Whangara claw back to win

Not accepting defeat: Whangara Old Girls Taley-Jade Kemp gets ready to pass the ball on during a match against Waikohu. After being behind for the majority of the game, Whangara came back to beat Gisborne Girls' High 51-46, last night at the Y.Picture by Paul Rickard

WHANGARA Old Girls staged a second-half comeback to defeat Gisborne Girls' High 51-46 in premier grade netball at the YMCA last night.

YMP led all the way in a 58-35 win over JT Contractors Horouta Gold.

Gillies Electrical Gisborne Girls' High Senior A were up by five at halftime but by three-quarter time Whangara had clawed their way back to level it at 35-all.

Both coaches made changes at each quarter and Whangara's changes for the third period altered the game.

Nardia Whaitiri-White came on at goal attack for Whangara and combined impressively with goal shoot Tiara Weir.

They worked for each other in the goal circle and positioned themselves to collect clean passes from the midcourters and between each other.

The rest of the team tightened their woman-on-woman defence, which pressured Girls' High into making errors.

Whangara pulled back the deficit and then it was goal for goal as the teams went to the third-quarter break locked at 35-all.

The students had their chances but once Whangara got in front they were able to stay there for the rest of the game to collect maximum points.

Girls' High had to be content with losing a bonus point.

YMP 1 started strongly and built on their lead throughout — 13-9 after the first quarter, 29-17 at halftime and 39-26 at the three-quarter break.

They have strength at both ends of the court.

At the defensive end, Keasi Fonohema and Bronya McMenamin continue to work as a unit, putting pressure on every pass into opposition shooters, and collecting their share of intercepts and rebounds.

At the other end, Paku-Jane Skudder and Jayda Banks move slickly in the circle, positioning themselves well and finishing off with accurate shooting.

The high lob into Skudder worked particularly well last night.

Centre Lyric Wesche, back after injury, was speedy through the middle of the court, linking both ends and driving to the top of the circle.

Horouta Gold had some good passages of play, especially in the third quarter, which they lost by only 10 goals to nine. In the only premier game on Saturday, F45 High School Old Girls face JT Contractors Horouta Gold at 9am in the Y.

The last time these two teams met they displayed skills and produced some impressive intercepts. HSOG's links through the court have improved further since then, as shown in their three-goal loss to top-of-the-table Claydens Waikohu 1 last Wednesday. Horouta Gold will need to bring their top game for the full hour.

Another busy day is expected at Victoria Domain on Saturday with games starting at 8.30am.