Netball: Whangaruru tops off close game with win

Jasmine Milton at goal keep for Whangarei Girls' High School gets high over the ball while Sharleece Ross Hill for Treewise Marist shoots. Photo/Jody MacDonald

Northland Coastal Development Whangaruru will be pleased with their 53-48 win over Manawanui White in the second round of premier netball, a game that they led from start to finish.

A two-goal lead at the first quarter increased to four at the half before Manawanui White brought the game back to be within two goals by the third quarter, but they couldn't keep the momentum going.

Friday night's game was closely fought and intense with both teams desperate for the win.

For Whangaruru it was a whole team effort. Jamiee Lee Tito was very consistent at centre for the whole game and was ably assisted by Trina Henare at wing attack and Sophie Tua at goal attack, both of whom controlled and directed play.

Renee Paniona at wing defence also had a good game on attack and was also a nuisance on defence.

For Manawanui White, Grace Cooper at goal attack worked tirelessly to gain good ball despite tight defence. Larissa Hona at centre for the first quarter before moving to wing attack had a good game.

Jade Telfer at goal keep and Ari Ihaka at goal defence worked hard to combat the speed and accuracy of the opposition attacking skills, with Ihaka playing up from the premier reserve grade.

The game between Treewise Marist against Whangarei Girls' High School could have been different had the high schoolers not had such a slow and low scoring first quarter, eventually going down 48-36.

The game was closely contested during the middle stages and it was only the start and finish that determined the result.

For Marist, Helen Francis at goal defence made it difficult for the Girls' High players to feed the ball into the circle and she freely interrupted their play. She was ably assisted by Sue Ann Nesbit at goal keep while in the mid court Kimberley Ruth at centre directed play through the court and combined well with Tracey Whittaker at wing attack.

Tamea Ross at goal attack had a strong game and was supported well by Puawai Shortland at goal shoot for most of the game.

Girls High were not as sharp as usual and while there were some nice phases of play no individual players stood out this week.

The inter-club game between Active Refrigeration Fideliter 1 and Active Refrigeration Fideliter 2 started well, with the number 2 team getting the jump on their clubmates before going down heavily 73-28.

For Fideliter 1 it was a great team effort. The defensive effort by Alisha Takimoana at goal keep and Rowena Davis Cooper at goal defence was exceptional and they limited the lower ranked team to just 11 goals in the second half.

Hayley Tipene at centre collected a number of intercepts and Nikki Latu at wing defence delivered some long passes into Kate Te Whata at goal shoot who ably took these and finished off.

For Fideliter 2, Koea Kaka at goal attack then wing defence had a great game, firstly shooting well then defending well through the mid court, disturbing the flow of the ball. Kasey Potae and Alexis Chapman in defense were kept busy with the bulk of the ball down that end of the court and were rewarded with some timely intercepts and rebounds. Despite the big score this was a friendly game played with good spirits.

There will be no netball for the next two weeks. Premier resumes on July 25 while all other netball returns on the 26th.