Harcourts GS Te Rina Boyce lines up her shot under pressure from Gladstone GK Jessica McPheat. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
NETBALL
Big wins highlighted the penultimate round of matches in the Wairarapa premier one championship.
Unbeaten Harcourts set a marker with a 73-19 thrashing of Gladstone Gladiators, Jo Kelly and Co Carterton Maroon were made to work hard to beat Celtic 42-33, and Wairarapa College cruised to a 56-27 win over Greytown Holmes Construction.
With nothing riding on the result, Waicol coach Keely Riwai-Couch used the match to experiment with combinations for their upcoming semifinal and the Lower North Island tournament to in Hawke’s Bay at the end of the month.
“It was a good tidy game, and the girls are improving each week. I got to mix some of the positions around a little bit,” Riwai-Couch said.
“It was more the players I’ve wanted to put in particular areas on court but haven’t been able to in tougher games.”
Waicol and Carterton will play tonight because of Waicol’s school ball on Saturday. Nothing is riding on the match, with the two teams to clash in the semis.
Although Celtic lost, they confirmed their semifinals match-up with top seeds Harcourts, with Gladstone unable to catch them with only one round to play.
In premier two, Harcourts Elite lead the championship race after their 31-25 win over Carterton Panthers.
Carterton Rebels beat Opaki Vixens 35-24 to move into second, and Carterton Legends got the better of St Matthew’s 27-21.
