King's High School celebrated success at the South Island secondary schools ice hockey tournament recently.
In the final of the bottom four, King's defeated St Andrew's College 4-2. King's also had wins against John McGlashan and Otago Boys' earlier in the tournament.
Captain Regan Wilson was voted joint most valuable defender for the tournament.
In basketball, the top King's year 9 team, the Knicks, upset predictions with a win over Otago Boys' in the final of the local competition.
The Knicks had played OBHS twice previously, losing both games in close matches.
The team trailed at halftime but this was the proverbial game of two halves with King's winning the game 43-39.
Blair Mackenzie and Lewis Meers put in some fine shots, and Joseph McAuley and Nigel Goulstone provided some excellent rebounding.
Tight defensive work by Andrew Tomlinson, Duncan Cummings, Miles Preston, Zac Williams and Matt Watt kept Otago Boys' out.
Blue Mountain rugby
The Blue Mountain College under-15 boys rugby team attended the South Island junior tournament at the Mandeville grounds at Ohoka, near Christchurch.
Blue Mountain was beaten 24-7 by St Peter's College, of Gore, before posting good wins against Verdon (33-12), Nayland (36-0) and Central Southland College (20-0).
The team proceeded to the semifinal against St Peter's.
Blue Mountain's only points came from a converted try to Gavin Stark, with St Peter's winning 10-7.
Blue Mountain gained third in division two, its best finish in this tournament.
Kavanagh rugby and netball
The boys under-15 rugby team attended the co-ed tournament in Kaiapoi.
Kavanagh opted for the division one section, and was drawn against eventual finalists Waimea College and St Andrew's College.
Kavanagh recorded wins against Ashburton College and Roncali College, and losses to Waimea, St Andrew's and then Gore High School in the playoff for fifth place to finish sixth out of 12 teams.
Johnny Thorn was named in the tournament team and Mason Grubb was awarded the most valuable player award for Kavanagh.
After a mixed season in the Dunedin competition, Kavanagh's senior A netball team went to the South Island secondary schools tournament hoping the potential of the players would produce some more consistent performances.
Finishing second in pool play, the team played well in post-section play to advance to the top four.
Kavanagh played its best game of the season to beat St Kevin's College by nine goals in the semifinal.
With the top three from B grade going through to A grade next year, the team goal was achieved.
The defensive end of Samara Gallaher and Melanie Sua combined brilliantly with the midcourt of Jess McCormick, Samara Henry-Turner and Shauna Pali to enable the attack to finish off.
The final against Roncalli College was a closely-fought match for the first three quarters with Roncalli going into the final quarter ahead by two and pulling away to win by seven.
Gallaher and McCormick were named in the B grade talent ID team, two of 15 girls chosen from approximately 430 players.
Basketball
Logan Park High School recently travelled to Alexandra to compete in the South Island championship tournament for single A schools (schools with fewer than 600 pupils).
The team played Cromwell College and Central Southland College on the first day, winning 88-44 and 74-31.
The second-day games against Wakatipu and host Dunstan were won 75-67 and 93-61.
The semifinal was a disappointing affair, with a 90-11 whitewash of Buller High School. A fine 78-64 win over Mt Aspiring College in the final allowed Logan Park to claim the title.
Damon Cleverley, Jan Verberne and Jonas Grace were named in the tournament team.
Verberne played outstandingly to be the top scorer for Logan Park The team now travels to Palmerston North for the national championships.
Dunstan tournament report
A team of nine from Dunstan High School was the youngest, shortest and smallest squad attending the South Island secondary schoolgirls zone four basketball tournament in Nelson.
With three players nursing injuries, the odds were further stacked against the team but some excellent play led to Dunstan finishing second behind Buller.
Nakia Randle led by example with consistent play, solid defence and fast transition.
Abbie Lucas created fast breaks and always picked up the biggest opponent on defence.
Rachael McLellan hustled the ball and caused many turnovers.
Sophie Williamson was Dunstan's top scorer and an unpredictable defender.
Danielle Albert, Stine-Lise Budges, Kararaina McGee and Jamie Hume were all top contributors, while Danielle Tohill was the youngest rookie but top-scored in one game with 28 points.
A top performance from the Dunstan boys enabled them them to finish third in their tournament in Alexandra.
Both teams qualify for their respective national tournaments.
Ice hockey
A team of six Dunstan pupils and two Cromwell College pupils participated in the South Island schools ice hockey tournament in Dunedin recently.
What Dunstan lacked in numbers was made up for in passion, with the team putting up a gutsy performance to finish third behind Wakatipu High School and Christchurch Boys'.
Dunstan posted convincing wins against John McGlashan (10-0) and King's High School (7-0), with a loss to Christchurch Boys' (7-3) in the first round to make it through to the top pool.
Losses to Shirley Boys' High School and Wakatipu then put Dunstan in the playoff for third and fourth place with Shirley Boys'.
Dunstan and Shirley were tied 1-1 at the end of the first period, but Dunstan managed to edge ahead to 2-1 after the second period and then pulled away to win 6-2 in the final 15 minutes.
This game was an outstanding display of teamwork, with a 78% save rate by goalie Daniel Hamill, and goals scored by five players.
Cromwell College team member and New Zealand representative Gareth Lloyd secured the tournament trophy for highest goal rate, scoring 13 of the 33 Dunstan goals.
Netball
The South Island secondary schools tournament proved to be extremely successful for the Dunstan team in B grade.
It was a hard road making the top 16 but the girls got stronger with every game and made it into the top eight out of 32 teams.
The top-four decider against Roncalli College resulted in a draw which meant Dunstan missed the final on goal differential.
Dunstan came out fighting in the next game against St Andrew's College to win 34-23 and finished the tournament in sixth place of 32 teams, its best ranking in the B grade.
Clay target
Ninety shooters from 12 schools travelled south from Timaru and north from Invercargill to compete in the Taieri Shield Challenge at the Alexandra Clay Target Club's grounds at Galloway recently.
Blustery winds made shooting tricky, but some good scores were still posted.
Sharmaine Love and Ramon Parbhu, of Dunstan High School, were selected to compete in the three-person Otago skeet team that beat Southland 67-65.
The Otago team also won the DTL match.
Sharmaine won the silver medal in points score and the bronze medal in the single barrel.
McGlashan hockey
During tournament week, the John McGlashan College First XI hockey team travelled to Ashburton to compete in the Johnson Cup.
The team started well with wins over Heretaunga College and Southland Boys' High School, but lost to Takapuna Grammar on the second day.
They lifted their level of play for the quarterfinal to beat Kristin School 3-0 and then accounted for Plymouth Boys' High School 2-1 in the semifinals.
McGlashan quickly took control of the final against Western Heights High School with sustained pressure being rewarded with an early goal.
An early second-half goal moved McGlashan closer to victory but Western Heights scored 10 minutes from time.
McGlashan maintained its intensity and won 2-1.
This qualifies the team to play in the India Shield tournament next year and, with all but two players due to return to school along with a number of promising juniors, the future looks bright.
Calendar
September 19: Indoor rowing, Dunedin
September 22: Petanque doubles tournament, Caversham; AWD football festival, Edgar Centre
September 24: Term 3 ends
September 25: New Zealand schools synchronised swimming, Dunedin; Otago junior tennis open, Dunedin
September 27: New Zealand schools junior ski and snowboard, Cardrona; South Island schools curling, Dunedin
September 28-30: New Zealand schools curling, Dunedin
September 29-October 1: Matchplay golf, Cromwell
• These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Assn Inc (OSSSA) which is proudly sponsored by the Perpetual Trust. Contacts: Des Smith, Otago Regional Sports Director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin. Ph 470 1337 Fax 470 1786 Email: des@osssa.org.nz Website: www.osssa.org.nz
