The first week of the Whangarei premier grade netball championship round brought closer results than expected indicating teams have improved in skill, experience and fitness.
Top ranked Whangaruru had a very slow start against eighth ranked Wahine Toa 1 and were behind at the end of the first quarter by two goals. After that Whangaruru led all the way with a good performance from the whole team and they eventually won 47 goals to 32.
In defence, Liahona Hebden and Reanon Heteraka-Sadler were able to read play and made intercepts creating turnover ball for the attacks. In mid court Jaimee-Lee Tito at centre moved with speed through court and fed good ball to the shooters; she was also dangerous on defence. After the first quarter goal attack Shawni Paniona came into her own moving well and shooting accurately.
For Wahine Toa, Jaelyn Walker had a strong game at goal shoot achieving almost 100 per cent accuracy. She was well supported by some great feeding by Aroha Palmer at centre. In the third quarter Kahukura Hau-Peita come on at goal attack and brought speed into the circle, while in defence, Sharayne Moir and Zarrah Pineaha had great games getting some nice turn over ball.
Second ranked Fideliter 1 had a good game against the newly promoted Marist Old Girls winning 49-39.
Fideliter's Suzi Kingi, normally a midcourt player, played at goal defence and had an outstanding game managing to rattle the experienced Marist shooters. In mid court Jo Davis Cooper and Patricia Davis worked well together as a new combination and they delivered good ball into the Fideliter shooters. It was another solid performance by Jess McClintock Maihi at goal shoot with some good positional play and accurate shooting.
For Marist, Kelly Middleton and Helen Francis played cohesively together in defence and applied good pressure. In the mid court Sam Wharerau at centre and wing attack had a strong game both on attack and defence.
In the all Onerahi game, Onerahi 2 won 57-40.
Onerahi 1 defenders Belinda Edwards and Sue Ann David scored some timely intercepts and played a calculated game against experienced shooter Donna Stratford.
Centre Jayne Southee led by example, remaining level headed throughout the game with Cherith Schragg at wing attack also outstanding in terms of her drive and speed while Catherine Allingham, at wing defence, also had a sterling game.
The half time changes included introducing Althena Birch at goal attack to combine with Charlene Dephoff at goal shoot and worked to their advantage. Then in the final quarter Judith Campbell came on at goal shooter and she played an awesome holding game.
For Onerahi 2, Sarah Nicholls at goal keep and Hayley Taylor at goal defence combined well and played a strong man on man defensive game. Jess Lowe at centre had a solid performance with some timely intercepts and some good feeding into the shooters. She was ably assisted by Mary Lowe at wing attack. Stratford at goal attack had an excellent shooting game, potting them from anywhere and she combined well with Sarah Snowden at goal shoot for most of the game. Siobhan Millar at wing defence and later wing attack had a consistent game.
In the final game of the round, fourth ranked Manawanui 1 outlasted Whangarei Girls High School 54-43 despite being behind by three goals at half time.
Manawanui's goal keep Revena Otene worked tirelessly throughout the game and wing attack Moana Matautia fed the shooters well. Gail Shepherd at goal shoot and Rhiannon Reti at goal attack took a while to settle but worked well later in the game and they in conjunction with Matautia were instrumental in influencing the outcome.
For WGHS, Lucy Shand-Pia at goal keep and Jess Hita at goal defence put good pressure on the shooters and got some good turnover ball. Jacinta Matson at centre worked tirelessly throughout the court on both attack and defence. Alicia Walker did well at goal attack helping to punch through the mid court and to deliver some good ball to goal shooter, Manaaki Peri who had a strong game.