THE GLEN Innes High school opens netball team dodged, faked, passed, and physically outplayed Tamworth to win the semi-final of the North West knockout competition 40 to 35 recently.
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The team consists of students from year 9 to year 12 and will now face off against the winner of Coonabarabran and Gunnedah high schools in the North West final to be played early next term
The semi-final was held in Tamworth after they were successful in winning their own gala day.
Coach Kirstie Fuller said Glen Innes started the game strongly and were up five to nil before Tamworth switched on and stepped up physically in defence to slow down play.
“The end of the first quarter was 10 to 7 with Glen Innes in the lead and the second quarter was again a close match up, “she said.
“They made a shift in the defensive circle which proved a good one with a closer height matchup between our tall target Liz Chard and their GK that gave us a bit of a headache.
“It took a while for us to adjust to this and change our game plan.”
The half time score was 18 all, with Tamworth showing some quality shooting skills.
Miss Fuller said the third quarter Glen Innes made some strategic shifts that paid off well and added some energy and intensity to the game.
“We accelerated ahead and kept the lead for the whole quarter, and we had some outstanding intercepts from our defensive end of Emily Burton and Eleanor Malone,” she said.
“The third quarter break saw us with a lead of three points.”
The last quarter proved to be a ding dong struggle with both teams throwing everything they had at each other.
“The last quarter while a close contest saw us keep most of centre pass and majority of the possession, we took the lead out to 6 and they came back for a few minutes to come within three goals,” Miss Fuller said.
“We took the lead in the final five minutes and we were able to maintain it with some excellent shooting from Elizabeth Chard and Ebony Gallagher.
“The whole team played very well throughout the whole tournament and that got us to the semi, but special mention should be made of Taya Heagney our captain and only year 12 student, whose feeds in to the circle, talk on the court, and steadiness in moments of pressure were of the highest standard.”
The team Glen Innes High School team includes; Taya Heagney, Liz Chard, Ruby Beatty, Eleanor Malone, Emily Burton, Summa Carpenter, Charlie Smith, Rachel Kiehne, Ebony Gallagher, Jess de Jong, and Siddella Donnelly
