Secondary School Comp Wrap Up 2026
Last Thursday we had our 4th Annual Secondary Schools finals at Mangawhai Beach School, held in front of a capacity crowd which had the gym bursting at the seams. If there was ever a better advertisement for having a Two Court stadium with additional seating and viewing options, these two finals provided perfect justification.
This year we had our first ever Year 9/10 final Between Tauraroa Area School and Rodney College. Both teams had scraped in against their respective Semi-final opponents and came to Mangawhai bidding to become our first-ever champions of the Year 9/10 Grade.
Veteran TAS coach Glen MacDonald came into the gym unbeaten at MBS after securing three Senior Trophies in a row for his TAS team. Looking to develop new younger players to carry on through, he was pitted up against the talented Rodney Boys team coached by senior player Joaquin Hare.
It was a physical affair with boys’ teams attacking the rim with reckless abandon. Xavier May from Rodney was non-stop action and Tane Dewes was crafty getting to his spots on the floor. For TAS Caleb Coutts orchestrated the offence, proving an equally capable passer and scorer, showing court vision that elevated him above other players. In the end, Rodney came out on top, winning their first-ever Kaipara Championship.
Rodney Yr 9/10 Boys - Winners Kaipara Secondary School 9/10 Comp 2026
Tane Dewes - BDP
Caleb Coutts - MVP
Kayden Russell - MIP
The senior final had Otamatea Coach Kalem Tana looking to break his finals hoodoo.
Having lost three straight finals to Glenn McDonald's Tauraroa squad, Tana was up against rookie coach Dominic Miringaorangi who had expertly guided Rodney to the final in his first season. Both teams started with a hiss in front of a raucous crowd.
Tamati Hoani (Rodney) and Jordan Donaldson (Otamatea) showcased high-quality finishing ability, wowing the crowd with skilful and athletic prowess. Donaldson expertly using two foot jump stops to score in a variety of ways. The 3rd quarter was when the game flipped as hometown hero Jordan Donaldson entered takeover mode. He was simply unstoppable, scoring from all three levels on the court.
Otamatea ran out comfortable winners 90-74, with Jordan finishing with a whopping 40 point explosion. For Otamatea, Liam Brennan bombed away expertly from deep, and Rookie Year 10 Ollie Clark was versatile and cerebral, reading the game and making the right plays. Rodney's Joaquin Hare was physical and strong down low. Hare was probably underutilised and deserved higher usage as Otamatea struggled to handle him in the paint.
We now look towards the Northland Premier League, where both teams will match up with the best from Northland.
Jordan Davis - MVP
Joaquin Hare - BDP
Ollie Clarke - MIP