Wildcats Hold Off the Harbour Breeze

6 April 2013, Rotorua Energy Events Centre

Through the first half the wildcats had their defensive rebounding issues solved against the Breeze (only allowing 5 offensive rebounds, while collecting 17 defensive ones), whilst maintaining their stingy defence (only allowing Harbour to shoot 31%). Coupled with this, the Wildcats were shooting the ball much better than last night’s game. It seemed like the Wildcats were on the verge of blowing the Breeze out, but they allowed Harbour back into the game, in the second quarter by failing to capitalise on the free throws they were given (13/21 for 62%), and after starting off shooting 10/20 from the field , missed 8 of their next 11 shots. At the half, Hayley Gray was leading all scorers with 17 Points, and Tessa Boagni was well on her way to a Double-Double with both 7 Points and 7 Rebounds.

Causing some concern though  – Cecelia Zambrini, now relied on to run the team more from the point guard spot – picked up her third foul halfway through the second period. Coach Phil Burns elected to keep her in for the remainder of the quarter, and was rewarded for his faith as she entered the half without picking up a fourth foul, and helping the Wildcats to a 39-35 lead.

The Wildcats shooting didn’t improve in the second half, managing to connect on only 12 of their 39 shots, but as was the case in the first half, they were able to force Harbour to shoot just as badly (31% for the game), while only letting them get 13 offensive rebounds for the whole game. The speedy Chelsea Terei was able to get two of these offensive rebounds in the final two minutes – which lead directly to five points for the Breeze, who would have been struggling to keep contact were it not for those extra possessions. The Wildcats would hold on to win the game 80-74, by scoring the final six points of the game after being tied at 74-74 with only 30 seconds remaining.

Despite fouling out with less than a minute remaining, Hayley Gray led the Wildcats with 25 Points and 7 Rebounds, backed up capably by Tessa Boagni who did finish with a Double-Double of 19 and 12. Cecelia Zambrini, in the lead guard role, had 16 Points, and 6 Rebounds, while significantly reducing her turnovers from the previous night’s game (only giving the ball away three times).

For North Harbour, NZ age group representative, Brooke Blair finished with 32 points (off only 18 shot attempts), while another NZ representative, Rebecca Van Kuyk, added 13 points and rebounds. Despite these two players scoring well, Harbour couldn’t overcome the Wildcats’ defence, with the rest of the team only managing to shoot 9/50.

Assistant Coach Pina Lissaman adds “Nikki Kettle did an impeccable job for us, coming off the bench and hounding Anna Lacey into one the worst displays of shooting I’ve ever seen from her – holding her to only 3/15! We still have some room to grow as a team, so hopefully will improve some more when we play the Lady Volunteers tonight.”

Full stats of the Wildcats win can be seen by clicking here.

The win raises the Wildcats’ record to 1-1, and they face the 1-1 Rotorua Lady Vols on their home-court at 7pm tonight – follow the action here.