Four teams have made an early statement as the business end of the tournament gathered momentum on the second day鈥檚 play at the NZ Secondary Schools Netball Champs in Auckland on Wednesday.
With the top eight confirmed earlier in the day and split into two pools of four, the quest for title honours began in earnest in the first of the cross-over matches which will continue into tomorrow to determine Friday鈥檚 final play-off positions.
Defending champions Mt Albert Grammar School, Saint Kentigern College, Scots College and St Mary鈥檚 (Auckland) enhanced their aspirations by getting away to perfect starts. Mt Albert Grammar remained the only unbeaten team after two days of play but with points starting afresh for the cross-over matches, the stakes remain high.
Against cross-town rivals, Scots College broke free from a tight first half to clinch a hard-fought 43-37 win over Wellington East Girls鈥� College. With Scots College leading by one at the first quarter break, the roles were reversed when Wellington East took a tenuous 22-21 lead into halftime.
However, Scots College took charge to hold sway across the following two quarters. Pushing out to a five-goal lead at three-quarter time when they outscored Wellington East 12-6, Scots held their composure to hold on for the all-important win.
Newcomers St Mary鈥檚 (Auckland) bounced back from a loss in the final round of the morning鈥檚 pool play to clinch an exciting 40-41 win over Dunedin鈥檚 Columba College. Coached by former Silver Ferns Bernice Mene (St Mary鈥檚) and Jodi Brown (Columba), both with daughters in their respective teams, the game hung delicately in the balance throughout.
St Mary鈥檚 started the more forcefully, slick with their through-court interchange while Columba were forced into a short sharp style of play to negate the rangy and smothering defensive work of their opponents. Columba recovered from a slow start to edge to a 12-10 lead at the first break.
Both goal shoots, Lucy Earl for Columba and Michayla-Jane Rasmussen were key figures with their height and strong holding games as St Mary鈥檚 levelled up on the resumption before providing the greater accuracy to nudge into a 23-21 halftime lead.
Once again, it was St Mary鈥檚 long-reaching defenders, swarming play and the fine movement, feeding and spot shooting of goal attack India Nash that pushed the Aucklanders into a handy 34-29 lead at the last break.
Finding their flow and crispness on attack, Columba came roaring back with a concerted last stanza push, levelling up with six minutes to play and leaving the game perfectly-poised. At 40-all with less than a minute to play, St Mary鈥檚 held on for a last gasp win, leaving Columba with what could prove to be an important bonus point (losing within three goals).
Keeping their perfect record intact, Mt Albert Grammar were pushed all the way by Westlake Girls鈥� High School before a last quarter surge helped them to a 31-24 win. Mt Albert led 7-6, 13-12 and 20-18 at the respective low-scoring quarter breaks before posting a defining 11-6 last quarter to march on.
Saint Kentigern College held the edge throughout over St Mary鈥檚 College of Wellington to snatch a 35-32 win in a match which could have gone either way.
Saint Kentigern鈥檚 all-court defence rattled St Mary鈥檚 early on but the Wellington side fought back time and again to remain well in contention, however, were often let down by untimely lapses.
The Aucklanders led 7-4, 17-14 and 25-27 with St Mary鈥檚 unable to make the decisive breakthrough until five unanswered goals in the fourth quarter helped them level the scores with six minutes to play. However, in a familiar trend, they were unable to sustain the consistency, settling for a bonus point while St Mary鈥檚 pocketed the spoils.
The winning teams have gained the slightest of edges heading into another two rounds tomorrow but all teams have everything to play for in deciding the final place play-offs.
In the morning鈥檚 round of final pool matches to determine the top eight, Mt Albert Grammar School, St Mary鈥檚 College Wellington and Columba College continued their unbeaten runs to top their respective pools.
They were joined by Saint Kentigern College, Westlake Girls High School, Wellington East Girls鈥� College, Scots College and St Mary鈥檚 (Auckland) in the top eight with goal differential deciding Pool D.
Scots College, St Mary鈥檚 (Auckland) and Hamilton Girls鈥� High School all finished with two wins and a loss to sit on eight points with goal differential helping Scots College and St Mary鈥檚 pip Hamilton Girls to secure their spots in the top eight.
Live streaming and the draw can be accessed by visiting