Big lead slender by fulltime

Markham's College A narrowly beat St Hilda's Senior A 52-49 in round four of the premier A competition at the Edgar Centre on Saturday morning.

Trailing by 15 goals at halftime, St Hilda's found its form in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to just three goals by the final whistle.

College struggled to keep up with the school team in the third spell, despite looking like it could run away with the game in the second quarter.

It was strong out of the blocks, on both attack and defence, and took an early lead.

Defenders Grace Carruthers and Dani Gray made life difficult for St Hilda's attackers, as the duo collected several turnovers.

College goal attack Kiana Pelasio was confident under the hoop and landed shots from all over the circle, backed up nicely by fellow shooter Isabella Masani.

Its attackers found Masani under the hoop on multiple occasions as College extended its lead in the second spell.

St Hilda's worked tirelessly to get the ball in to its shooters, while under constant pressure.

College coach John Mathias made several position changes throughout the court in the second half, while St Hilda's opted to bring Phoebe Aburn into the midcourt and switch its shooters around.

St Hilda's had an impressive third quarter, outscoring College by nine goals. Midcourter Beryn Abbott nabbed two turnovers, helping her team inch closer to College.

St Hilda's shooters Laura Taylor and Megan Borst grew in confidence as the game progressed and were impressive under the hoop.

The team narrowed the 15-goal difference to six heading into the final quarter, during which both teams scored relatively evenly.

Goal defence Meg Timu picked up two turnovers in the final five minutes of the game, which helped St Hilda's get within three goals of College. However, College managed to hold on to its lead to secure another win for the season.

It was a clash of the clubs in other premier A games as Phys Ed A beat Phys Ed B 66-54, University Albion A defeated University Albion B 54-44 and Southern Magpies downed Southern Tui 63-33.

-By Jessica Wilson

Add a Comment