Sister act Nana shares the joy of success at St Mary’s
Sisters Sariah, Nataliah and Lylah Penese ran in to see their nana as soon as they got home. They had just won the New Zealand secondary schools basketball championships with St Mary’s College and couldn’t wait to tell her the good news.
‘‘We said ‘hey nana we won!’ She was kind overwhelmed and she’s a bit deaf so she was like ‘what? what?’ and I said ‘we won nana!’’’
‘‘We handed her the two big trophies. She was sitting there, she put her book down and she said ‘oh my’. We had cut off the net from the basketball hoop and we gave it to her and gave her big hugs. She was so happy. It was such a happy moment,’’ Sariah said.
By beating defending champions St Peter’s Cambridge 68-62 in the final, St Mary’s were able to complete two remarkable milestones. For the first time in the school’s history they were national champions in basketball, and they did it without dropping a single game all year.
‘‘We really wanted to win the nationals but going into it, last year we only got ninth, so just making the top eight was a big goal for us. Then we made the semis and when we got to the final we thought ‘this is just one more game, we are so close and we haven’t lost a game so why not?’ and we did it. We finally did it,’’ she said.
‘‘In the moment we were just cheering. We were overwhelmed. Then we just cried. We were thinking of everything we worked hard for, all the off court stuff and all the on court training.’’
Sariah, who played for the Junior Tall Ferns last year, said the victory was made even sweeter because she was able to share the experience with her younger siblings Nataliah and Lylah, and under the guidance of their father, Nixon, who coaches the team.
‘‘It’s great for them to experience it and I think that’s what made it special; for our school to win for the first time and for that first time being with my sisters and my dad coaching.
‘‘He’s tough on me but I actually really like having him as the coach. He gives me a lot of insight during the game and we feed off each other.’’
Sariah said winning a national title was the perfect way to end to her time at St Mary’s. She is now looking to further her basketball career in the United States, hoping to secure a college scholarship next year.
‘‘I’m looking to go over next year. Right now I’ll just be finishing off school, studying and I’ll sit the SATs,’’ she said.
‘‘Free education, who wouldn’t want that? I think my parents have paid enough for me and my sisters, so I think it’d help them a lot to go over there and to play the game I love.’’
"I think my parents have paid enough for me and my sisters."
Sariah Penese