Photo Credit: Katrina Parish
In Sky Broadband Rapid League Round 6 action BNZ Northern Kāhu celebrated their first win of the season, while ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens have taken a firm grip on top spot on the league ladder. Mike Lacey takes you through the key details of the above and everything else Rapid that you need to know in this weeks Rapid Wrap.
A standout performance from Hana Lacey-Rameka propelled the Yellow I Glass Mainland Pouākai to a come-from-behind win against Southern Hoiho in Dunedin. The former Rotorua Girls’ High standout added 5 rebounds to a season-high 16 points, with half of her points coming in the crucial third period.
Pouākai had trailed 20-15 at half-time, but aided by the Lacey-Rameka blitz, 4 points from Marena Whittle and a first ever point from 15-year-old Emilia Ainley, a five-point deficit was turned into a three-point lead with a quarter to play.
Playing without leading scorer Emma Rogers, Pouākai took an even firmer grip on proceedings with the first six points of the fourth. A steal and layup from Alana Paewai and points from Samara Gallaher gave the Hoiho some hope, but fittingly Lacey-Rameka put the lid on the win from the free-throw line.
Earlier, triples from Paewai, Tia Pavihi and Elise Gilbert had set up that Hoiho first-half lead.
Southern Hoiho 31 – Pavihi 8pts, Dart 6pts & 4stls, Paewai 5pts, Langton 5pts
Yellow I Glass Mainland Pouākai 38 – Lacey-Rameka 16pts & 5rebs, Whittle 7pts, Jones 7pts & 5rebs
Charis Broughton, in just her second outing for The Tauranga Whai, scored a game-high 10 points, but it was a couple of ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens with strong Tauranga connections who carried the league leaders to a 32-25 win, their fifth victory on the bounce.
Tall Fern Pahlyss Hokianga, a Whai player last season, and Briarley Rogers, a Tauranga local, scored 8 points and 9 points respectively to pace the scoring and, with Josie Trousdell (5 points and 8 rebounds) winning the battle in the paint, the Queens won each of the first three quarters to lead 21-15 at half-time and 26-19 with a period to play.
Jade Kirisome and Graecyn Parahi scores gave the hosts a boost in the fourth, but driving layups from Hokianga and Paige Burrows sealed the win, with the Whai held to their lowest score of the season.
The Northern Group Tauranga Whai 25 – Broughton 10pts, Kirisome 6pts & 7rebs, Parahi 4pts & 5rebs
ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens 32 – B Rogers 9pts, Hokianga 8pts, Hippolite 6pts, Trousdell 5pts & 8rebs
It was all smiles for the BNZ Northern Kāhu as they recorded their first win of the season, a 32-27 victory against Yellow I Glass Mainland Pouākai in Christchurch.
Kāhu made the ideal start as Cantabrian Mary Morton-Jones, back in familiar territory, converted a brace of threes and was quickly up to 10 points. With Emma Schroeder then beating the quarter-time buzzer with a deep triple the northerners’ lead was 15-4.
In contrast, the second quarter favoured Pouākai as the front-court duo of Charlotte Whittaker and Emilia Ainley, who also had four blocks, combined for 10 points to reduce the deficit to four points (20-16) at the half-time break.
Unfortunately for Kāhu, Morton-Jones copped a stray elbow and was forced from the court with a nose injury, although an Azure Anderson make from beyond the arc ensured they carried a 25-20 lead into the three-quarter-time break.
Early in the fourth an Ava Jones score made it a one-possession game before Anderson and Schroeder baskets eased the Kāhu nerves.
Olivia O’Neill upped the Kāhu anxiety levels with ninety seconds to play, before free throws from Ella Batish and Keeley Tini produced visible delight on the faces of the Kāhu players as they erased the memory of six straight losses.
Yellow I Glass Mainland Pouākai 27 – Jones 8pts, Ainley 6pts, 6rebs & 4blks, Whittaker 5pts & 6rebs
BNZ Northern Kāhu 32 – Schroeder 11pts, Morton-Jones 10pts, Anderson 7pts & 5rebs
6-1 ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens
5-3 Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai
3-4 Southern Hoiho
3-4 Tauranga Whai
1-6 BNZ Northern Kāhu
76 Emma Rogers (Pouākai)
63 Jade Kirisome (Whai)
62 Briarley Rogers (Queens)
53 Emma Schroeder (Kāhu)
50 Keriana Hippolite (Queens)
49 Azure Anderson (Kāhu)
45 Mary Morton-Jones (Kāhu)
45 Samara Gallaher (Hoiho)
44 Lil Dart (Hoiho)
43 Sophia Locandro (Whai)
162 Pahlyss Hokianga (Whai/Queens)
160 Azure Anderson (Kāhu)
150 Jade Kirisome (Whai)
146 Eva Langton (Queens/Whai/Hoiho)
137 Jacinta Beckley (Queens/Pouākai)
132 Emma Rogers (Whai/Pouākai)
126 Tyler Mitchell (Hoiho)
Pouākai guard Emma Rogers, the Rapid League’s leading scorer and MVP front runner this season, has unfortunately suffered a wrist injury and will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. Emma’s absence enabled Pouākai to give a debut to 15-year-old Emilia Ainley against Southern Hoiho.
Ainley, a member of the silver-medal-winning New Zealand team, was named to the Tournament All-Star Five at the 2025 FIBA U16 Asia Cup in Malaysia. Areta Kahura, another NZ U16 player, made her debut for BNZ Northern Kāhu against Pouākai.
In addition to Kahura and Ainley we have seen Nahala Toeleiu (Queens), Ava Jones (Pouākai) and the Broughton sisters Charis and Shamar (Whai) from that successful U16 team make their Rapid League debuts this season.
Tauranga Whai guard Jade Kirisome, with 6 points against the Queens, became the third player to score 150 Rapid League career points.
