Photo credit: Katrina Parrish
The Rapid League action was fast and furious as ever, with tight games, big scores and a new name atop the all time scorers list amongst the happenings. To catch up on that, and everything else Rapid, read on as Mike Lacey takes you through the Rapid Wrap.
At the conclusion of Round 3 of the 2025 Sky Broadband Rapid League, the Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai remain top of the table after a comfortable home win against The Northern Group Tauranga Whai, while 2024 champions BNZ Northern Kāhu remain winless following a third consecutive loss to open the season.
Sibling rivalry came to the fore when the Rogers sisters, Sophie and Emma, went head to head as Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai entertained The Tauranga Whai in Christchurch on Friday night. And it was Emma and the Pouākai who prevailed, in grand fashion, as they ran out 53–29 winners.
Emma scored the first points of the night and, despite Graecyn Parahi and Shamar Broughton (10 points) landing triples, Pouākai rattled up 17 first-quarter points to lead by eleven.
Charlotte Whittaker and Kavanah Lene scored five points apiece in the second spell as the hosts continued to dominate and built a 34–10 half-time lead.
The Whai established a measure of parity in the second half but the damage had been done, with the Cantabrians easing to a third straight win. Esra McGoldrick led all scorers with 16 points in just seven minutes, while it was all smiles for Emma Rogers — Rapid’s leading scorer this season — as she posted 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and grabbed the W.
Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai 53 — E. McGoldrick 16p; E. Rogers 15p, 5r, 5a; C. Whittaker 11p, 5r; K. Lene 7p
Tauranga Whai 29 — S. Broughton 10p; S. Rogers 7p; G. Parahi 6p; J. Kirisome 4p, 6a
Playing their first home game of the season, Southern Hoiho were narrowly defeated 30–28 by the unbeaten ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens in Dunedin.
Trailing by six points (29–23) inside the last minute, the Hoiho gave themselves a chance to win the contest with the final shot of the game, but to the disappointment of the home crowd a desperate three-point attempt from Eva Langton came up just short.
Following a Zoe Richards free throw and a triple from Lil Dart, the Hoiho made it a two-point game with 12 seconds to play. Paige Burrows gave the Queens a three-point cushion before Dart earned a trip to the foul line. Converting the first before intentionally missing the second, Hoiho secured the needed offensive rebound to give Langton the last-gasp, game-winning attempt.
Earlier, a pair of inside baskets from Josie Trousdell and the first points in Queens colours for Burrows gave the visitors an 18–12 half-time lead.
A Samara Gallaher three and a coast-to-coast effort from Alexa Duff preceded multiple trips to the foul line from Pahlyss Hokianga — making 7-of-8, the young Tall Fern kept the Queens in front to thwart Dart (12 points) and the fast-finishing Hoiho.
Southern Hoiho 28 — L. Dart 12p; Z. Richards 5p, 5r; A. Harris 4p
ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens 30 — P. Hokianga 9p; J. Trousdell 8p, 6r; P. Burrows 5p
Less than 48 hours after suffering a loss in Christchurch, The Whai returned to winning ways with a 36–31 victory against BNZ Northern Kāhu at Eventfinda Stadium.
The all-New Zealand Kāhu lineup, with Emma-Kaye Schroeder and Azure Anderson prominent, made the better start to lead 11–8 at quarter-time. The lead remained with the hosts until the last play of the opening half, a Storey Sadler triple from a neat in-bounds set taking Whai to a 21–20 interval lead.
The Whai stayed ahead at three-quarter time (28–25) despite five third-quarter points from Mary Morton-Jones. The former Tall Fern whittled the Kāhu deficit down to a single point before Jade Kirisome and Sophia Locandro combined for eight points in the final two minutes to secure a second win of the season for the Whai.
BNZ Northern Kāhu 31 — A. Anderson 11p; M. Morton-Jones 9p; E. Schroeder 6p; V. Tuilave 3p, 6r
The Tauranga Whai 36 — J. Kirisome 10p; S. Locandro 10p; S. Sadler 6p; G. Parahi 2p, 6r
3–1 Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai
2–1 ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens
2–2 Southern Hoiho, The Northern Group Tauranga Whai
0–3 BNZ Northern Kāhu
With 9 points for the Queens, Pahlyss Hokianga moved to 141 Rapid League career points, passing Jacinta Beckley (137) to become the League’s all-time leading scorer.
Pouākai guard Emma Rogers is the Rapid League’s leading scorer in 2025 with 53 points at 13.3 ppg. With 15 against the Whai she passed 100 career Rapid points, becoming the eighth player to reach the milestone.
Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai posted their largest ever score and highest winning margin in the 53–29 blitz of The Tauranga Whai.
The 53 points equal the Women’s Rapid best set by the Queens, also against the Whai, in Round 1 this season.
