Northern Kāhu continued their perfect start to the 2026 Rapid League season, Southern Hoiho held off a furious Tauranga Whai comeback to grab their first win, and Mainland Pouākai handed the defending champions a second straight home defeat. Add in a big week for some of the league’s emerging talent at Secondary Schools Nationals and there was plenty happening across Round 2. Mike Lacey takes you through all this and more in the Round 2 Rapid Wrap.
In the opening game of the round, Southern Hoiho survived a fourth-quarter charge from Tauranga Whai before closing out a 34-32 road win on Friday night.
Trailing 33-23 early in the final period, the Whai scored nine straight points, seven of them from Eva Langton, to cut the deficit to a single point. After a Zoe Richards free throw, the Whai still had time to tie proceedings or win it, but came up just short.
With Alexa Duff making four from four from beyond the arc and Richards adding her inside presence, all looked in good order for the Hoiho. They carved out a 20-16 half-time lead and, after extending that to 32-23 at three-quarter time, the Southerners appeared to be in cruise control.
Langton, with a Rapid-best 13 points, and the Whai had other ideas, but it wasn’t quite enough to deny Hoiho their first win of the season.
Tauranga Whai 32 – Eva Langton 13pts, Carla Pitman 7pts, Carly Ohia 6pts
Southern Hoiho 34 – Alexa Duff 12pts, Zoe Richards 9pts, Tia Pavihi 8pts
Southern Hoiho couldn’t make it two from two on their northern trek as they went down 35-18 to the unbeaten Northern Kāhu at Eventfinda Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Kāhu shaded the opening quarter 12-10 before dominating the second period to lead 27-14 at the break, with Shanique Lewis scoring eight points and Sienna Maurice, back from Secondary Schools Nationals duties with Rangitoto College, adding seven.
The Kāhu lead continued to grow in the second half, with Lewis, Maurice and Emily Monaghan combining to shoot 5-of-8 (63%) from beyond the arc.
Hoiho’s fine offensive effort against the Whai two days earlier deserted them, with only Alexa Duff and Abby Harris posing a consistent threat.
Northern Kāhu 35 – Shanique Lucas 12pts & 3stls, Emily Monaghan 12pts, Sienna Maurice 7pts, Kayla Manuirirangi 6pts
Southern Hoiho 18 – Alexa Duff 8pts, Abby Harris 6pts, Aria Brown 1pt & 7rebs
Twenty-four hours after helping St Andrew’s College claim its first-ever Secondary Schools National title, Ava Jones, Emilia Ainley and Eva Jeffries were back on court with the Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai and played significant hands in a 29-22 defeat of Tokomanawa Queens in Wellington.
The trio each got on the scoreboard despite the Queens claiming the opening quarter 12-7.
It went downhill from there for the defending champions as they were held to just four points across the middle two periods.
Pouākai took advantage, with Jones and Ruby Cutbush connecting from deep to carry the visitors to a 24-16 three-quarter-time lead.
A brace of Alaska Rhebok threes pulled the Queens to within two points, to the delight of the sizeable home crowd, before a third triple from Cutbush and an inside finish from Ainley consigned the Queens to a second straight home loss.
Tokomanawa Queens 22 – Alaska Rhebok 7pts
Yellow I Glass Mainland Pouākai 29 – Ruby Cutbush 9pts, Ava Jones 7pts, Emilia Ainley 5pts & 5rebs
| Position | Team | GP | W | L | %Won | For | Agst | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Northern Kāhu | 3 | 3 | 0 | 100 | 114 | 68 | 167 |
| 2 |  |
Mainland Pouākai | 2 | 2 | 0 | 100 | 65 | 45 | 144 |
| 3 |  |
Southern Hoiho | 3 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 80 | 109 | 73 |
| 4 |  |
Tokomanawa Queens | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 49 | 64 | 76 |
| 5 |  |
Tauranga Whai | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 50 | 72 | 69 |
Rapid League/Tauihi players put together a number of significant performances at the Secondary Schools National Championships in Palmerston North last week.
Northern Kāhu:
Katie Moors and Imani Rasmussen helped Westlake Girls High School to a third-place finish, while Sienna Maurice was the leading scorer for Rangitoto College.
Areta Kahura was the leading scorer for Tauranga Girls’ College.
Tauranga Whai:
Charis and Shamar Broughton led Mt Maunganui to a first-ever Grand Final appearance before falling in the grand final to finish runners up.
Tokomanawa Queens:
Nahala Toeleiu and Ameia Williams were the two leading scorers for Queen Margaret College.
Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai:
Ava Jones, Emilia Ainley, Maiyah Lavea-Martin and Eva Jeffries were members of the championship-winning St Andrew’s College team with Emilia Ainley being named to the All-Star Five while Ava Jones took home MVP honours along with an All-Star Five nod.
Bella Kraenzlin was the leading scorer for Hillmorton High School.
Renae Fualau-Searle was a leading scorer for Avonside High School in their first-ever appearance at Nationals.
