Girls’ High and Lytton doing well in NI competitions

NETBALL

GISBORNE Girls’ and Lytton high schools have done well so far at North Island secondary school netball tournaments this week.

Lytton are in A Grade at the lower North Island tournament in Palmerston North, while Girls’ High this year entered the upper North Island competition in Tauranga.

Because they are a new entry to the tournament, Girls’ High have had to start in the D Grade and work their way up.

“They had a fantastic start to the tournament and finished their pool yesterday morning in first position, having beaten Ruawai (64-13), Papamoa (38-25), Tauranga Girls’ Invitational (43-16), Onewhero (41-24) and Edgecumbe by large margins,” Gisborne Netball Centre manager Allisa Hall said.

Yesterday, Girls’ High beat Edgecumbe 79-11 and Rototuna 55-7.

They were to take on Glenfield and Dargaville in cross-over play today and will play semifinals and finals tomorrow.

“Lytton were promoted to A Grade last year, so had a tough start to the tournament as one of the bottom seeds, 31 out of 32 teams,” Hall said.

“They have had two losses in their pool — to St Mary’s College Wellington (34-20) and Hastings Girls’ High (35-23) — but defeated Sacred Heart New Plymouth (29-24) to finish their pool in third place.

“They moved into Group H for the quarterfinals, where they beat Aotea College (31-25) on Tuesday.

“They defeated Wairarapa College 40-22 yesterday morning and then beat Tawa 35-20 in the afternoon.”

Lytton finished in the top two in their division and advanced to the quarterfinals for 17th to 24th place.

“It’s great to see they will improve their seeding for next year,” Hall said.

The tournament finishes tomorrow.