South Island basketball
The Otago Boys High School basketball team travelled to Nelson recently to defend its South Island title.
The tournament began well with wins over Kavanagh College by 40 points and Aranui High School by 12. First up on day two was Christchurch Boys. A slow start by Otago Boys, and an inability to make outside shots, resulted in a close game which was tied at the end of regulation time.
In overtime, Otago Boys was down by seven points with 1min 43sec remaining and looking at a first loss. However, excellent defence led by Trent Hoani resulted in nine unanswered points and an Otago Boys win by two.
Later that day, Otago Boys beat Southland Boys by 12 points.
The next day was crucial for the team, which needed to win one game to qualify for the national tournament, and two to reach the South Island final. Unfortunately, Nelson College was too strong, and Otago Boys was soundly beaten.
The game against Rangiora was to determine who would qualify for the national tournament. The game was tight and Rangiora led by as many as eight points in the first half. However, a period of good basketball was enough for Otago Boys to win.
The play-off for fifth and sixth was an opportunity to play the younger members. Despite losing by 37 points, the team gained valuable experience.
The national tournament is in the first week of the school holidays and the team will be looking to make some adjustments to improve and finish near the top.
Badminton
The Otago Boys badminton team travelled to the national secondary schools event in Wellington recently.
The team comprised Kamil Patel, Cameron Thompson, Chanuka De Silva, James Swan and Alec Hodgson.
The boys retained their fifth ranking on the last day, beating Palmerston North Boys 5-1. Other wins were against Nayland College, Wanganui Boys and St Kentigern.
All the team played well, with No 1 Patel having a very good match against top junior player Evan Lee, from Westlake Boys, losing a close three-game battle 21-23, 21-10, 22-20.
Under-15 rugby
Junior rugby took centre stage during tournament week when 21 under-15 teams gathered at Oreti Park in Invercargill and played over three days.
In the final, Menzies College eked out a 5-0 win over Dunstan HS in wet and cold conditions.
Nayland College and Menzies were the only teams to win all four games in division one pool play.
Gore High School won three and the scrap for the fourth semifinal position came down to bonus points, which were earned for each of the first four tries scored.
Dunstan, on 48 points, sneaked in ahead of John McGlashan College, Ashburton College, South Otago High School and Mt Aspiring College.
The semifinals were won by Dunstan High School, which beat Nayland College 8-5 and was named best all-round team, and Menzies College, with a 5-0 over Gore.
South Otago finished fifth by beating John McGlashan, the first team to play in this tournament from a single-sex school, 26-7.
Otago players named in the tournament team were Alex Hinchcliff, Tane Wilson, Colin Freer (Dunstan), Logan Copeland (McGlashan), Elliott Belgium, Josh Dickson (Mt Aspiring), Dylan McKenzie (Blue Mountain) and Tai Arona (Wakatipu).
Squash
A very strong Otago Boys A team comprising Jesse James, Nick Askin, Jack Harris and Scott McKeay dominated the draw and won the boys section of the Otago secondary schools competition recently. Bayfield High School finished second, beating the Otago Boys B team.
The St Hildas Collegiate School team of Laura Rogers, Julia Rogers and Kate Ellison played consistently in the girls section, dropping only one match to win the title for the second time in three years.
The battle for second came down to the last match of the tie between Bayfield and Queens, with Bayfield winning, leaving both schools tied on the same number of points. Otago Girls was placed fourth.
East Otago fundraiser
Last year, East Otago High School held a sports breakfast as a fundraiser for some much needed sporting equipment.
This year's breakfast is on Sunday, September 20, with the goal of raising money to buy javelins, starting block, and high jump mats.
Speakers include Aaron Redmond (Otago cricket), Warren McSkimming (Otago cricket), Alando Soakai (Otago rugby), Mitch McRae (former Otago Nugget) and Jess Moulds (New Zealand under-21 netball).
Anyone interested in attending should contact the office at East Otago HS (03 465 1513).
Summer competitions
Water polo and touch competitions will start in the first two weeks of the fourth term, with the water polo at Moana Pool on Fridays starting at 3.45pm, and touch at Bishopscourt on Tuesdays starting at 4pm.
These are both popular summer sports and the competitions are growing in both quality and the number of participants.
Last summer, Columba College claimed the South Island schools water polo title.
Premier football tournament
Otago Boys gained a wild card into the top 16 of the 32-team tournament, a prestigious position in a major national competition. The team finished third in its section after defeating St Peters (Auckland) 3-2.
A subsequent penalty shoot-out loss to Kings College meant Otago Boys played off in the middle of the competition, with wins against New Plymouth Boys (2-0), Napier Boys (5-0) and Christchurch Boys (2-0) enabling the team finish in 17th place. Curtis Day was named team MVP for the tournament.
The team scored 15 goals in seven games and conceded nine.
Cricket - the sport of Kings
Kings High School has a proud tradition in cricket with Black Caps Brendon and Nathan McCullum and New Zealand A and New Zealand twenty/20 player Bradley Scott all having high profiles in the game.
Just last week, another Kings old boy, Nathan King, was appointed coach of the Otago women's cricket team.
Brendon McCullum, last year's New Zealand cricketer of the year, has provided Kings High School with the Brendon McCullum Sporting Scholarship for which year 9 pupils can apply. For 2010, two new cricket scholarships for boys have been added in year 9.
CALENDAR
> September 23: Special Olympics football, Edgar Centre
> September 27: South Island curling, Naseby
• These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Assn Inc (OSSSA), which is proudly sponsored by the University of Otago College of Education.
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
