The competition was devastated by rain cancellations last season — highlighting the need for the indoor stadium project that is under way — but Saturday produced glorious conditions and three good games.
Athletic Maroon came home with a wet sail to beat Waitaki Girls’ Lightning Strike 34-20.
It was 22-22 at halftime, but Maroon lifted its defensive intensity and support play to win both the third and fourth quarters by six goals.
The schoolgirls, a new-look team with a bunch of year 11 players, held their own for half the game, but started to make some unforced errors in the third quarter.
Goal defence Tupou Kautai and goal attack Emily Mavor stood out in their first taste of senior netball.
Valley Karaka built on a strong start to beat Waitaki Girls’ Wildfire 34-25.
Valley led 13-6 after the first quarter, 20-12 at halftime and 30-17 at the three-quarter mark, before the schoolgirls dominated the final quarter.
Lauren Haeppauff worked well at wing defence for Karaka, while the new shooting combination of Helena Johns and Brytnee Firman worked well.
Wildfire found the going tough early in the game, but finished with great promise, highlighted by the work of Renee Stenning (GA) and Jorja Belt (GD).
Maheno made no race of the country battle, beating Kurow 42-18.
Anika Smith (WD) created plenty of turnover ball on her return to premier netball as Maheno led 8-5 at the first break and 17-7 at halftime.
Melissa Smith and Phillipa Masoe formed a steely defensive combination for Maheno.
Midcourters Jaime Archer and Jessie Chapman combined nicely in a Kurow side missing some players.
In a Thursday night game, the North Otago men had a 49-28 win over St Kevin’s.
