The Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) U17 Hawkes Bay netball team met Canterbury Country in the first game of the final days play at the U17 netball national tournament in North Harbour. In the first half the team showed good patience converting from centre passes and maintained a narrow lead going into half time, 23-20. Again the defensive unit worked tirelessly for little reward with the Canterbury Country shooters not giving any opportunities for rebounds. There were several key moments in the second half with Olivia Macaulay, Demi Forshaw and Kimiora Poi creating turnovers however the accuracy in the attacking end meant these weren’t always converted. Canterbury Country continued to be accurate on attack and pulled away at the final quarter to win 38 – 43.
Kane Makea states “While it’s great that we are competitive and that we are getting ourselves into pressured situations at the end of the game, it’s disappointing that we aren’t finishing. However the learnings from this will be valuable for our final game for 23 and 24 positions against Papakura”.
The EIT Hawkes Bay netball team finished the day with a convincing win. First half shooting combination of Kelsey McPhee (goal attack) and Tiara Crichton (goal shoot) had little problem with the defence scoring at ease to be up 11-3 at the end of the first quarter. Captain Molly Deighton’s through court attacking skills were prominent, with strong drives to the circle for ease of feeding to the shooting duo. An injury brought Reegan Brown into goal attack who provided a strong option in the circle. Kimiora Poi continued to exert her dominance on attack and defence picking up several intercepts. The circle defence of Olivia Macaulay and Brona Turley worked to keep the opposition away from the goal leading 30-18. An injection of Tia Lewis into the mid court provided some strong drives and linking options ably assisted by Simone Bibby at wing defence. The EIT netball team continued to push finishing on top 37 to 26.
The team ended up placing 23 out of 40 teams at the final blow of the whistle. Lee-Anne Taylor stated “All players have continued to improve and push to be in the starting seven on court. While we had our opportunities to push for higher placing’s we showed that we have the skills to match larger centres teams. It’s great to see the growth of our young players in the Hawkes Bay region and these nationals tournaments are a great place to show case our local talent”. The tournament ended on a positive note with both Kelsey McPhee and Kimiora Poi being selected into the U17 National tournament team. “This is a reflection of the skills and consistency that these two players have displayed all tournament” states coach Lee-Anne Taylor.