WHS A1 Netball remain unbeaten
Phillips Electrical Whanganui High School A1 sent an ominous message to rivals on two fronts with yet another win in the Netball Whanganui Premier competition on Monday night.
WHS A1 faced off against defending champions Kaiwhaiki A1 in the penultimate game of round two before the playoffs winning 56-39.
"We took a bit to settle after two weeks off," WHS A1 coach Lisa Murphy said.
"Some of my players. not all, played rep games during the school holiday break, so it wasn't surprising we were a bit slow to settle. We were only 12-10 after the first quarter, but the girls stepped it up with a good performance in the second quarter. In fact, we got better and better as the game progressed. We had our moments and it was a good all round team effort, but were are still not at our best and we will need to be in the last game of round two next week when we meet Kaierau A1- they will be tough," Murphy said.
The message that they were yet to hit peak sent an ominous message to rivals in the Manawatu secondary schools Saturday competition where WHS also remains unbeaten.
"That competition resumes next Saturday with the final game of round robin against St Peter's before we go into the top four competition with Palmerston North Girls' High and the two Manukura teams. The top four is pretty much knockout competition," Murphy said.
WHS finished third in the Manawatu competition last season.
"That's the highest we've very reached in that competition, so we have a very realistic chance of bettering that this year."
Meanwhile, multiple Netball Whanganui champions Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau A1 also had a comfortable 55-24 win over Kaierau A2 on Monday in a match that allowed coach Walter Edmonds to test combinations before his team's clash with WHS next week.
"It was a comfortable win against our A2 side and a big score, but it did allow us to try different combinations that will work best for us against WHS next week," Edmonds said.
"The game next week will be a big one and we need to be ready. I'm quite happy with our team effort on Monday."
Mere Te Aroha had the bye on Monday.
By Iain Hyndman
Whanganui Chronicle 24/7/19