Main photo above: Zone 1 Premier Champions
The Basketball New Zealand Zone 1 Senior Qualifying Tournament saw the return of Westlake Girls dynamic guard Amy Pateman to the court. Missing from their successful ISF World Schools Basketball Campaign earlier in the year, the 2025 University of San Francisco recruit spent most of this season on the sideline recovering from a gut-wrenching knee injury that she sustained at Nationals last year.
Bolstering an already strong line up, the defending National Champions began the BBNZ tournament in stunning fashion with a 121-29 win over One Tree Hill College before scoring another century over Carmel College, 112-22. Their next game against St Kents was just as impressive, 104 – 44, before trouncing Northcote College,127 – 55.
Westlake’s first challenge though, came from Manurewa who slowed them to 72-47 and then the Takapuna Grammar semifinal saw the most points scored against them, 85-77. The final was a dogged encounter against Manurewa which was littered with interesting umpiring calls and an overflow of emotion.
The lead changed frequently in the game with neither team able to extend its scoreline until the final 90 seconds when the Bronwen Davidson and Nela Fotu coached team, surged ahead to win 59 – 48 win and one again take the top qualifying spot for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championship in October.
Junior School Zone 1 Girls Premierships:
Earlier in the week, a strong team of 11 students represented Westlake Girls at the BBNZ Zone 1 JUNIOR Premiership Tournament from 31st August – 3rd September at Bruce Pulman Arena. Under the guidance of Coaches, Chelsea Halling and Johnny Southey and Manager, Arielle Haythornthwaite the team also started impressively with a collection of convincing wins. They scored centuries against Baradene (138-10), One Tree Hill 110-12) and Pukekohe High School (111-22) and then in the semi-final they met Saint Kentigerns and won 92-34. Facing Rangitoto in the final, a reverse of the Great Auckland Champs a week earlier, Rangitoto put up a strong fight, forcing Westlake to dig a little deeper and play a little tougher before winning 76-54. It was a superb performance by everyone involved and a special mention goes to the team’s other Coach, George Tapaatoutai who was overseas and unable to attend due to personal reasons.
