Varsity A beat the Magic A 48-41 in a scrappy encounter in the latest round of the women's A grade competition on Tuesday night.
The lead changed many times throughout the game, and the biggest margin for either side was a five-point lead for Varsity early in the third quarter.
Neither side shot the ball well, and both relied on the fast break for points as their halfcourt sets produced little in the way of points.
Varsity coach George Robinson was happy with the win and praised his side's defence, but admitted it was far from a complete performance.
''We were getting good shots but they weren't going in,'' Robinson said.
''We rebounded well, though, which made up for our poor shooting.''
Varsity centre Jill van Dijk was the standout for the students, finishing the game with eight points. She ran the floor well and was imposing under the hoop on both offence and defence.
Claudia Flaws led the scoring for Varsity with 12 off the bench after struggling with her shot initially.
Grace Love also contributed for the students with 10 points.
The Magic was led by Grace Allan, who had a game-high 19 points. She was the only player to pose any real defensive worries for Varsity.
In the earlier game, St Hilda's upset Ajax 1 52-48 for its first win in the A grade competition this season.
St Hilda's led for the majority of the game and at one point, early in the fourth quarter, had a commanding 14-point lead.
An improvement on defence, sound execution in its halfcourt offence and a huge scoring night by siblings Brittany and Zoe Richards guided St Hilda's to the win.
Coach Dean Ruske was pleased with how his side played.
''They played really well, actually,'' Ruske said.
''A grade is new to them and, especially in the first game, they thought they weren't up to playing at this level, but they came out with more confidence this week.''
Brittany Richards led all scorers with 22 points and Zoe finished with 19.
Aleisha Ruske top-scored for Ajax with 13 points, while Natalie Smith and Stacey Hickford each had 12.
In the third game, Ajax 2 beat Varsity B 51-34. Abby Wolfe had 10 points for Ajax and Gemma Grey led Varsity with six.
