Lower seeds shine in premier grade

THREE HANDS ON THE BALL: Gisborne Girls' High School's Lily Hawea (left) gathers the ball under pressure from wing defence Georgina Tipuna, of Tapuae. Girls' High won the match 56-53. Picture by Paul Rickard

NETBALL - THE lower seeds in Gisborne premier-grade netball gave a good account of themselves at the YMCA on Saturday, with two games that could have gone either way.

The games were so close that both losing teams earned a bonus point.

Gillies Electrical Gisborne Girls' High School Senior A came back big-time against Wairoa's Tapuae to take the lion's share of the points.

The students won the game 56-53 after Tapuae had led 15-9 at the 15-minute mark, 29-25 at halftime and 41-39 at three-quartertime.

“Tapuae started well and looked confident with a six-goal lead they had set up early on,” netball commentator Sherrill Beale said.

“However, Girls' High were more settled in the second quarter. From then on, they pressured Tapuae into little errors.

“The students worked together to hunt the ball through the midcourt. They created some turnovers and outscored Tapuae to be down by only four at halftime.

“Both teams' shooters worked hard all game, moving around the goal circle intelligently and giving their feeders options.

“The high lob in to goal shoot Kassie Owen, for Girls' High, and to Hope Kaihe-Tahuri, for Tapuae, also worked well.

“Throughout the game, both teams had crucial intercepts, but the scoreline remained close, with the students just pulling ahead in the dying minutes.”

In the other match, Horouta Gold and Claydens Waikohu (3) had a right royal ding-dong battle.

Horouta ran out 52-47 winners in a hard-fought game.

The quarter scores show Waikohu up 15-7 after 15 minutes, but the Gold team got into their play after that and things changed.

At halftime, Horouta led 25-21, then at three-quartertime, 41-34.

“Waikohu (3) started the game well,” Beale said.

“Their attackers drove speedily on to the goal circle, working the ball in to their shooters and finishing the quarter eight goals ahead.”

Then Horouta had a strong second quarter, where their attackers did the same — driving on to the goal circle and delivering good passes to their shooters.

“At the other end, their defenders were tighter on defence and created some turnovers, which helped the team pull back the deficit and lead by four at the break.”

In that second quarter, Horouta outscored Waikohu (3) by 18 points to 6.

“Both teams had their opportunities but could not shake off the opposition to pull ahead convincingly,” Beale said.

“At the start of the fourth quarter, Waikohu (3) scored six goals before Horouta netted one and it was Horouta up by just one, at 41-40.

“Horouta slowly pulled away again in the dying minutes of a very competitive game.”

Other results —

Premier Reserve: YMP Masters 35 Ritana Snr A 30, Horouta Taimana 31 Tatapouri Sportsfit 26, Crosscutters Old Girls Whangara 28 Farmlands Ngatapa 22.

A Grade: YMP (2) 41 Pharmacy 53 Campion Snr A 25, FarmCare High School Old Girls 22 Taiki 18, Waikohu (2) 35 McLeods Concrete HSOG 34.

A Reserve: Steve Craill Builder Ngatapa 40 NZHL Thistle Storm 33, Tatapouri Sportsfit (2) 29 GGHS Jnr A 22, Whalis 42 GGHS Snr B 20.

First Grade: Gisborne Glass Ngatapa 29 GGHS Korihi 23, Wahine Hauora HSOG 28 Tyre General Ngatapa 16.

First Reserve: Waikohu (4) 33 Kotahi Aroha 20.

Second Grade: OBM Red Social 27 GGHS TSA 8, XLR8 27 ALH Thistle Phoenix 15.

THREE HANDS ON THE BALL: Gisborne Girls' High School's Lily Hawea (left) gathers the ball under pressure from wing defence Georgina Tipuna, of Tapuae. Girls' High won the match 56-53.

Picture by Paul Rickard