The first quarter was very low-scoring, with immense defensive pressure from both teams and a few nerves on attack.
The game went almost goal-for-goal despite a number of tips and intercepts throughout the first 15 minutes.
A rebound from Phys Ed goal defence Abbi Souchon towards the end of the quarter gave Phys Ed the upper hand at quarter time, 11-9.
Phys Ed came out stronger at the start of the second quarter, with a beautiful tip from centre Laura Moffatt tidied up by goal keep Laura Overton. Moffatt struck again on Southern’s next centre pass to grab another intercept, which put Phys Ed up 14-9.
The introduction of Taneisha Fifita at goal shoot for Southern opened up the shooting circle, but it was the defensive end that brought Southern back into the game.
Wing defence Lauren Pickett and goal keep Tarryn Dickson each grabbed themselves an intercept to pull the score back to 15-15.
Both sides then scored off their own ball until Overton timed her jump perfectly and rejected a Southern shot to keep Phys Ed ahead at the halfway mark, 22-21.
The third quarter had a number of positional changes across the court.
Phys Ed brought Mariah Nelson into goal defence and Souchon out to wing defence, while Southern brought Katherine Morris back into goal shoot, Fifita to goal keep and Dickson out to goal defence.
The defensive pressure that Phys Ed put on in the first half did not decrease with the change, and they continued to force errors from the Southern attacking end.
Even with Dickson grabbing some great intercepts, the Southern side’s missed shots really cost it, as the Phys Ed circle defence did not let any rebounds get away, and Phys Ed went into the last break up 36-29.
The fourth stanza continued to be low-scoring, with the defensive ends really shining. Both wing defences snatched several intercepts to keep their sides in contention in the match.
As much as the defence ends were outstanding, so was the shooting combination of Sarah Boomer and Georgia Heffernan for Phys Ed.
Their shooter-to-shooter ball and shooting accuracy were great. Boomer missed only one goal for the match, finishing the game with 96% stats, while Heffernan shot a number of long shots and grabbed most rebounds at their end.
The full team effort from both sides created a great final, but it was Phys Ed who took it the full 60 minutes to seize the title.
In the other games of the day South Pacific Titans A took third spot after defeating Phys Ed B 62-48.
Phys Ed Blue got bragging rights over Markham’s College A 69-34 in the 5/6 playoff, and St Hilda’s Senior A got the win over University Albion A 51-48.
- Bridget Thayer
