Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2026

Rapid Wrap: Round 9

Rapid Wrap: Round 9

Rapid League Round 9 delivered another packed slate, the table toppers strengthened their place at the top of the ladder, a record-breaking individual scoring performance, a record breaking team scoring performance, tight finishes up and down the country, and important wins for teams looking to stay in the playoff conversation. There were milestone moments, standout individual displays, road victories and a late game surge to close the round. Mike Lacey takes you through all this and more in this week’s Rapid wrap.

Tuatara Pull Away From Rams to Stay Top

In the opening game of the round, the Auckland Tuatara pulled away in the second half to post a 44-32 victory against the Mad Butcher Canterbury Rams at Eventfinda Stadium.

It was the Rams that jumped out to an early advantage, Jake Holmes scoring seven points in a 13-9 first-quarter lead.

Another seven-point offering, this time from KC Ioane, turned the tables in the Tuatara’s favour as they carried a narrow 22-21 lead into the half-time break.

Mattie Dalton ensured momentum remained with the Tuatara in the third, his corner three helping the hosts increase the lead to 33-28.

With three players backing up from Canterbury’s U20 National Championship win two days prior, the Rams’ effort began to wilt in the fourth as the Tuatara coasted to victory and remained top of the Rapid League ladder.

Auckland Tuatara 44 – KC Ioane 11pts & 6asts, Mattie Dalton 10pts, Josh Wyllie 8pts, Josh Leger 8pts & 10rebs, Dylan Wilkie 7pts

Mad Butcher Canterbury Rams 32 – Brody Cooper 9pts, Jake Holmes 9pts, Ihaka Cate 6pts, Mana Martin 2pts & 4asts

Hawks Hold Off Giants in Napier

The Total Energies Hawks returned to their winning ways with a 36-32 home win against NBS Nelson Giants in Napier.

It was only in the fourth quarter that the Hawks wriggled clear of their opponents. The scores were tied after the first period, the Hawks led by one at the half and, emphasising the closeness of the contest, were still only just ahead at three-quarter time, 26-24.

A Clifton Bush III and-one play extended the Hawks’ advantage and, after Cooper Adams narrowed the margin with a three, an animated Bush repeated the dose to stretch the lead to seven points.

The tireless James Matthews produced more points for the Giants before Kobe Kara sealed the deal for the home team, who enjoyed a major contribution from forward Tommy Fergusson to help find victory, as he chased a double-double with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

Total Energies Hawks 36 – Clifton Bush III 9pts, Tommy Fergusson 8pts & 9rebs, Jacob Murphy 7pts & 3stls, Kobe Kara 7pts

NBS Nelson Giants 32 – James Matthews 9pts, Cooper Adams 8pts, Rico Varricchio 7pts

Nuggets Lead From Start to Finish

The Otago Nuggets led from start to finish as they beat the Franklin Bulls 38-33 in Dunedin, with Harry Bezett and Oak Chisholm each making double-figure contributions.

Bezett scored nine points in the first half as the Nuggets built a 17-12 lead, while Chisholm did most of his good work after Zion Anderson and Corey Perry had pulled the Bulls to within two points in the second half.

Still in striking distance at three-quarter time, trailing 29-25, Harry Kelso and Ellis Biggar kept the Bulls in contention, but five fourth-quarter points from Chisholm ensured the Nuggets maintained a top-four spot.

Otago Nuggets 38 – Harry Bezett 14pts, Oak Chisholm 11pts, Zach McKenzie 6pts

Franklin Bulls 33 – Harry Kelso 8pts, Ellis Biggar 8pts & 5rebs, Corey Perry 6pts, Hunter Savill 6pts

Varricchio Sparks Giants Road Win

On the back of a standout performance from Rico Varricchio, the NBS Nelson Giants completed a valuable road win by defeating the Tauranga Whai 35-31.

Not only did Varricchio produce a Rapid-best 11 points, but the diminutive guard constantly disrupted the Whai offence by snaring 5 steals.

Though the Whai led 12-10 following a second Xanda Marsters triple, the Giants scored the next seven points to lead at half-time.

A Josh Nickel triple kept the visitors in the ascendancy before a late charge from the Whai, spearheaded by Josh Kelly, tied proceedings at 28-all with two minutes to play.

Varricchio and Cooper Adams restored the Giants’ lead and although Kelly narrowed the margin to a single point, it was fitting that Varricchio produced the game-winning points to cap an outstanding display.

Tauranga Whai 31 – Josh Kelly 8pts, Xanda Marsters 8pts, Jayden Bezzant 5pts

NBS Nelson Giants 35 – Rico Varricchio 11pts & 5stls, Cooper Adams 9pts, Elijah Inwood 8pts

Tuatara Set New Rapid League Scoring Record

The Auckland Tuatara ran up a Rapid record score as they put an end to the Taranaki Airs’ three-game winning streak with a massive 63-36 victory in New Plymouth.

Riley Tuuta scored the opening points of the game but, thereafter, the Tuatara feasted on a porous Airs defence.

Cooper James did knock down a couple of threes for the Airs, but they were small offerings as the Tuatara had built a 28-8 lead by half-time to put the result beyond doubt.

On a night of records, the Tuatara trio of Dylan Wilkie, Mattie Dalton and KC Ioane all recorded Rapid League highs, with Ioane demonstrating a range of athletic dunks. There was little to cheer for the hosts, although ten points from Tuuta carried him past the 200 career points milestone.

Taranaki Airs 36 – Riley Tuuta 10pts & 4asts, Cooper James 6pts, Lyric Tuhaka 6pts

Auckland Tuatara 63 – Dylan Wilkie 20pts, KC Ioane 17pts & 5asts, Mattie Dalton 14pts, Josh Leger 8pts & 8rebs

Nuggets Snatch Capital Thriller

In a clash between two of the top four sides, Otago Nuggets ventured to the capital and snatched a 31-29 win against the Wellington Saints, with former Saint Tyson Thata-Paese playing a big part with a game-high 12 points.

The Saints led throughout the first three quarters, only for Thata-Paese to give the Nuggets a 23-22 lead at the commencement of the fourth.

Sam Gold restored the Saints’ advantage and then cancelled out a Zach McKenzie score. Inside the final 80 seconds, Caleb Smiler drained a deep three and, although Hassan Munir made it a one-point game, McKenzie had the final say as the Nuggets made it three wins on the bounce.

Wellington Saints 29 – Hassan Munir 7pts & 4asts, Sam Gold 7pts, Braydon Iuli 6pts & 7rebs

Otago Nuggets 31 – Tyson Thata-Paese 12pts, Caleb Smiler 10pts, Zach McKenzie 5pts

Sharks Finish Strong to Sink Bulls

The Southland Sharks started strongly and finished in that mode as they wrapped up the Round 9 action with a 40-28 defeat of the Franklin Bulls in Invercargill.

With Dane Bertinshaw in good touch, the Sharks scored the first 11 points and were ahead 19-10 at the interval.

The half-time break worked in favour of the Bulls and Payton Hughes in particular. The Bulls’ all-time leading scorer in Rapid League drained a trio of threes in the third as his team closed to within two points, 25-23, with a quarter to play.

Back-to-back scores from Zion Anderson propelled the Bulls into a 28-27 lead, but from there it was all Sharks as they scored 13 unanswered points in the final two minutes.

A Will Leger dunk launched the run, with a Quake Webster buzzer-beating three the exclamation mark.

Southland Sharks 40 – Dane Bertinshaw 11pts, Quake Webster 9pts, Will Leger 8pts & 4stls, Tautoko Wynyard 6pts, Tobias Cameron 4pts, 5rebs, 3asts & 4stls

Franklin Bulls 28 – Payton Hughes 15pts, Zion Anderson 5pts

 

Simply Rapid

Racking up 63 points against the Airs, Auckland Tuatara set a new record for the most points in a single game, surpassing the 60 points the Rams scored against the Sharks in 2024.

In that same game the Tuatara made an astonishing 19 out of 20 shots from inside the three point arc, equating to a blistering 95% from the field. Dylan Wilkie, who led the Tuatara in scoring with 20 points, was the culprit for the lone miss with a wayward elbow jumper. But he made up for it with another stellar performance from deep as he went 5-8 from beyond the arc, tying a season high for made three’s on the season with Payton Hughes, Riley Tuuta and Quake Webster. 

On an individual level, Tyson Thata-Paese scored 12 points against the Saints, one of his former clubs. In doing so, he became the first player to pass 500 career points in Rapid League.

Other Rapid Milestones

Whai

With 5 points against the Giants, Jayden Bezzant became the second Whai player, after Jett Thompson, to score 200 Rapid League points.

Airs

Riley Tuuta’s 10 points against the Tuatara saw him become the second Airs player to score 200 Rapid League points.

 

Leading Scorers this Season

121 Boston Caldwell (Jets)

119 Riley Tuuta (Airs)

113 Hassan Munir (Saints)

105 Elijah Inwood (Giants)

104 Quake Webster (Sharks)

102 Dylan Wilkie (Tuatara)

100 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)

99 Josh Leger (Tuatara)

96 Payton Hughes (Bulls)

94 Jett Thompson (Whai)

92 Hamza Zahran (Jets)

89 Tyson Thata-Paese (Nuggets)

 

All-time Rapid League Most Points

506 Tyson Thata-Paese (Saint/Jets/Nuggets)

392 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)

325 Mana Martin (Rams)

305 Hayden Jones (Giants)

291 Jett Thompson (Whai)

287 Kazlo Evans Jr (Manawatu Jets)

287 Josh Leger (Tuatara)

284 Dylan Wilkie (Tuatara)

262 Quake Webster (Sharks)

261 Scott Telfer (Airs/Sharks)

247 Kobe Kara (Hawks)

245 Mac Stoddart (Rams/Nuggets/Sharks)

 

Rapid League Standings