Stars earn chance to avoid wooden spoon
The Northern Stars finished their disappointing ANZ Premiership season on a high with a stunning comeback victory over the Southern Steel.
Out of contention for the playoffs, the Stars played with passion and pride to close their season in style.
They climbed to fifth and will avoid the wooden spoon unless the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic beat the Mainland Tactix tonight.
The Steel’s confidence may have been dented ahead of the elimination final next Wednesday night — when the Southern side will meet either the Tactix or Mystics, depending on their last regular season results.
Stars captain Grace Kara said yesterday’s result added to her side’s hope for an improved showing next year.
“It’s really nice to reward the fans and the girls for all their hard work throughout the season,” Kara said.
“We saw glimpses of what we were capable of throughout the season and we played some really good netball [yesterday] and it reflected on the scoreline.”
In a stunning start, Stars shooter Maia Wilson was in sublime form under the hoop and found good connection with Kara, who led her attacking unit impressively.
The Steel were without their top shooter Jen O’Connell, ruled out due to illness, leaving Te Paea Selby-Rickit at goal shoot, with Olivia Bates at goal attack. The relatively fresh shooting duo struggled to gain momentum under the pressure of leading Stars defender Kate Burley but their overall accuracy enabled the Steel to draw level in the opening quarter at 15-15.
Steel captain Wendy Frew led her side with passion and tenacity, while midcourter Gina Crampton found an effortless connection with her shooters from the circle edge as the Steel led by three at halftime.
However, it wasn’t enough to dampen the home side’s spirit.
Storming ahead, the Stars took control of the final quarters while the Steel struggled to keep up. The Stars attacking unit was in fluid form across the court, while stellar intercepts from Burley ignited the noisy home crowd.
With nothing but pride to play for, the hosts held their ground to take the win and a chance to avoid the ignominy of finishing last.
The Tactix play the Magic tonight at Hamilton’s Claudelands Arena in a crucial match that could determine whether the Canterbury side make the playoffs.
Should the Tactix defeat the Magic and the Mystics lose to the Central Pulse on Wednesday, the Tactix will advance to the elimination final against the Steel.
However, if both the Tactix and Mystics win their fixtures this week, the final playoff place will be decided by goal percentage.
As the Mystics currently hold a 1.62 per cent lead in that tiebreaker, the Tactix scoreline tonight could become the deciding factor.