Defending champions Avondale College led the charge in stamping their mark as the business end of the NZ Secondary School Netball Champs gathered momentum in Christchurch on Wednesday.
With the top eight confirmed -- those in contention for the title – and split into two pools of four, Avondale College made light work of their intentions with a clinical 53-36 win over Tawa College to get away to the best of starts.
Leading from the front, tall goal shoot Priscilla Rasmussen was a dominant force for Avondale with her power, precision and accuracy leaving an indelible mark after she notched 44 goals during the match.
The other three teams to get first-up wins in the top-eight matches had to work a little harder for their points.
After squeezing into the top eight, Westlake Girls High School made the most of it by upsetting the fancied St Mary’s College Wellington 35-34 in a thriller that need extra time to decide a winner.
St Mary’s controlled the first half to lead by five at the main break but could never quite shake the gallant Westlake team who kept plugging away until they got the vital breakthrough.
Finding space and drive to execute with precision on attack while getting the ball into the hands of influential goal shoot Sophia Marshall, safely nestled close to the post, Westlake gained the upper hand during a telling third quarter.
Trailing by one at the last break, St Mary’s wrested their way back into the lead but with danger shooter Phoenix Schwalger well contained and opposing goal defence Jaz Zanders having a fine all-round game, Westlake were far from done.
With the scores all tied up at the end of regular time, Westlake had the better of the six minutes of extra time, bustling St Mary’s into errors while going on to inflict the first defeat on the team from the Capital.
In the second group, Howick College and Christchurch Girls’ High School also came away with maximum points after hard-fought top-eight openers.
Howick College held the upper hand through the first half to lead by three before St Kentigern came storming back, scoring the first five goals of the second half to take the lead.
Leading by two at the last break, St Kentigern shot out to a four-goal buffer before Howick slowly clawed their way back. With their attack line re-finding its groove where rangy centre Charlie Lindsay was a key figure and shooters Sierra Lau’ese and Zermahnia Manu working expertly together, Howick finished with a flourish to get the job done 33-30.
Leading by seven at the last break, Christchurch Girl’s High School had to withstand a terrific comeback from fellow Canterbury team St Margaret’s College, a fulltime buzzer-time penalty shot seeing them over the line by the slimmest of margins 32-31.
The winning teams have gained the slightest of edges heading into another two rounds tomorrow but all teams have everything to play for as the outcomes will decide Friday’s final place play-offs.
In the morning’s round of final pool matches, Howick College, St Mary’s College Wellington, Avondale College and Saint Kentigern College continued their unbeaten runs to top their respective pools.
They were joined by Westlake Girls High School, Christchurch Girls’ High School, St Margaret’s College and Tawa College, who also advanced to the top-eight after finishing runners-up in their pools.
With a win, a draw and a loss apiece, Westlake and St Andrew’s College finished on equal points in Pool A but Westlake took out second place on goal differential. In Pool D, a bonus point loss helped Tawa College secure the runners-up spot.