Week three of Amp'd April in the 2025 Sky Broadband Rapid League opened with a points-fest in Pukekohe (with 100 points scored in the encounter between the Franklin Bulls and Canterbury Rams) and concluded with the Jets posting their highest ever score to blow past the Airs.
Meanwhile there are new leaders on the Rapid League table with the Otago Nuggets (6-1) taking advantage of the Nelson Giants (5-1) first loss. Mike Lacey has down low on how that happened and everything else you need to know about the Rapid League .
The opening game of the week in Pukekohe was a strange affair as the BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams opted to defend in the half court with just four players allowing Tama Isaac to ‘seagull’ on the half-way line.
Bulls turnovers gifted Isaac some easy buckets as he dropped a club best 24 points but at the offensive end the hosts were able to score at will.
The Bulls posted the highest team score of Rapid’25 as they picked apart the shorthanded Rams defence both inside, with KC Nwafor and Zion Anderson dominating, or on the perimeter where they converted 52% (10/19) from the land of plenty.
Shooting guard Payton Hughes landed three of those triples but it was the stats line of KC Nwafor that caught the eye. The former Rotorua Boys High big man leads the league in rebounds and blocks and added to those numbers with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in a turbo charged performance.
Franklin Bulls 54 – Coker-Grey 12pts, Anderson 10pts, Hughes 9pts, Jones 8pts, Nwafor 8pts, 9rebs & 3blks, Vano 7pts & 5 assists
BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams 46 – T Isaac 24pts, Martin 11pts & 3stls, I Cate 4pts & 6rebs
A dominant second quarter propelled Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints to a 40-33 victory against Southland Sharks in Invercargill on Thursday.
After the scores were locked (9-9) at quarter time the Saints scored 9 unanswered points while keeping the Sharks to a solitary Dane Bertinshaw basket to carry a sizeable 20-11 lead into the half-time break.
Jack Ramage, in just his second appearance for the Sharks, provided the highlight of the third frame with an athletic two-handed flush but 5 points from Tyrael Heke and a second triple from Marnie Dougall-Mita kept the Saints in the ascendancy 30-22.
A Bertinshaw three pulled the Sharkies to within four with 50 seconds to play only for Kazlo Evans Jr (with a season high 13 points) and Hassan Munir to put the seal on a fifth straight Saints victory.
Shout-out to Quake Webster who pulled down 10 rebounds - a Sharks record - in the contest.
Southland Sharks 33 – Bertinshaw 13pts, Ramage 5pts, Webster 5pts & 10rebs
Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints 40 – Evans Jr 13pts, Heke 8pts, Dougall-Mita 6pts
The Indian Panthers venture across the Harbour Bridge turned out to be fruitful as they defeated Auckland Tuatara 40-33 in front of the largest crowd of the season at Eventfinda Stadium on Friday.
Despite debutants Cooper Te Ratana and Noah Rasmussen scoring with their first looks at the basket a couple of timely threes from Zach Te Puni – back in familiar surrounds on Auckland’s North Shore – took the Panthers to a 21-19 half-time lead.
Tuatara’s ever present Nick Barrow, headed for a Rapid best 15 points, made a couple of short range jumpers but side line threes from Ryan Laumatia and Luke Kelemete propelled the Panthers to a 34-27 three-quarter time lead.
Quick baskets from Sejin Mathew and Dante Matakatea followed to stretch the Panthers advantage into double figures - the Tuatara condemned to a fourth straight loss.
Auckland Tuatara 33 – Barrow 15pts & 8rebs, Te Ratana 5pts, Wilkie 4pts
Indian Panthers 40 – Te Puni 10pts, Kelemete 10pts, Matakatea 9pts, 5rebs & 4a
The basketball gods refused to smile on the Property Brokers Manawatu Jets. A 39-38 loss to BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams at Cowles Stadium on Friday night meant the Jets had lost FOUR games by a single point!
Down 8 points with little over a minute to play the Jets rallied to come within a whisker of overturning the deficit. Josh Crowley hit a three, the spring heeled Isaac Miller-Jose added a tip-in and when Tautoko Wynyard scored inside the Jets trailed by just a point (39-38) with 14 seconds to play.
A missed Rams effort presented the Jets with a game winning opportunity but Miller-Jose’s effort was thwarted by Ihaka Cate.
Rangiora High School standout Jake Holmes led the way for the Rams with a game high 16 points while Miller-Jose scored 13 for the Jets and Tyson Thata-Paese 10 points – those points enabling him to become the first player to score 100 points in Rapid’25.
BBQ’s Direct Canterbury Rams 39 – Holmes 16pts, Martin 11pts, Cate 6pts, 8rebs & 4a, Bond 6pts
Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 38 – Miller-Jose 13pts, Thata-Paese 10pts, Crowley 8pts & 2blks
In a game that featured two teams with just one loss apiece it was Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets that preserved that record with a 38-30 win against Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints in Dunedin on Saturday afternoon.
Josh Aitcheson scored 4 early points to give Otago a 12-6 first quarter lead and although Marnie Dougall-Mita and Tyrael Heke converted from beyond the arc, 10 first half points from Christian Martin gave the southerners a 22-17 lead at the main break.
Martin and Patrick Freeman combined to stretch the advantage to double figures before the Saints hit back through Kazlo Evans Jr and Lukah Richards.
Down 33-28 with little over a minute to play the Saints comeback was snuffed out by free throws from Caleb Smiler and a fourth three in the contest from Martin – the 3x3 Tall Black finishing with a Rapid best 16 points as the Nuggets made it five wins on the bounce.
Night ‘n Day Otago Nuggets 38 – Martin 16pts, Freeman 8pts, Stodart 4pts, 4rebs & 2blks
Mills Albert Pathways Wellington Saints 30 – Richards 8pts, Evans Jr 6pts & 4a, Heke 5pts
As they did in 2024 the NBS Nelson Giants unbeaten start to the season ended at five after they suffered a 37-32 home loss to Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai at the Trafalgar Centre on Saturday night.
Ahead 31-27, after a Lachie Crate triple, with 2:40 to play the Giants looked poised to make it six straight wins to open the season.
However the Whai, led by Jayden Bezzant, had other ideas and outscored the hosts 10-1 in the remaining two and a half minutes. Bezzant led all scorers with 11 points on 4 from 5 shooting with Maioro Greensill and Te Tuhi Lewis also making valuable contributions.
Lachie Crate and Aston Inwood stood out for the Giants who will look to get back to winning ways against the Saints on Easter Monday.
NBS Nelson Giants 32 – Crate 10pts, Inwood 8pts, Jones 7pts
Amohia Te Waiora Tauranga Whai 37 – Bezzant 11pts, Lewis 7pts, Greensill 6pts, Boucher 6pts
Total Energies Hawks consigned Auckland Tuatara to a fifth straight loss with a 46-36 win at Eventfinda Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Campbell Scott and Kobe Kara were the architects of the win – Scott making 4 from 6 from beyond the arch and Kara a perfect 4 from 4 from the field to accompany 4 rebounds.
Cooper Te Ratana- in just his second game for the Tuatara - scored 7 points in the opening half although Scott countered that with 9 as the Hawks stole a 24-17 lead.
Kara was the difference maker in the third with 8 points as the Hawks outscored their hosts 15-6.
KC Ioane and Te Ratana put a dent in the deficit in the final period but it was of little consequence to the Hawks as they returned to winning ways with their highest score of the season.
Auckland Tuatara 36 – Te Ratana 13pts, McIntosh 7pts, Ioane 6pts, 7rebs & 3assists
Total Energies Hawks 46 – Scott 12pts, Kara 11pts & 4rebs, Murphy 9pts, Eagle 6pts
Having lost five games by a total margin of seven points the Property Brokers Manawatu Jets ensured there would be no dramas against the Taranaki Steeelformers Airs in Palmerston North on Sunday as they won every quarter in a thumping 46-30 win.
Tyson Thata-Paese is the runaway leading scorer in Rapid League ’24 and the in-form guard boosted his burgeoning stocks as he rattled up 20 points to take his aggregate total this season to 127 points.
Thata-Paese received good support from his backcourt running mate Tinashe Matambanadzo who produced 9 points, 3 assists and a couple of steals while Tautoko Wynyard anchored the defence with 5 points and a season high 9 rebounds.
The Airs, though second best throughout, enjoyed strong showings from Scott Telfer and Riley Tuuta who scored 11 and 10 points respectively.
It was only the second win of the season for the Jets but on this showing it won’t be their last – next up a Good Friday visit from the Hawks.
Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 46 - Thata-Paese 20pts, Matambanadzo 9pts, Crowley 6pts, Wynyard 5pts & 9rebs
Taranaki Steeelformers Airs 30 – Telfer 11pts, Tuuta 10pts, Hoeata 4pts & 7rebs
Simply Rapid
In the 54-46 win the Bulls posted a club high score against the Rams. Conversely the Rams gave up the most points they have conceded in a contest.
It was also just the second time 100 points have been scored in a Rapid League game – the Giants beat the Sharks 53-47 in Rapid ’24.
Tama Isaac scored 24 points in the loss - the most points scored by a Rams player and only ever bettered by the 25-point efforts of Matt Bardsley (Nuggets) and Tyson Thata-Paesa (Jets).
Sharks forward Riley Snow pulled down 10 rebounds against the Saints – the most in a single game for Southland and only the sixth instance of 10 rebounds or more being secured in the Rapid League.
Jets guard Tyson Thata-Paese has become the first player to score 100 points in Rapid’25. In addition he has moved well clear of Te Tuhi Lewis on the all-time leading scorer list (see below).
International duty calls:
The New Zealand U19 team embark on a tour to China on Thursday meaning the following players will be missing Rapid League action for a couple of weeks:
Will Blight (Nelson Giants), Jake Holmes (Canterbury Rams), KC Ioane (Auckland Tuatara), Bart Jackowski (Auckland Tuatara), Xanda Marsters (Tauranga Whai), Mana Martin (Canterbury Rams), James Matthews (Nelson Giants)
2025 Rapid League Leading Scorers
127 Tyson Thata-Paese (Jets)
73 Tinashe Matambanadzo (Jets)
70 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)
69 Dane Bertinshaw (Sharks)
66 Dylan Wilkie (Tuatara)
65 Mana Martin (Rams)
64 Jake Holmes (Rams
62 Jayden Bezzant (Whai)
57 Kazlo Evans Jr (Saints)
55 Nick Barrow (Tuatara)
56 Quinton Bailey (Airs)
56 Scott Telfer (Airs)
All-time Top Rapid League Scorers
260 Tyson Thata-Paese (Jets)
235 Te Tuhi Lewis (Whai)
211 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)
205 Dru Leusogi-Ape (ex Bulls)
190 Josh Aitcheson (Nuggets)
186 Scott Telfer (Airs)
185 Rangimarie Dougall-Mita (Saints)
184 Kazlo Evans Jr (Saints)
176 Nico Hill (ex Airs)
175 Hayden Jones (Giants)
159 Tamma Isaac (Rams)
Rapid Ladder
6-1 Nuggets
5-1 Giants
6-2 Saints
4-3 Whai, Panthers, Hawks, Rams
2-5 Bulls, Sharks, Airs
2-6 Tuatara, Jets
