Third final matchup for Valley, Maheno
STOP me if you have heard this before.
Valley Karaka will play Maheno Green in the North Otago premier final this Saturday.
It is a repeat of the 2018 and 2020 finals — Maheno lost to Waitaki Girls’ in 2019, and there was no final last year because of Covid — that were both won by Valley.
The country clubs have set the standard all year and both showed their class to beat school teams in their respective semifinals at the weekend.
Valley, an experienced team growing in confidence, beat Waitaki Girls’ Wildfire 4223.
Whitney Cleveland and India McLay set the standard for Valley, applying consistent pressure outside the Wildfire shooting circle and creating plenty of turnover ball.
Helena Johns worked tirelessly on attack, bringing the ball through court and rolling the shooting circle to create space for Brytnee Firman.
The schoolgirls struggled occasionally with Valley’s relentless defence and made some crucial errors.
Wildfire — set up nicely for next season as all but two of the girls return — was led by the defensive unit of Jorja Belt, Allie Senior and Paris Fellows, while Mya Nicol was good value at centre.
Maheno, so desperate to shed the bridesmaid tag and go all the way this year, led the whole game but had to work hard to keep St Kevin’s at bay as the Green team won the other semifinal 2722.
Maheno led 85 at the first break and 1311 at halftime, but the schoolgirls refused to go away, and it was in the balance at 1811 heading into the final quarter.
An experienced bench gave Maheno the edge over the final 15 minutes as seasoned midcourters Anika Smith and Kat Kawau came on to close out the game.
Mel Smith had another fine game at goal keep for Maheno.
Goal keep Amelia Wilkinson, centre Olivia Mavor and goal attack Zaria Kira did everything they could to get St Kevin’s into the final.
Athletic Maroon beat Kurow 3320, and the Oamaru Men beat Waitaki Girls’ Lightning Strike 4328.