But it was St Hilda’s Collegiate who came away victorious this time with a 30-24 win against Columba College at the Otago secondary schools tournament at the Edgar Centre yesterday.
It was a clutch performance from St Hilda’s, who went through the two-day tournament unbeaten to win the senior A title.
Columba have held the title in the past couple of seasons, and while they pulled the scoreline back to be within three at one point, they were unable to break through.
The two schools — who will meet each other again on Saturday in their premier 2 Dunedin club netball clash — have had some fierce battles through the years.
St Hilda’s jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the first quarter and held a 12-6 lead at the first break.
They extended their lead to as much as nine during the second quarter, but Columba came back to trail 17-12 at halftime.
The lead stayed with St Hilda’s, but Columba went to work and closed the gap to trail 21-18 at the third quarter.
But St Hilda’s put their foot down in the final quarter to cement the win.
Charlee Farquhar was dominant under the post for St Hilda’s, slotting 19 goals, as was Ella Colquhoun for Columba who matched her counterpart with 19 goals of her own.
St Hilda’s senior B also beat Columba senior B 24-9 to claim the senior B title, and Blue Mountain College won division two of A grade.
Columba also walked away with some silverware.
They beat Mount Aspiring 40-10 to win the year 10 division, and also beat the Wanaka school 26-13 to win the year 9 division.
