 6rebs, Vano 6pts & 4stls, Coker-Grey 5pts
Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai 30 – Bezzant 12pts, Marsters 6pts & 7rebs, Boucher 3pts & 3stls
Simply Rapid
Auckland Tuatara were the highest scorers of the opening week posting 42 points, an identical tally to that that they posted in week one of Rapid’24.
Rapid Fire
Hawks guard Jacob Murphy had a good week. He produced a club best 6 assists in the loss to the Panthers and then set a new game high points mark for the Hawks with 17 in quick time against the Jets.
Dylan Wilkie scored a club best 17 points for Auckland Tuatara whie Jacob Murphy’s 18 points
Out of the Westlake Boys High basketball factory, Christian Martin was close to a double-double finishing with 9 points and 9 rebounds on debut for the Nuggets.
All-time top Rapid League Top 20 Scorers
205 Dru Leusogi-Ape (ex Bulls)
201 Te Tuhi Lewis (Whai)
176 Nico Hill (ex Airs)
171 Josh Aitcheson (Nuggets)
165 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)
151 Connor Coll (ex Sharks)
148 Tyson Thata (Jets)
148 Ben Hall (ex Sharks)
146 Rangimarie Dougall-Mita (Saints)
144 Hayden Jones (Giants)
140 Nick Davidson (ex Giants)
137 Kaia Isaac (Rams)
135 Scott Telfer (Airs)
134 Tobias Cameron (Bulls)
132 Tama Isaac (Rams)
131 Kazlo Evans Jr (Saints)
124Christian Vano (Bulls)
111 Tom Ingham (ex Giants)
109 Kobe Kara (Hawks)
108 Robbie Coman (ex Nuggets)
