Week two of Mad March Sky Broadband Rapid League action brought highs, lows and a few firsts!! Read on as Mike Lacey takes you through the Rapid Wrap so you're up to speed on Aotearoa's fastest hoops league.
We had a couple of ‘Firsts’ in Week 2 of the 2025 Sky Broadband Rapid League. On Friday we had the first instance of games being played simultaneously as the Indian Panthers entertained near neighbours Franklin Bulls while at the same time the Otago Nuggets visited the Hawks. If that gave the SKY remote a bit of a workout the Sunday tri-fest tested the stamina as the three Auckland teams took it in turns to host games between brunch and dinner!
Back to the start of the week and in the opening game of the round Taranaki Steeelformers Airs pinched a 39-38 home win over Property Brokers Manawatu Jets courtesy of a Riley Tuuta full time buzzer beating three.
Paced by 19 points from Tyson Thata the Jets led 36-29 at three-quarter time and looked set for the win but inexplicably their offence dried up and the Airs took advantage.
Geordie Hoeta and Scott Telfer trimmed the deficit before Tuuta tied proceedings.
Zavier Pearn restored the Jets lead with 32 seconds to play but it was Tuuta making a tough off-balance triple that decided the contest.
Telfer and Quintin Bailey had given the Airs the early lead before Tinashe Matambanadzo, Tautoko Wynyard and Thata appeared to have done enough to give the Jets their first win of the season – Tuuta, the former New Plymouth Boys High standout, had other ideas!
Taranaki Steeelformers Airs 39 – Telfer 14pts, Bailey 12pts, Tuuta 7pts
Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 38 - Thata 19pts, Wynyard 6pts, Matambanadzo 5pts & 3stls
In a new initiative Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai took a home game to Rotorua and found the neighbouring surrounds most welcoming as they beat Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets 39-26.
Hometown boy Xanda Marsters scored 11 of his game high 13 points in the opening half as Whai forged a 21-14 lead.
A banked three from Jayden Boucher and a more conventional effort from Te Tuhi Lewis – the Rapid League’s all-time leading scorer - pushed the Whai advantage into double figures.
Christian Martin’s half dozen points in the fourth were welcoming for the Nuggets, as were Liam Boomer’s first Rapid points, but Jayden Bezzant points completed a comprehensive Whai victory.
Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai 39 – Marsters 13pts, Lewis 10pts, Bezzant 7pts, Boucher 4pts & 5assists
Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets 26 – Martin 12pts, Smiler 6pts, Bardsley 5pts
Defending champions NBS Nelson Giants beat Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints 36-34 at the Trafalgar Centre on Thursday night but they left it late.
Trailing 32-28 with 1:40 to play it needed late heroics from James Matthews and Aston Inwood to snare the win.
Matthews, one of four of the 2024 NZ U17 World Cup team playing in the game, made triples on consecutive trips down the floor to turn a 4-point deficit into a 34-32 lead.
A pair of Troy Plumtree free-throws tied proceeding inside the final minute then with overtime looming Inwood grabbed an offensive rebound and converted the put-back jumper. Just .4 of a second remained on the clock with the Saints, after a valiant effort, unable to come up with a game tying play in that time.
After the scores were tied at half-time (16-16) the Saints put together a 14-9 quarter with Kazlo Evans Jr dishing dimes for the likes of Lukah Richards and Marnie Dougall-Mita.
A Will Blight dunk started the Giants fourth quarter revival before Matthews provided the impetus and Inwood the finish.
NBS Nelson Giants 36 – Matthews 11pts, Chamberlain 6pts, Jones 5pts, 6rebs & 2blks Blight 4pts & 7rebs
Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints 34 – Dougall-Mita 9pts & 5rebs, Richards 7pts & 5rebs, Plumtree 6pts, Evans Jr 2pts & 5assists
In its first ever home game the Indian Panthers ran into a free scoring Franklin Bulls outfit that charged to a 44-37 win at Pulman Arena on Friday night.
The Bulls studs on the night were KC Nwafor and Payton Hughes who both set Rapid League records. Nwafor pulled down 12 rebounds while Hughes, the former Pukekohe High School guard, poured in a Rapid best 6 threes – from 9 attempts – on his way to a game and career high 20 points.
Hughes drained three triples in the opening quarter but with Ryan Laumatea, Dante Matakatea and Luke Kelemete combining well the Panthers shaded the first half 18-15.
The Bulls had the better of the third but with Cooper Lepou landing from deep the Panthers were still in touch at the last break trailing 25-28.
Inside buckets from Nwafor, a triple from Hari Coker-Grey and numbers five and six from Hughes saw the Bulls storm through the final quarter in style to register their first win of the season.
Indian Panthers 37 – Lepou 10pts, Kelemete 8pts & 8rebs, Matakatea 7pts. Te Puni 6pts & 9rebs
Franklin Bulls 44 – Hughes 20pts, Coker-Grey 11pts, Nwafor 9pts, 12rebs & 2blks
Following a 13-point loss to the Whai 48 hours earlier Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets bounced back with a 15-point win in Napier on Friday night defeating the Total Energies Hawks 38-23.
After Jacob Murphy had scored all the Hawks points as they led 6-5 at the first break Josh Aitchison and Matt Bardsley, the architects of the win, bossed the second spell as the Nuggets took an 18-8 advantage into the interval.
A Maz Taylor three late in the third was cancelled out by Patrick Freeman – the Nuggets lead extended to 14 points (27-13).
Ryder Moore came up with 7 fourth quarter points for the hosts but 5 points apiece from Bardsley and Danyon Ashcroft enabled the Nuggets to cruise to victory.
Total Energies Hawks 23 – Murphy 8pts, Moore 7pts, Allan 3pts & 4rebs
Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets 38 – Bardsley 11pts, Freeman 9pts, Aitcheson 7pts, Ashcroft 4pts & 7rebs
In the only game on Saturday BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams thwarted a stiff challenge from Southland Sharks to win 36-32 at Cowles Stadium, Christchurch.
Dane Bertinshaw scored all of his 10 points in the first quarter as the Sharks stormed to a 16-7 lead.
A triple from Jake Holmes and a brace of the same from Mana Martin reversed the momentum as the Rams drew level by half-time at 20-all.
Will Leger and Quake Webster kept the Southlanders on level terms before scores from Holmes and Tawhiri Cate gave the Rams the edge at the three-quarter mark (30-25).
Webster and Tukaha Cooper landed late threes, however it wasn’t enough to prevent the Sharks slipping to a second successive loss.
BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams 36 – Holmes 13pts & 5rebs, Martin 10pts & 6rebs, I Cate 7pts
Southland Sharks 32 – Bertinshaw 10pts, Webster 6pts, Cooper 5pts, Collier 3pts, 5rebs & 2blk
The Sunday tri-fest in Auckland began with the Total Energies Hawks grabbing a 39-30 road win at Franklin Bulls.
The early start (midday) may have been responsible for the sluggish start with both sides struggling at the offensive end; 13-12 in favour of the Bulls at half-time.
The pace quickened in the third, particularly from the Hawks, as multiple scores from the in-form Jacob Murphy and rookie guard Maz Taylor propelled them to a 25-19 three-quarter time lead.
Halasiale Maile’s 5 points and a flush from KC Nwafor kept the Bulls in touch before a second triple from Taylor gave the Hawks a double figure lead.
Payton Hughes made his seventh three of the weekend but Ezra Eagle’s trey on the buzzer meant he and the Hawks were winging it south with the competition points.
Franklin Bulls 30 – Corey Perry 6pts, Zion Anderson 6pts, Harri Coker-Grey 6pts, Nwafor 4pts & 5rebs
Total Energies Hawks 39 – Murphy 14pts, Taylor 11pts, Eagle 7pts, Keighley 1pt, 8 rebs & 3blks
Next up the Taranaki Steeelformers Airs led from start to finish against Auckland Tuatara in winning 45-36 at Eventfinda Stadium.
Former Rosmini College forward Bart Jackowski, on debut, nailed a three with his first shot but the Airs, paced by Rapid League bests from Quintin Bailey (13 points) and Riley Tuuta (11 points), were totally in control at half-time with a 25-12 lead.
The spoils were shared in the third – former Westlake Boys standouts Scott Telfer and Dylan Wilkie prominent for their respective teams.
Teenager KC Ioane showed his promise with 8 fourth quarter points for the hosts but a brace of threes from Tuuta put the seal on a solid Airs effort.
Auckland Tuatara 36 – Ioane 13pts, Wilkie 11pts, Jackowski 6pts, Barrow 5pts & 4rebs
Taranaki Steeelformers Airs 45 – Bailey 13pts & 4rebs, Tuuta 11pts, Exeter 8pts, Telfer 7pts & 4assists
The third game of the day in Auckland produced a one-point cliff-hanger with the Indian Panthers protecting home court at Pulman Arena to pip the Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 31-30.
Zack Te Puni and Stephen Paea helped the Panthers steal an early 10-6 lead and with Ryan Laumatea landing a couple of jump shots the advantage was 18-13 midway through the second period before a burst of points from Tinashe Matambanadzo and Tyson Thata then tied proceeding at the break at 18 points apiece.
Dante Matakatea was the shining light in the third with his 6 points helping the Panthers to a 26-23 lead at three-quarter time.
Thata and Matambanadzo pulled the Jets to within a single points (28-27) with 2:30 to play only for Paea to land a critical three on the next possession. Matambanadzo drained his fourth three of the game to again close the gap to a single point.
Both teams missed scoring opportunities in the closing seconds meaning the Panthers held on for a valuable win.
Indian Panthers 31 – Te Puni 9pts & 10rebs, Laumatia 9pts, Paea 7pts, Matakatea 6pts & 6rebs, Kelemete 4 steals
Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 30 – Matambanadzo 14pts, Thata 9pts, Wynyard 2pts & 6rebs
Simply Rapid
Tauranga Whai chalked up their biggest ever Rapid League win (13 points) in defeating the Nuggets 39-26.
Franklin Bulls equalled their highest score in the 44-37 win against the Panthers.
Rapid Facts
The Giants know how to win – victory against the Saints means their overall Rapid record is a League best 18-6.
Contrasting fortunes for the Nuggets - following a club record 13-point loss to the Whai (39-26) the Nuggs bounced back with a club record 15-point win against the Hawks (38-23).
The Bulls duo of KC Nwafor and Payton Hughes both set Rapid League records in the win against the Panthers.
Hughes made a Rapid best 6 threes – from 9 attempts – on his way to a career high (and Rapid ’25 season best) 20 points while Nwafor had 12 rebounds to better the 11 by Morgan Trott for the Airs against the Jets in 2024.
Scoring 10 points against the Nuggets, Te Tuhi Lewis became the Rapid League’s all-time leading scorer with 211 points.
All-time Top 10 Rapid League Scorers
211 Te Tuhi Lewis (Whai)
205 Dru Leusogi-Ape (ex Bulls)
187 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)
178 Josh Aitcheson (Nuggets)
176 Tyson Thata (Jets)
176 Nico Hill (ex Airs)
156 Scott Telfer (Airs)
155 Rangimarie Dougall-Mita (Saints)
151 Connor Coll (ex Sharks)
148 Hayden Jones (Giants)
Rapid Ladder
2-0 Giants
2-1 Nuggets, Rams, Whai, Airs, Panthers
2-2 Hawks
1-1 Saints, Tuatara
1-3 Bulls
0-2 Sharks
0-3 Jets
