Wairarapa 15th at netball u-17s

Wairarapa have finished 15th at the national under-17 netball tournament which drew to a close in Wanganui yesterday.
It was a result which pleased coach Robyn Schischka who said the pre-tourney objective had been to place in the top 16 at a tourney which attracted an entry of 38 teams overall.
"We competed well against all opposition and might have even finished higher with an ounce or two of luck," she said.
Wairarapa produced one of their best displays when they hammered Hamilton City 30-14 in the play-off for 15th and 16th positions yesterday morning.
The scores were level at 6-6 at the end of the first quarter with Wairarapa leading 13-10 at halftime. Remarkably, Hamilton City were able to add just four more goals to their tally over the final two quarters compared to Wairarapa's 17.
"We upped the ante and they (Hamilton City) just couldn't handle the pressure," Schischka said. "The defence really worked hard and we also shot well at the other end."
In earlier cross-over games Wairarapa had lost to Christchurch 19-27, Papakura 24-35 and Taranaki 19-24 with inconsistency generally marring the Wairarapa performances there. Against Papakura, for example, they "won" the first and fourth quarters but allowed their opposition enough easy goals in the middle two quarters to build a decent lead.
Captained Abby Hull starred for Wairarapa throughout the tournament, playing in four different positions and adapting well on each occasion. Hope Phillips made a huge impression with her accurate shooting and spearheading the defence was the energetic Jesse Smith.
Meanwhile,Wairarapa are playing off for between ninth and 12 th place at the regional under-15 netball tournament in New Plymouth.
After going through the first day undefeated Wairarapa tripped up on the second day with losses to Wanganui and Kerikeri.
The Wanganui match could have gone either way with Wairarapa making a huge impression on defence but spoiling their play with poor decision making and unforced errors. Wanganui won 27-25.
The Kerikeri match saw Wairarapa always struggling to combat the height advantage held by their opposition.Tania Strange and Pohiri Gemmell were in good form in the shooting circle but they suffered from lack of opportunity and Kerikeri had a comfortable win.