Marist Old Girls were in a class of their own at the Kensington Courts on Saturday, seeing off Fideliter's final challenge 51-34 to become the 2008 Whangarei Centre premier champions. Fideliter were in the final for just as long as it took the tall, experienced Marist defenders to settle into theirgame. Then it became a case of their attackers squandering too much ball in the attacking circle - the slick, unbeaten, Marist team needed no help on what to do next. Marist captain Nikki Taylor, who was outstanding at goal shoot, said the team were stoked to have capped off their season with such a clear cut win. "It couldn't have been more pleasing for us. We put everything that we've been working on, all together into one game and it just felt really good to play our best game of the season in the final," she said after the match. The twin tower defence of Kelly Milton and Katie Snyman never allowed the smaller Fideliter shooters to settle. "Our defence is definitely the strongest in the competition," Taylor said. "I'm glad they [Milton and Snyman] are in my team, but to be fair everyone lifted their game today and contributed right throughout the court." Fideliter competed well for most of the first quarter, briefly taking the lead, but Marist began to assert their dominance and by the end of the quarter Fideliter trailed 12-7 Their defenders and mid-court players, inspired by captain Ursula Albrecht and wing attack Emma Hearsey got the ball forward into the circle, but it wasn't always good ball and the Fideliter attackers were forced to shoot from further and further away - always under heavy pressure from Marist. In the second quarter Fideliter missed six shots compared to Marist's one and they were outscored 14-7 to trail 26-14 at the break. It was during this period that the Marist mid-court, marshalled by centre Hayley Barrell, began to turn possession into goal-scoring opportunities, which shooters Taylor and Sophie Tua rarely missed. Fideliter coach Paula Martin brought on Judy McDonald at goal attack in the third quarter, which briefly worked but it wasn't long until Marist got back to business as usual, outscoring Fideliter 13-9 and then 12-11 in the final quarter.
