Posted on Monday, June 29th, 2026
Rapid Wrap: Round 12
Rapid Wrap: Round 12
Round 12 of the Rapid League delivered another major shake-up at the top of the ladder, with Auckland Tuatara moving clear in first, the Otago Nuggets producing a record-setting road trip, and the championship race continuing to tighten. There were big individual scoring nights, milestone moments, a weather-delayed clash in the capital, a seventh straight Nuggets win, and late-game swings that kept the round full of intrigue from the first tip to the final whistle. Mike Lacey takes you through all this and more in this week’s Rapid Wrap.
Whai Rally Past Sharks
In a game that featured two distinctive halves and a pair of outstanding individual performances, the Tauranga Whai overturned a nine-point second-quarter deficit to beat the Southland Sharks 45-35 in front of their own fans.
Dane Bertinshaw was in sublime shooting touch early on, making four triples as he carved out 16 first-half points, the Sharks belying their lowly place on the league ladder to take a 26-19 half-time lead.
Holding the Sharks to just two points in the third stanza and with Josh Kelly relentless on the offensive boards on his way to a Rapid best 13 points, the game was all tied up at 28 points apiece ahead of the fourth quarter.
New Zealand U18 teammates Kelly and Cole Hopoi provided a couple of highlight dunks as the Whai reeled off seven unanswered points to take charge of the contest. Will Leger and Quake Webster dropped a couple of threes but it was of little consequence as the Whai piled on 17 points in the spell, with Xanda Marsters and Jett Thompson providing the finishing touches.
Tauranga Whai 45 – Xanda Marsters 14pts, Josh Kelly 13pts & 6rebs, Cole Hopoi 8pts, Jett Thompson 8pts & 4asts
Southland Sharks 35 – Dane Bertinshaw 17pts, Will Leger 10pts & 6rebs, Quake Webster 8pts
Hunt Leads Record-Setting Nuggets
The Otago Nuggets posted their highest ever Rapid League score in thumping the Manawatu Jets 56-37 in Palmerston North, with 2025 National Secondary Schools Tournament MVP Toby Hunt the chief tormentor.
Hunt made 4 from 5 triples on his way to a Nuggets single-game record 29 points and, with Oak Chisholm and Tyson Thata-Paese weighing in with a dozen points apiece, the Jets were blown away.
The contest actually began brightly for the hosts, with debutants Jameer Reed and Ahmed Essahaty contributing to a 12-11 quarter-time lead.
However, from there it was largely one-way traffic as the Jets were outscored in all three of the remaining periods.
Boston Caldwell, with 16 points, top scored for a Jets outfit that are well and truly grounded after tallying a sixth consecutive loss.
Manawatu Jets 37 – Boston Caldwell 16pts, Jameer Reed 9pts, Hamza Zahran 8pts
Otago Nuggets 56 – Toby Hunt 29pts, Oak Chisholm 12pts, Tyson Thata-Paese 12pts
Saints Surge Past Giants After Weather Delay
Postponed 24 hours due to the wild weather in the capital on Friday, Wellington Saints triumphed 43-26 over NBS Nelson Giants at TSB Arena.
Initially, it was looking ominous for the Saints when they trailed 17-7 in the second period, but from there they dominated proceedings to outscore the Giants 36-9 during the remainder of the contest.
Threes from the backcourt duo of James Matthews and Rico Varricchio had propelled the Giants to that early advantage, although the Saints had clawed the deficit back to just one point at half-time.
However, possibly fatigued by their travel disruptions, the Giants struggled with the pace of the game in the second half, with Mercury Nonu and Darius Latu in particular taking advantage as the Saints maintained their title ambitions.
Wellington Saints 43 – Mercury Nonu 13pts & 4asts, Darius Latu 9pts & 7rebs, Alex Blackmore 6pts, Aubrey Chunga 6pts
NBS Nelson Giants 26 – James Matthews 8pts, Rico Varricchio 8pts, Josh Nickel 5pts
Nuggets Complete North Island Double
The Otago Nuggets completed a successful northern excursion with a 43-34 victory against the Taranaki Airs in Hawera on Saturday. Having won comfortably against the Jets a couple of days earlier, it needed a strong fourth quarter for the Nuggets to see off the Airs.
Trailing 26-24 at half-time, the Airs, with Riley Tuuta making a couple of threes, were well in contention at the three-quarter mark, only behind 34-31.
A Jordy Cooper triple kept the Airs in contention before Zach McKenzie took charge in the closing stages. The in-form forward scored seven of his game-high 17 points down the stretch to guide the Nuggets to a seventh straight win and keep them well in contention for the Rapid League championship.
Earlier, it was Nico Hill and Taane Samuel making the running for the hosts before they were pegged back by Oak Chisholm and Toby Hunt, with McKenzie applying the finishing touches.
Taranaki Airs 34 – Nico Hill 10pts, Taane Samuel 8pts, Riley Tuuta 6pts
Otago Nuggets 43 – Zach McKenzie 17pts & 9rebs, Oak Chisholm 12pts, Toby Hunt 7pts, Patrick Tipene 6pts
Bulls Dent Whai Championship Charge
The Franklin Bulls put a dent in Tauranga Whai’s championship aspirations, winning a high-scoring encounter in Pukekohe 46-40.
Xanda Marsters scored seven points as the Whai carried a 19-18 lead into the half-time break before the Bulls, or more accurately Payton Hughes, dominated the third quarter.
The Bulls marksman made four triples in the period, including a ludicrously long effort from close to the halfway-line logo, as the hosts poured in 18 points in the stanza to build an eight-point lead.
Marsters and Jayden Bezzant briefly threatened a Whai comeback but that was nipped in the bud by Harry Kelso and Zion Anderson, with triples from the pair seeing the Bulls to a deserved victory.
Franklin Bulls 46 – Payton Hughes 14pts, Harry Kelso 9pts, Hunter Te Ratana 9pts & 4asts
Tauranga Whai 40 – Xanda Marsters 16pts, Cole Hopoi 9pts, Jett Thompson 6pts, Jayden Bezzant 6pts, Kiani Saxon 2pts, 5rebs, 4asts & 2blks
Newton Powers Rams Past Hawks
Milan Newton kept up his consistent scoring sequence as Mad Butcher Canterbury Rams edged a tight encounter against Total Energies Hawks at Parakiore Sports Centre in Christchurch 34-30.
Newton had played four games previously for the Rams, scoring in double figures on each occasion. The New Zealand U18 representative continued that trend by posting a game-high 15 points to ensure the Rams held off the Hawks.
He and debutant Christopher Christof did the bulk of the scoring as the Rams established a 26-13 half-time lead before the Hawks fought back in the third. Six points from Kobe Kara and threes from Maz Taylor and Kobe Costley saw the deficit trimmed to 31-27.
The final period was defence dominated as just three scores were achieved, with a Tony Worthington make proving decisive in the final margin.
Mad Butcher Canterbury Rams 34 – Milan Newton 15pts, Christopher Christof 10pts, Tony Worthington 5pts & 8rebs
Total Energies Hawks 30 – Jacob Murphy 8pts, Kobe Kara 6pts, Isaac Allan 5pts, Ezrah Eagle 5pts
Tuatara Move Clear on Top
In the final game of the round, Auckland Tuatara moved to outright first on the Rapid League ladder following a hard-fought 34-27 victory against the NBS Nelson Giants.
Playing a second game in as many days, the Giants forged a 12-11 lead, with the backcourt pairing of James Matthews and Rico Varricchio sharing all the points.
Josh Leger, not renowned for his three-point shooting, struck three times from deep as he led the Tuatara to a 25-17 lead at the three-quarter mark.
Josh Nickel and Elijah Inwood triples trimmed the margin before a Dylan Wilkie trey and a Josh Wyllie finish secured a 12th win of the season for the Aucklanders. Meanwhile, the Giants’ reign as Rapid League champions is virtually over following this defeat.
NBS Nelson Giants 27 – James Matthews 10pts, Josh Nickel 6pts, Rico Varricchio 4pts & 4asts, Jerome Sinclair 3pts & 6rebs
Auckland Tuatara 34 – Josh Leger 15pts & 8rebs, Dylan Wilkie 6pts, Josh Wyllie 5pts
Simply Rapid
Otago Nuggets set a couple of records in their crushing 56-37 win against the Jets.
The 56 points are the most points scored by the Nuggets in a single game, surpassing the 53 they posted, also against the Jets, earlier this season.
The 29 points scored by Toby Hunt eclipsed the 25 points scored by Matt Bardsley in 2024 as the highest individual score by a Nugget and just off the highest individual score in league history by Mana Martin (31pts, Rams vs Taranaki Airs, 06/29/2025) and equal second with Tyson Thata-Paese (29 pts, Jets at Franklin Bulls, 06/26/2025).
Other Rapid Milestones
Tuatara
Josh Leger needed a single point to become the second Tuatara player, after Dylan Wilkie, to score 300 points and reached the milestone in style by scoring a season-high 15 points against the Giants during the Tuatara’s most recent victory. In the process, he also became the seventh player to score 300 Rapid League points.
Whai
With 6 points against the Bulls, Jett Thompson moved past Mana Martin into third spot on the Rapid League all-time scoring list with 337 points.
Jets
The Rapid League’s leading scorer this season, Boston Caldwell, with 16 points against the Nuggets, became the first player to reach 150 points in 2026.
Leading Scorers This Season
164 Boston Caldwell (Jets)
140 Jett Thompson (Whai)
138 Elijah Inwood (Giants)
128 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)
127 Dylan Wilkie (Tuatara)
126 Josh Leger (Tuatara)
125 Payton Hughes (Bulls)
125 Riley Tuuta (Airs)
125 James Matthews (Giants)
125 Quake Webster (Sharks)
124 Hassan Munir (Saints)
121 Hamza Zahran (Jets)
All-Time Rapid League Most Points
520 Tyson Thata-Paese (Saint/Jets/Nuggets)
420 Jacob Murphy (Hawks)
337 Jett Thompson (Whai)
334 Mana Martin (Rams)
314 Josh Leger (Tuatara)
309 Dylan Wilkie (Tuatara)
305 Hayden Jones (Giants)
287 Kazlo Evans Jr (Manawatu Jets)
285 James Matthews (Giants)
283 Quake Webster (Sharks)
270 Dane Bertinshaw (Sharks)
265 Payton Hughes (Bulls)
Rapid League Standings
12-3 Tuatara
11-4 Nuggets, Whai
10-4 Saints
7-8 Giants, Hawks
6-9 Bulls
5-9 Rams
5-10 Jets
4-11 Airs
4-12 Sharks