Canterbury and Tauranga will play in this evening’s Foot Locker U20 National final after progressing through the two semi-finals this morning.
Semi Final 1: Harbour 83-72 Tauranga
Harbour have survived a scare from Tauranga to book their ticket to this evening’s grand final.
Tauranga came out of the gates hot, applying pressure to Harbour who for the first time in the tournament looked a little panicked.
Charis Broughton orchestrating the offence for Tauranga in the early stages, as Tauranga raced out to an early lead.
Harbour finding some good looks in the early parts of the game, just failing to put the ball in the bucket. Junior Tall Fern, Imani Rasmussen, bucking that trend to have 10 for the North Shore squad at the quarter break.
It was about half way through the second quarter, where Tauranga would open up a mammoth 20-point lead, with Harbour staring down the barrel of their first defeat of the tournament.
The turn of the half was where the script would flip.
Harbour turning up the hob on defence, and finally stringing together some much needed baskets.
Katie Moors would put Harbour up for the first time in what felt like forever, off an offensive rebound that sent the Harbour bench into a frenzy.
Suddenly, it was Tauranga who struggled to put the ball through the net, and Harbour lead was steadily growing larger and larger with every possession.
Sienna Maurice turning things up for Harbour in the late stages of the game, finding some great open looks for her teammates whilst still being aggressive and looking for her own shot. Imani Rasmussen also getting going late for Harbour, as they held a steady ten point lead for the remainder of the game.
Unfortunately, Tauranga tiring and not able to keep up down the stretch, but an incredible effort from the ladies from the Bay.
Harbour 83 (Rasmussen 30p, Maurice 16p, Stowers 14p) defeat Tauranga 72 (Broughton 31p, Kahura 20p, Parahi 8p)
Semi Final 2: Canterbury 78 – 56 Waikato
Canterbury have a chance at the Foot Locker U20 double after their women’s team defeated Waikato in this morning’s semi-final.
The South Islanders asserted their dominance from the get go, getting out to an early 20-point lead and not really turning back throughout the course of the game.
Junior Tall Ferns Ava Jones and Emilia Ainley leading the way for the women in red,
It was a real team effort from this squad, led ably by Ainley with 24 and Jones with 14, with small contributions from the rest of the Canterbury squad.
Waikato fought valiantly throughout parts of the game, and the deficit never really getting a great deal past twenty.
The Waikato big three of Lily Ashton, Ngahirata Jennings-Haumaha and Keija Miringaorangi combining for 42 of Waikato’s 56 points in the semi-final.
Unfortunately for them, Canterbury’s fast start was their undoing today.
Canterbury 78 (Ainley 24p, Jones 14p, O.Powell 9p) defeat Waikato 56 (Ashton 16p, Jennings-Haumaha 14p, Miringaorangi 12p)
