Rata comfortably beat Mossburn 47-27.
Kendall McMinn and Laura Overton turned over a lot of ball on defence for Rata, while Julie Crawford and Hayley Croft fed accurately to the shooters.
Holly Munro, Grace Earland and Amy McKenzie all impressed at the shooting end.
Mossburn coach Lynne Stevenson said it was a strong defensive effort by both teams, with Rata making better use of turnover ball.
Mossburn's defenders, Abby Erwood and Nicole Sharp, combined well, and Courtney Hume was nuggety at wing defence.
Winton beat Gore St Mary's 57-39 in an error-ridden game. Both sides lacked accuracy through the court, and turnovers were a constant.
Winton's highlight was its shooters' accuracy at goal.
This was the Gore team's fourth loss in a row.
Gore Ex-High was far too strong for Southland Girls' High School, winning 55-25.
Ex-High started strongly by gaining multiple turnovers, including some outstanding interceptions from Ashleigh Smith and Krishanee Tamou. Emma Millard and Francis Qasevakatini also combined well in the goal circle in the first half.
Leading 30-9, Ex-High made personnel changes throughout the remainder of the match.
Ex-High coach Colleen Bond was pleased with how her team continued its momentum despite the changes.
The final quarter was SGHS's best - it drew the period 11-11.
Invercargill St Mary's convincingly beat Central Southland College (CSC) 65-25.
St Mary's was especially dominant in the third quarter, timing moves well through court and making clinical fakes and feeds in to their shooters.
The CSC shooting was tidy and its midcourt worked hard and delivered some lovely long feeds into the circle.
Results.-
Round 4 in Gore, Thursday: Rata 47, Mossburn 27; Invercargill St Mary's 65, CSC 25; Gore Ex High 55, SGHS 25; Winton 57, Gore St Mary's 39.
-By John Langford
