Up and at school by 7:30 on Sunday, August 13th, the Senior A Netball team were firing and ready to go for an eventful day in Alexandra for the Barbara Bell Annual Netball Tournament.
After a team van ride, we arrived in Alexandra, and the first game saw us facing off against our Catholic schools rival, Verdon. We started strong and came away with the win, 19 – 13.
Moving on to the next game in our pool, the whistle blew, and we were playing Menzies. Here, we achieved another convincing win, 15 – 9.
Soon, with the quick turnaround times, it was time to play the last pool game against Dunstan who came onto the court firing. It was a tough battle and at half time, we were down by 3 goals. In the second half it was neck and neck with both sides fighting for possession, but we put our bodies on the line to just inch ahead of them before the final whistle, winning 12 – 11. In winning these three games we achieved first in our pool which meant we were moving on to the semi-finals.
To kick off the next round of competition, St. Peter’s then came up against a very strong Waitaki Girls team, and although we were neck and neck up to half-time, Waitaki managed to steadily pull away with the win (they later went on to win the finals achieving first place).
This meant that we had to go up against Cromwell College to play off for third and fourth place. Our final.
Nerves were high, but spirits were higher as we took the court for what we knew would be the last time for the day. After a quick team cheer of “no regerts”, we were into it, a clean but physically demanding game. St. Peter’s came in for half time down a couple of goals and we knew we had to fight if we wanted to come away with the bronze medal. Goal for goal, minute after minute, and in the last 30 seconds St. Peter’s scored to bring the score to 12 all. Because it was a final game and there had to be a winner, the rules stated over-time was needed, and it would be the first team to be two goals ahead of the other. Both teams cheering and shouting with their team to hype one another up for the last stretch; they scored, we scored, we scored again. The only thought in our minds as the ball was headed down towards their goal was, we had to turn this ball over. Is it a bird, is it a plane, no its Addi McHaffie soaring through the air to get the intercept, then firing it down the court to get it to our shooters. With a final flick, “swish”, the ball was in, we were two goals up, taking the game 15 – 13. At the end of the day, we were hungrier for the win and the bronze medal. We hoisted Addi up and the cheering was deafening!
St. Peter’s placed 3rd out of 16 teams, bringing the highly successful day to an end. We are set to head to South Island Secondary Schools Netball Tournament in Invercargill on August 27th, and this Barbara Bell Tournament was a great lead up to that.
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