Result: Northern Group Tauranga Whai (81) defeat BNZ Northern Kāhu (60)
It would be a game of runs to tip of the 2026 G.J. Gardner Homes Tauihi season. It'd be the Whai early as they'd take a lead late in the first off the back of Emme Shearer and Nici Gilday dropping 3's to give the home side a 19-11 lead. The Kāhu would come back in after the break and eat into the deficit with a couple of stops to go along with some buckets of their own. But the Whai would extend their lead to end out the quarter. It would be a common theme throughout the game. The Kāhu would eat into their deficit to start the quarter but the Whai would close out the same quarter with a run of their own to extend their lead. It'd be a close matchup midway through the 4th quarter, but the star of the match would turn up. It truly was the Shearer Show as Emme would take over the game doing everything. The
Leading Players:
Northern Group Tauranga Whai: Emme Shearer (25p, 2r, 6a, 2s, 2b, 5 3PM), Carla Pitman (17p, 7r, 5a), Nici Gilday (12p)
BNZ Northern Kāhu: Erin Bollman (18p, 7r, 4a, 2b), Talya Brugler (11p, 7r, 3a, 2s), Tayla Dalton (9p, 2r, 4a, 2s)
G.J Gardner Homes Tauihi Box Score
MVP Votes:
Emme Shearer (Whai) - 10
Erin Bollman (Kahu) - 7
Laina Snyder (Whai) - 5
Carla Pitman (Whai) - 4
Talya Brugler (Kahu) - 3
Nici Gilday (Whai) - 1
Rapid League game:
Result: Northern Group Tauranga Whai (18) are defeated by BNZ Northern Kāhu (18)
To start the match off, it's be the Kāhu taking the early lead. Some rust was to be expected from the two sides, but the visitors came into Tauranga determined. They'd take a 5 point lead at the end of the third. The lead would only continue to build as the Kāhu's defence would prevail. They'd hold the Whai to only 3 points while putting up 9 points of their own. From there, the Kāhu would pick the Whai clean, taking 11 steals and disrupting their offence. It's be a dominant victory for the
Leading Players:
Northern Group Tauranga Whai: Shamar Broughton (6p, 5r, 2s), Emilee Tahata (3p, 4r)
BNZ Northern Kāhu: Kayla Manuiriranga (10p, 4r, 3a, 1s), Shanique Lucas (7p, 2r, 2s), Sienna Maurice (6p, 2r, 4s)
Rapid League MVP Votes:
Kayla Manuirirangi (Kahu) - 10
Shanique Lucas (Kahu) - 6
Shamar Broughton (Whai) - 6
Azure Anderson (Kahu) - 4
Eva Langton (Kahu) - 2
Ella Fotu (Kahu) - 1
Carla Pitman (Whai) - 1
