Tactix draw clear of Magic to win
Last year, Temepara Bailey was an assistant coach, watching from the sideline as the Northern Stars lost seven straight to start the ANZ Premiership season.
This year, the 43-year-old midcourter was in the thick of the action as they opened their 2019 campaign with a stunning upset win over defending champions Southern Steel.
The Stars held their nerve at the death to win 66-64 at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton yesterday, with another returning midcourter, Kayla Cullen, grabbing a crucial late turnover and shooter Maia Wilson nailing two big shots in the final minutes.
Bailey played all but three minutes of the game at centre and didn’t look out of place. Afterwards, she was especially satisfied with the way her team dug in after surrendering a nine-goal lead in the final quarter.
‘‘The Steel know how to win – they’ve been champions for two years in a row,’’ she said. ‘‘So we knew that they would come back fighting, and what I’m really pleased about, is I think the Stars of old might have crumbled in that position, but everyone out there on court fought right to the very end.’’
Trailing by nine goals three minutes into the final quarter, the Steel went on a 13-4 run to level the scores at 62-62 with just over three minutes remaining.
The Stars won a key turnover when Te Paea Selby-Rickit missed a shot that would have made it 64-64 with 90 seconds remaining and defenders Leana de Bruin and Storm Purvis combined to bat the ball away from danger. Making her first ANZ Premiership appearance since 2017, it was Cullen who secured the loose ball, which allowed Wilson to sink back-toback goals – her 50th and 51st of the match – and give the Stars an insurmountable lead.
Bailey said getting a win at the first time of asking would be a massive confidence boost for the Stars, who have finished fifth and sixth in their two seasons in New Zealand’s top domestic league.
The second game was more of a grind, with the Mainland Tactix edging their hosts, the WaikatoBay of Plenty Magic, 48-42.
Tactix wing attack Erikana Pedersen had to be helped from the court after suffering a leg injury early in the first quarter, but her team-mates were able to overcome her absence and start the season on a winning note.
The two teams could barely be separated in the first three quarters, but the Tactix pulled away in the final spell, with shooter Ellie Bird nailing 40 of her 41 attempts.
The Central Pulse showed why they are considered the favourites to take out the competition in the final match of the day, thumping the Northern Mystics 62-39. They took a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and didn’t look back from there, with Aliyah Dunn making 37 of her 40 attempts. Robbie Manson has continued his dominance over Mahe Drysdale at national level.
Manson won the premier men’s single scull final at the New Zealand rowing championships at Lake Ruataniwha on Saturday. The defending champion triumphed in a time of six minutes 52.03 seconds with Drysdale taking silver just under three seconds back. Bronze went to Jordan Parry in 6:59.12
The two are battling for the right to represent New Zealand in the single scull at next year’s Tokyo Olympics. Manson has held the role for his country at the past two world championships but finished out of the medals each time.
Two-time Olympic champion Drysdale was part of the NZ quad which finished a surprise fourth at last year’s world champs in Bulgaria. Emma Twigg’s quest to finally win an Olympic medal received a boost when she captured the women’s single scull title.
Her winning time of 7:24.22 put her 3.77s ahead of Brooke Donoghue with lightweight sculler Zoe McBride third in 7:29.02.