Hargest Girls a win away from Nationals

James Hargest College Girls are one win away from a National Tournament spot after they fell to Waimea College in Thursday's quarter-final 72-66 in overtime.

Laura Jackson sent Hargest to an extra five minutes, hitting three clutch free-throws with under three seconds on the clock to tie the game up at 60-60, before Maia Jones took over scoring 11 or her side's 12 overtime points to close out the win and earn a semifinal spot.

James Hargest will take on Middleton Grange today, with the winner confirming a top six spot and an associated trip to Palmerston North for Secondary School Nationals next month.

Southland Girls High opened their account for the week with a 44-31 win over Nelson College for Girls with Ruby Duffy leading the way with 14 after earlier being beaten by Rangiora High 92-20.

Southland Boys fought hard in their morning clash with the well-performed St Thomas College of Christchurch before going down 101-79 while Burnside also got the better of them in the late game 106-83.

James Hargest Boys also faced a challenging second day but acquitted themselves well against tournament favourite Christ's College, 96-39 after dropping their opening clash with Cashmere High 102-34.

Today features the final round of Boys Pool play with Southland Boys taking on Waitaki Boys at 9:00am while James Hargest Boys face Marlborough Boys College at 10:45am.

Post pool play begins for the Girls today with Southland Girls to take on Craighead Diocesan School at 12:30pm in the 9-12 round robin and James Hargest Girls against Middleton Grange in the 5-8 playoffs at the same time.