Hawke's Bay have qualified for the top 16 at the national under-17 netball tournament for the second consecutive year courtesy of a convincing win against Rotorua yesterday.
The Lee-Anne Taylor-coached Bay team had to beat Rotorua in their second outing on day two of the 40-team Pukekohe-hosted nationals to qualify after losing 56-29 to North Harbour One earlier in the day. Taylor's troops ticked this assignment off with a 45-25 victory to finish second in their pool.
Hawke's Bay had an early lead against Rotorua and scored in waves of four with goal shoot Imke Kitchin owning the shooting circle. Midcourters Summer-Rose Taylor and Maddison Kaye found the circle edge and Janayah Lewis easily fed into Kitchin. With strong defence by Valentine Kahukura and Bree White shutting down Rotorua's options and wing defence Jaimee Tapine hunting plenty of loose ball in the second quarter, Hawke's Bay led 23-13 at halftime.
The injection of Aotearoa Maori Secondary Schools rep Asher Grapes at centre and Hinehea Keil at wing attack saw more ball into the shooting circle for Lewis and Kitchin. Goal keep Zana Renton worked hard against a physical shooting circle and pulled in some key rebounds to provide more opportunities to score.
A change in the shooting circle with Lewis and Grapes moving to create space for feeders Keil and Myer Crawford-Pakoti saw the Bay extend their lead and secure the win. Coach Taylor had every right to be proud of her team.