Title to College A in upset
COLLEGE A has spoiled Phys Ed A’s unbeaten season, winning the Dunedin premier final 5347 on Saturday.
Phys Ed has been the team to beat this year and, despite two previous losses, College won the game that mattered most.
A full team performance by all players on the court contributed to its win.
Goal shoot Talei Pelasio was a standout, finding great space in the circle and scoring 41 of her team’s goals.
She was partnered with goal attack Kiana Pelasio for most of the game and the duo worked well to get each other in optimal shooting position.
Their team was up by two at the start of the final quarter.
Three quick goals in the first minute of the spell, thanks to their own centre passes and an intercept by centre Meg Sycamore, allowed them to push ahead by five.
The margin continually fluctuated as Phys Ed worked to close the gap, but College kept picking up ball and pushing ahead.
Ball retention was key for the side and was shown in the final minute when players opted to throw the ball around to eat up time and prevent Phys Ed from getting possession.
The team built its lead in the first quarter and withstood Phys Ed’s comebacks throughout the game.
Treasuring the ball and scoring off Phys Ed’s errors helped create a fivegoal lead early on.
Phys Ed was looking long into reliable goal shoot Meleitia Leilua early but a few of the passes went out the back of the court. They quickly came right and attackers worked their way into a better spot on the circle edge to feed.
Wing attack Georgia White moved to goal attack in the second spell, acting mostly as a third feeder, and was often left to run by College defenders, who doubled up on Leilua.
Leilua was in good form and ultimately had the highest shooting percentage, netting 32 from 39 attempts to make 82%.
Phys Ed won that quarter by one goal, after a relatively even performance by both teams, and trailed by four — 2226 — at halftime.
Capitalising on a stray pass and held ball by College, Phys Ed levelled the score to 30all by halfway through the quarter and looked like it could edge ahead. But College resisted.
It picked up a rebound and scored off its own centre pass to get back up by two by the end of the third quarter.
The team eventually won by seven goals, much to the delight of its supporters in the crowd.
Phys Ed had an impressive season and players contested right until the final whistle.
In other games, College Red beat St Hilda’s 5046, Phys Ed C edged ahead of Columba College 3736, and Phys Ed B defeated Southern Magpies 5851.
St Hilda’s will move down to premier B next year and University Albion A, which beat South Pac Titans 5139, will go up to premier A.