Rapid Wrap - Round 2

Week 2 finished with one team still sitting winless while a couple of squads picked up their second victories of the season to sit atop the Rapid Ladder Mike Lacey takes you through those results and all the other news on the fastest hoops league in Aotearoa in Round 2's Rapid Wrap. 

Round 2 of the 2025 Sky Broadband Rapid League concluded with Southern Hoiho splitting their two-game road trip with a win and a loss. The Northern Group Tauranga Whai and Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai were the other winners, while 2024 champions BNZ Northern Kāhu slipped to 0-2.

The Northern Group Tauranga Whai gave debuts to three teenagers (Graecyn Parahi, Shamar Broughton, and Storey Sadler) and registered a 40–16 home win against Southern Hoiho in the opening game of the round as they took home the inaugural win of the season.

The Whai led by six at quarter time, and that was still the margin at the half with the hosts 15–9 ahead.

Back-to-back scores from Lil Dart and Alana Paewai trimmed the Hoiho deficit to a single point, but from there the Whai unleashed a barrage.

Triples from Jade Kirisome and Broughton took the Whai to a 23–16 three-quarter advantage before reeling off 17 unanswered points in the fourth, with Sophie Rogers, Sadler, and Parahi also successful from beyond the arc.

The Northern Group Tauranga Whai 40 — S. Rogers 9p, 2stl; J. Kirisome 8p; S. Locandro 6p, 6r
Southern Hoiho 16 — S. Gallaher 4p, 6r; E. Gilbert 3p, 5r

In what may be a Rapid League first (or at least first noticed) cousins on opposing teams top-scored for their sides as the Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai recorded a 37-32 win against ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

Emma Rogers led all scorers with 15 points for the Pouākai, while Briarley Rogers, in just her third game, tallied a dozen for the Queens.

Both were on the scoreboard early as the Pouākai edged the opening half 14–12, but when Rogers (of the Briarley variety) and Stella Beck combined for seven straight, the Queens led 20-18 and looked to be taking control.

However, Kavanah Lene provided the Pouākai response as a trey was followed by a driving lay-up, to give the visitors a narrow 25–24 three-quarter lead.

Ava Jones nailed an arching three for her first Pouākai points before her New Zealand U16 teammate Nahala Toeleiu matched that for the Queens. When Jones made a lay-up inside the final 30 seconds, the Pouākai lead was six and the road win assured.

ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens 32 - B. Rogers 12p; S. Beck 9p, 6r, 3a; N. Toeleiu 5p
Yellow i Glass Mainland Pouākai 37 - E. Rogers 15p, K. Lene 11p, C. Whittaker 6p

Paced by 12 points from Lillian Dart, Southern Hoiho shook off the disappointing effort against the Whai two days earlier with a polished 44-28 performance against BNZ Northern Kāhu at Eventfinda Stadium on Sunday to secure their second win of the season.

Hamilton Girls’ High guard Keija Miringaorangi scored 5 for Kāhu in the opening half, but with Fayreen Fualau matching that and Dart posting 6, the southerners were 22-16 to the good at half-time.

Westlake Girls High guard Emma-Kaye Schroeder, the 2025 Secondary Schools Nationals MVP, scored four third-quarter points for the hosts, but a brace of threes from Dart pushed the Hoiho lead to 35-24 by three-quarter time.

Elise Gilbert and Fualau put the seal on the win as all seven Hoiho players scored 4+ points in the 16-point victory, the largest ever Rapid League winning margin by the Hoiho.

BNZ Northern Kāhu 28 - K. Miringaorangi 7p; A. Curtin 7p; V. Tuilave 4p, 7r
Southern Hoiho 44 - L. Dart 12p, 4a; F. Fualau 9p; A. Paewai 6p

Rapid Youth

Shamar Broughton (Whai), Nahala Toeleiu (Queens), and Ava Jones (Pouākai) were key players for the New Zealand silver-medal team at the 2025 FIBA U16 Asia Cup in Malaysia late last month. Fast-forward a week and the trio made an immediate impact on their Rapid League debuts, each scoring 5 points.

Rapid Fire

• The Whai’s 40 points vs Hoiho were just one shy of the club’s Rapid League high. In contrast, Hoiho’s 16 was one above their lowest.

• A bounce-back 44-28 win against Kāhu was both Hoiho’s most points in a Rapid game and the largest winning margin in club Rapid history.

Rapid Record

Playing her 26th Rapid League game against Northern Kāhu, Hoiho’s Eva Langton now leads the Rapid League all-time list for games played. Ever-present in the competition, the Taranaki forward is the only player to have appeared for three different clubs - Queens, Whai, and Hoiho.