Tuahine Hadfield showed an abundance of flair through the mid-court, while Rebecca Benge continued to prove herself worthy of her promotion to the A1 team this year, playing at both WA and GA.
Despite the scoreline, Marist coach TeOra Nyman was pleased to see mid-courters Kelsi Hoggard and captain Shawnee Brausch consistently working the court, and the experienced Kellie Ranginui creating great space in the tightly-contested shooting circle.
“The team focus was to put their learnings from practice into the game, and they did a great job putting that into play,” Nyman said.
Different combinations gave the team more opportunities to value, leading into the second round.
With half the Phillips Electrical Whanganui High School A1 team having had six games in a rep tournament on Sunday, it took the girls the first quarter to get into their game against Pirates A1.
They found their momentum in the second quarter, with some timely intercepts from Neveah Blake at centre and great pressure from defensive unit Elicia Thompson (WD), Isla Jones (GD) and Lexi Williams (GK).
Pirates coach Casey McDougall was hoping for a better start from her team, but was pleased with the tireless defensive effort and strong through-court attacking play from Cheyann McDougall, working well with Josey Orum at GK. McDougall gave “credit to Whanganui High School, who have nice placement of the ball, and are very fit”.
High School coach Lisa Murphy was happy with her team’s efforts, despite losing by two goals 30-28. Mae Emmett worked tirelessly coming on to WD, restricting the Pirates WA and Ella Campbell had strong holds under the post at GS.
“The girls did so well and it’s rewarding as a coach to see us building strong as a team each week,” Murphy said.
In Premier 2 games, Kaierau Gemini Pepper A2 had a close clash with Mt View Marist A2, winning by one goal. The absence of key goal shooter Nicola Edwards was felt. A lot of defensive turnovers from Chole Sherman were made possible by some fantastic through-court defensive pressure, which kept Kaierau in the game. The team has plenty of takeaways leading into Round 2.
The Whanganui High School Junior A1 girls came into Monday night very tired after an extremely full day of rep netball on Sunday. This took its toll, with fatigue setting in very quickly, while the Kaiwhaiki A2 team displayed composure and a wealth of experience. Kassidy Compton was pulled up into the High School side as a mid-court replacement, showing some great talent with her feeds and drives. Lulu Dufty also had an impressive game, doing the majority of the shooting for the young team. Although the scoreline blew out, the girls met their targets and continue to grow each week. Kaiwhaiki won 47-22.
In the final game of the evening, Tech A1 had a convincing win over Kaierau Moore Markhams A3. The game began with intensity but also with errors from both teams. Tech settled and slowly began putting some points on the Kaierau side. Tech shooter Shannon Watana-Slade proved strong under the post again, and the tenacious defence of Antonia Newton saw her gain MVP for the team. A few injuries during the games saw several changes, which unsettled the flow, but they regained their structures and ultimately pulled off a solid 35-19 win.
Many thanks to coaches, managers, bench officials, umpires and umpire coaches who make the competition possible. The tireless hours invested in the sport do not go unnoticed.
We look forward to the start of Round 2 next week.
