Greatest winning margin – tick. Biggest total score – tick. Highest scoring quarter – tick. An individual shooting barrage that delivered 11 triples – tick.
Such was the Sunday afternoon performance of the Whai as they mastered a 99-69 victory over a shell-shocked Mainland Pouakai, celebrating their third win of the inaugural Tauihi season.
The first half was somewhat of an arm-wrestle with little separating the teams at the half (32-36), but that all changed in the third period when the Whai dropped 41 points to blow the game open.
Shooting at 46% beyond the arc, from where they celebrated a 19-of-41 clip, the visitors never took their foot off the pedal in an all-round performance that put the competition on notice.
The star of the show was Tiarna Clarke – her game-high 34 points included an amazing 11 triples and an instant shooting record that will likely stand for quite some time.
Clarke’s barrage of treys broke the game open and by the time she had netted her final points the win was safely in her team’s hands.
Kyra Lambert (22pts, 12ast) and Nikki Greene (17pts, 14rbs) joined Clarke as an unstoppable trio, while Matangiroa Flavell stepped in for her first game to replace an injured Dominique McBryde and also made an instant impact.
For the Pouakai, both Erin Whalen (20pts) and Trinity Baptiste (20pts, 13rbs) did their bit, but overall the home team just couldn’t find their defensive hustle when it mattered most.
The win pushed the Whai up the Tauihi ladder with three wins, levelling with the Pouakai.
SCORE: Pouākai 69, Whai 99
Pouakai: Baptiste 20 PTS, 13 REB | Whalen 20 PTS
Whai: Clarke 34 PTS, 11 TREYS | Lambert 22 PTS, 12 AST | Greene 17 PTS, 14 REB
Full box score HERE.
Stuff MVP Votes
Kyra Lambert (Whai) - 9 votes
Tiarna Clarke (Whai) - 8 votes
Nikki Greene (Whai) - 6 votes
Tsubasa Nisbet (Pouākai) - 3 votes
Trinity Baptiste (Pouākai) - 2 votes
Erin Whalen (Pouākai) - 1 vote
Matangiroa Flavell (Whai) - 1 vote
Upcoming Opponents
Pouākai – July 23 vs. Kāhu
Whai – July 19 @ Kāhu
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Round 3 Tauihi Schedule
