After a frantic finish, the dominant St Hilda’s Collegiate shooter had ice in her veins as she cooly slotted the final goal for her side to beat Dunedin rivals Columba College 30-27 at the Otago secondary schools tournament yesterday.
It means the shield is safely retained by St Hilda’s, coached by former Silver Fern Belinda Colling, for another year.
But the game — played with eight-minute quarters — was a hard-fought battle between the two Dunedin schools at the Edgar Centre.
After a slow start, St Hilda’s came back to lead 7-6 at the first break.
It was an arm wrestle between the two teams, each pouncing on the other’s mistakes.
Ruby Hore let the ball go long into Farquhar, even as Columba’s defenders sat back on the tall shooter to try shut down her impact.
That helped St Hilda’s extend their lead to 15-11 at halftime.
Defender Kiana Brown hauled in an important rebound for Columba, as her side got back within one early in the third quarter.
Shanti Kara slotted a lovely long-range effort and Columba had the chance to draw level, but the ball spilled over the baseline.
St Hilda’s made sure of it at the other end with a 22-20 lead at the break.
Blue Mountain College won the second division senior A title, Columba won the senior B and year 10 titles, and Cromwell College won the year 9 grade.
