WBHS Premier team vs Rangitoto
Last Friday Westlake took on Rangitoto College in a top of the table clash to see who would finish as the top seed in the Auckland Premier Competition, going into the semi-finals next week. Both teams were missing players who were away on National duties or injured. At the start the game, Rangitoto came out firing, especially Isaac Davidson who put Rangitoto in front with a great shooting performance. Westlake had built a hole for themselves that they knew they needed to pull themselves out of. After being down 10 points going into the second quarter, Westlake started to fight back. Matt Freeman spurred the team on offensively, getting inside to start cutting away at the deficit. Defensively Logan Hunt stuck like glue to Davidson, not letting him get the ball and this cooled off his hot shooting start. After holding Rangitoto to 7 points for the quarter, Westlake were up 2 points at the half.
Westlake wanted to build on the momentum in the third quarter but it was Rangitoto who came out of the half firing, and they led the whole 3rd quarter, going into the final break 3 points up. Westlake, as they have done many times this year, took control of the fourth quarter. They started to move the ball effectively, getting some great open looks. Westlake’s big men, Joel Coffey and Matt Freeman started to dominate both offensive and defensive boards. Alex Yang used his speed to stretch the floor and get himself some great open looks that he knocked down. Westlake kept taking it inside, finishing strong at the rim or getting Rangitoto into foul trouble. Isaac Davidson fouling out with a couple of minutes to play, didn’t help Rangitoto as they tried to mount a comeback. Westlake managed to keep control of the game and iced it with some great free-throw shooting at the close. Westlake took the win 84-77.
Matt Freeman came up big for Westlake getting 35 points to go with 13 rebounds. Guards Alex Yang and Isaac Letoa had great all-around games, Alex shooting well to score 19 points and Isaac getting 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Joel Coffey’s rebounding (14 rebounds) especially in the 4th quarter was huge and Logan Hunt’s tenacious defence on Rangitoto’s Davidson was a key to the win.
This Friday 21 August the team face Onehunga in the Semi-finals at NSEC, tip-off 7.30pm. Your support would be much appreciated!
North Harbour Finals Evening
Final 1: League 2 U17 Westlake went down to Glenfield in a close one that came down to the last shot 27 – 25
Final 2: League 2 U15 An all Westlake clash saw the A team take the win and claim the title of North Harbour Champions over the B team 22 – 14
Final 3: League 1 U17 Westlake A had a slow start and could not manage to close the gap against a good Rangi A team, going down 55 – 46
Final 4: League 3 U17 Westlake F had a great win over Kristin to claim the League 3 U17 Title 33 – 23
Final 5: League 1 Open Grade Westlake B had a tough ask to take down a very good Takapuna Grammar 1st team; unfortunately they went down 87 – 59
Enjoy the images of the prems match and the Harbour finals in the galleries below.
