Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick hasn't had a lot of court time this season but you wouldn't have thought so as she helped Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic to a 56-46 win over Central Pulse last night.
With Casey Williams on the sideline for the ANZ Championship round-seven clash in Porirua with what Magic coach Noeline Taurua called "ankle issues", Tone-Fitzpatrick proved herself worthy of the coach's faith in her.
The unrelenting 19-year-old was excellent back-up for in-form Leana de Bruin who was outstanding at goal defence, the pair forming a solid partnership until de Bruin was forced off when her calf seized up.
She was replaced by Williams, who bounced on to the court and slotted right in, taking a couple of superb intercepts to make her mark.
Tone-Fitzpatrick proved a revelation last year when she got plenty of court time for Magic, showing herself to be an entertaining player who goes all out to contribute.
She got her hands to plenty of ball last night and had the coach praising a solid effort.
Confident with how the team is now tracking after a rocky start to the competition, Taurua said she was pleased to be able to give Tone-Fitzpatrick the opportunity to take the court and considered her a genuine option.
Pulse started well, as they have been doing this season but, just as they've also done, were unable to sustain it, falling off in patches and eventually falling away altogether.
Shooter Caitlin Thwaites was the shining light for Pulse, doing more than her share of the shooting with successive goal attacks erratic but found herself under a lot of pressure from de Bruin and Tone-Fitzpatrick.
Magic had a couple of lapses in the second and final quarters but were, in the words of their coach, "awesome" in the first and third spells and even in the other quarters displayed "some beautiful netball".
Taurua is happy with the way her team are now tracking with three wins on the trot after four consecutive losses, giving her confidence Magic have turned the corner and remain a chance for the play-offs.
"We definitely still have a chance, our intentions have not changed but we don't want to get carried away with ourselves - one game is just one game and we need to keep working hard and being smart," she said last night.
"There have been some really classy, magic moments these past few games and we're starting to see more of them, it's great netball to watch ... at the moment the girls are starting to align and we're reaping the rewards - it's just taken us a while to get to this space."
Taurua acknowledged there was still room for improvement. Magic had an untidy finish last night, allowing Pulse a last-minute run of goals and earlier in the match giving Pulse the opportunity to reduce their nine-goal lead to two. But for most of the match Magic dominated, with captain Laura Langman marshalling her troops from the front.
Magic were up at the end of each quarter, 16-11 after the first, 27-23 at halftime, 44-33 at the end of the third spell and finishing 56-46.
Enjoying six days between matches to this point, Magic now face a quicker turnaround, scheduled to face Canterbury Tactix for an away rematch on Saturday.
The Queensland Firebirds have claimed back-to-back victories for the first time in their title defence, defeating the Canterbury Tactix 65-48 in Brisbane last night.
Led by another strong game from goal attack Natalie Medhurst with 26/29 goals and 12 goal assists, the Firebirds were too strong for their New Zealand counterparts after both sides struggled to break through early in the match.
The Firebirds went into the second quarter ahead 16-11 but the margin of ebbed and flowed throughout with the Tactix pulling back to within two goals at one point.
Firebirds goal shooter Romelda Aiken top-scored with 38 goals from 43 attempts.