Photo credit: Katrina Parish
A League best 21 points from Tobias Cameron for Taranaki Steeelformers Airs was the best individual performance in Round 11 of the Sky Broadband Rapid League. Cameron’s effort helped the Airs to a narrow 45-43 win against Albert Pathways Wellington Saints in arguably the game of the round.
Meanwhile at the top of the south NBS Nelson Giants still head the league table while at the foot of the ladder the Property Brokers Manawatu Jets have registered three wins in their last four outings. Mike Lacey takes you through the above and everything else you need to know in this week's Rapid Wrap.
Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints 45 Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 24
In the opening game of the round Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints made it seven wins on the bounce with a 45-24 victory over Property Brokers Manawatu Jets at TSB Arena on Wednesday.
The Saints doubled the made threes (4 to 2) of the Jets in the opening half and doubled their score (26-13) in the process. The brace of triples from the Jets were from Lachie Crate, who brought up 100 points for the season, and Josh Tutagalevao against the club he began the season with.
Jackson Stent had a hand in most of the Jets good deeds in the third quarter but further triples from Dion Prewster, Sam Gold and Rangimarie Dougall-Mita (11 points) – the trio combined to make 7 from 12 attempts – increased the Saints lead to 35-21.
Campbell Scott joined in the three thrashing before Arthur Pilcher scored the final 5 points of the game to add the finishing touches to a comprehensive Saints win.
Southland Sharks 41 Napier RSA Hawke's Bay Hawks 38
The Sharks snapped an 11 game losing streak in downing Hawks 41-38 in Invercargill on Thursday night.
The Sharks won their opening two games of the season but had to wait 64 days to register victory number three. Connor Coll has played through all 11 defeats so it was fitting he played a major role in the win by scoring a team high 14 points at a highly efficient 6 from 7 shooting.
Coll scored 6 first quarter points as the Sharks, a perfect 6 from 6 from the field, established a 13-12 lead. Hawks guard Jacob Murphy posted 12 of his season high 17 points in the first half – his team 24-21 down at the interval.
Scott Telfer (11 points) and Matariki Kapea (8 points) kept the hosts in the ascendancy in the third – the score 32-25 in favour of the men in orange.
Murphy dropped his third triple of the game before he was involved in a skirmish with Sharks veteran Andrew Wheeler that concluded with both players being pinged with disqualifying fouls.
Once order was restored Ben Hall made it a three possession advantage. Kobe Kara and Jackson Ball put a dent in the lead but there was no denying the Sharks in this one.
In other news the Hawks have confirmed that Rapid regulars Tommy Fergusson and Balin Casson have suffered season ending leg injuries. The pair went down in the same game, the Round 8 clash with the Bulls.
Tauranga Whai 24 NBS Nelson Giants 30
NBS Nelson Giants remained top of the Rapid League ladder with a solid 30-24 victory against Tauranga Whai at Mercury Baypark Arena on Friday night.
It was the Whai that gained the early advantage through a Carter Hopoi dunk and a Denhym Brooke (6 points and 4 rebounds) triple but after leading 7-6 at the first break the hosts endured a horror second quarter scoring just two points.
In contrast the Giants garnered good production from the forward duo of Sam Dempster (9 points and 6 rebounds) and Aston Inwood (8 points and 5 rebounds) before three made freebies from Tom Ingham gave the league leaders an 18-9 half-time lead.
The Whai’s shooting woes became contagious in the third as the two teams managed a combined 6 points in the period.
Brooke and Jett Thompson breathed life into the Whai offence but any chance of a comeback were snuffed out by the rookie and the vet – Hayden Jones and Dempster.
Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets 36 Napier RSA Hawke's Bay Hawks 30
Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets snapped a two game losing streak to beat Napier RSA Hawks 36-30 at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin on Saturday afternoon.
On his last Rapid League outing Darcy Knox scored 15 points in a Nuggets victory and in this success he went one better - making 4 from 5 from the field and 4 from 4 from the charity stripe the experienced point guard totaled a season high 16 points.
With Robbie Coman (7 points and 3 assists) also in good form the Nuggets took a firm grip on proceedings leading 23-12 at half-time.
A Ryder Moore triple, late in the third quarter, reduced the Hawks deficit to single numbers and when Jacob Murphy made a couple of scores early in the fourth the Hawks were sniffing a comeback.
That man Knox steadied the cause for the hosts and when Josh Aitcheson drilled a triple the Otago lead was 8 points. Despite threes from veteran Jarrod Kenny and teenager Jackson Ball the Nuggets were able to claim win number eight – the same number as the Hawks.
Taranaki Steeelformers Airs 45 Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints 43
A Rapid League season best 21 points from Tobias Cameron propelled Taranaki Steeelformers Airs to an exciting 45-43 win against Albert Pathways Wellington Saints on Saturday evening.
In addition to Cameron’s 21 former Tall Black Derone Raukawa played a major part in the win scoring a season best 15. In the opposition corner Kazlo Evans Jr continued his hot form with 13 points, Rangimarie Dougall-Mita scored 14 and Sam Gold impressed again with 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Reflecting the closeness of the contest the Airs trailed by one point at quarter time, led by one at half time (20-19) and were just three up at the three-quarter mark (36-33).
In a thrilling fourth quarter a brace of Dougall-Mita threes swung the game in the Saints favour and when Kawharu Hippolite made a score the visitors were 41-38 ahead.
Cameron cancelled out the advantage before Evans Jr and Raukawa traded scores – 43 points each with under 30 seconds to play.
Cameron drew a foul and calmly sunk both freebies to give the Airs the lead but the excitement wasn’t over. With 7 seconds to play the Saints found Gold from an in-bounds play and his shot attempt to tie proceedings did everything but drop – the Airs breathing a collective sigh of relief!
The victory stretched the Airs winning run to five and halted the Saints streak of victories at seven.
Auckland Tuatara 31 BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams 45
Not for the first time this season the Isaac brothers played starring roles for BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams.
Kaia, the Rams Rapid skipper had 13 points , 4 rebounds and 4 assists while Tama scored 12 points on an efficient 5 from 7 shooting as the Rams beat Auckland Tuatara 45-31 at Eventfinda Stadium on Sunday.
It’s Rapid by name and it was rapid in time as the first half flew by. With just the one foul called the action swung from end to end with Tukaha Cooper (11 points) and Josh Leger (9 points and 5 rebounds) providing the scoring thrust for the hosts.
Taki Fahrensohn, playing against his former club, helped the Rams to a 19-17 lead only for that to be increased by three as Kaia Isaac connected from deep on the half-time buzzer.
The Rams ramped up the defensive effort in the third keeping the Tuatara to 4 points and extending their advantage into the double digit domain.
The Tuatara were unable to put a dent in the Rams lead, the visitors managing the final four minutes in an accomplished manner and in doing so completed the double over the Aucklander’s.
Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 41 Franklin Bulls 34
In the final game of the round Property Brokers Manawatu Jets made it three wins in the last four games by defeating Franklin Bulls 41-34 in Palmerston North on Sunday evening.
Campbell Scott paced the Jets with 16 points making 4 from 7 from beyond the arc.
Corey Perry, playing with brother Brody in the Rapid League for the first time, scored the first and last points of the opening quarter for the Bulls as they established a 10-6 lead.
Five points from Dom Kelman-Poto extended the Bulls lead before Scott and Simon Lafaele narrowed the visitors advantage to a single point (17-16) at half-time.
Jonty Kells gave the Jets the lead although it was quickly erased by Harri Coker-Grey. The remainder of the period belonged to Scott – the Manawatu guard making three triples in as many minutes to catapult the Jets into a 32-24 three-quarter time lead.
Payton Hughes led the Bulls with 10 points but they were unable to put a dent in the Jets advantage in the final four minutes.
We still have 10 players that have played every game of the season for their respective teams.
The Jets and the Saints each have two ever presents whilst the South Island trio of the Giants, Sharks and Rams have no players with 100% appearance records.
Nick Barrow (Tuatara), Halasiale Maile (Bulls), Te Tuhi Lewis (Whai), Nico Hill (Airs), Kobe Kara (Hawks), Lukah Richards and Jackson Stent (Jets), Kazlo Evans Jr and Tyson Thata (Saints), Robbie Coman (Nuggets).
The 21 points from Airs guard Tobias Cameron is the highest individual score of the Rapid League season. It also took Cameron past 100 points for the season.
Eleven players have now scored 100 points this season with Manawatu Jets wing Lachie Crate becoming the second 17-year old, alongside Hayden Jones (Nelson Giants), to reach the milestone.
Kazlo Evans Jr remains top of the MVP standings while Te Tuhi Lewis also keeps top spot on the points scoring ladder.
119 Te Tuhi Lewis (Whai)
116 Ben Hall (Sharks)
116 Connor Coll (Sharks)
114 Dru Leusogi-Ape (Bulls)
113 Kaia Isaac (Rams)
112 Tobias Cameron (Airs)
110 Nico Hill (Airs)
107 Josh Aitcheson (Nuggets)
105 Hayden Jones (Giants)
104 Lachie Crate (Jets)
101 Kobe Kara (Hawks)
93 Tommy Fergusson (Hawks)
92 Rangimarie Dougall-Mita (Saints)
91 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)
91 Jackson Ball (Hawks)
90 Kazlo Evans Jr (Saints)
81 Kazlo Evans Jr (Saints)
71 Kaia Isaac (Rams)
68 Robbie Coman (Nuggets)
67 Hayden Jones (Giants)
64 Connor Coll (Sharks)
63 Ben Hall (Sharks)
63 Tommy Fergusson (Hawks)
61 Josh Aitchison (Nuggets)
55 Aston Inwood (Giants)
53 Nick Davidson (Giants)
51 Te Tuhi Lewis (Whai)
51 Tobias Cameron (Airs)
50 Rangimarie Dugall-Mita (Saints)
11-3 Nelson Giants
10-4 Wellington Saints
9-4 Taranaki Airs
8-5 Canterbury Rams
8-6 Hawkes Bay Hawks, Otago Nuggets
7-8 Auckland Tuatara
5-8 Franklin Bulls
4-10 Tauranga Whai
3-11 Manawatu Jets, Southland Sharks
