Round 4 had a little bit of everything, with the season’s first overtime contest, a buzzer-beating game-winner in Christchurch and the Northern Kāhu continuing their unbeaten charge at the top of the ladder. There was another milestone reached as the Rapid League record books continued to be rewritten. Mike Lacey takes you through all that and more in this week’s Rapid Wrap.
Teenage guns Nahala Toeleiu and Shamar Broughton top-scored for their respective sides with 11 points apiece, but it was the performance of Carla Pitman (9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists) that carried Tauranga Whai to a 32-29 win against Tokomanawa Queens in the Rapid season's first overtime game in Porirua.
Trailing 23-21 at three-quarter time, a Pitman three gave the Whai the lead before her assist set up Shamar Broughton for a layup.
The Queens did well to overturn a four-point deficit to force overtime, with a Toeleiu And-1 play and an Alaska Rhebok free throw sending the game into the one-minute extra period.
A neat step-through move put Whai back in front, with an Eva Langton free throw sealing the win.
Earlier, Jade Kirisome, playing against her former club, contributed five points as the Queens built a 22-16 lead during the third quarter before Pitman made the first of her two triples and took control through the closing minutes.
Tokomanawa Queens 29 – Nahala Toeleiu 11pts, Hana Lacey-Rameka 7pts, Jade Kirisome 5pts
Tauranga Whai 32 – Shamar Broughton 11pts, Carla Pitman 9pts, 5rebs & 4asts, Eva Langton 5pts & 3stls, Emilee Tahata 1pt & 7rebs
Ruby Cutbush hit the buzzer-beating game-winner to enable Yellow I Glass Mainland Pouākai to clinch a 24-23 win against Southern Hoiho at Parakiore Stadium in Christchurch.
The Marian College guard made an arching three as time expired to snatch victory from the Hoiho, who appeared well placed when leading 23-19 with 90 seconds to play.
Emilia Ainley had reduced the margin to two points, but the Pouākai effort seemed to have fizzled out until Cutbush struck from deep with time expiring.
After the scores were locked at 13 points apiece at half-time, a Casey Paea triple and a Millie Simpson steal and layup put Hoiho ahead 20-17 with a quarter to play.
Ava Jones made the first score of the fourth, but Simpson and Zoe Richards struck back to give the Hoiho a four-point advantage, one that proved to be not quite enough.
Yellow I Glass Mainland Pouākai 24 – Ruby Cutbush 9pts & 5rebs, Emilia Ainley 6pts & 6rebs, Maddy Timms 4pts
Southern Hoiho 23 – Casey Paea 7pts, Zoe Richards 6pts & 4rebs, Alexa Duff 5pts
The first Rapid League game played at Trusts Arena in Henderson went the way of the league leaders as Northern Kāhu beat Tauranga Whai 35-28 to take their fifth straight win to start the season.
Kāhu were paced by Azure Anderson, with the Rapid League’s all-time leading scorer powering the offence to tally 13 points on the afternoon.
Whai had the better of the opening stages before Kāhu produced a 17-point blitz in the second quarter. Anderson had 10 of those points and, with Emily Monaghan in support, the hosts led 21-11 at half-time.
Eva Langton returned after taking an injury early in the contest to knock down a couple of trademark threes, but a pair of buckets from Sienna Maurice stifled the Whai revival and wrapped up a fifth straight win for Kāhu.
Northern Kāhu 35 – Azure Anderson 13pts, Emily Monaghan 9pts, Sienna Maurice 8pts, Shanique Lucas 3pts, 4rebs & 4stls
Tauranga Whai 28 – Eva Langton 8pts, Ash Strawbridge 7pts & 2blks, Shamar Broughton 6pts & 6rebs
Eva Langton, with eight points against Kāhu, became the second player after Azure Anderson to reach 200 career Rapid League points.
In the same game, she also became the first player to play 40 Rapid League games. Rapid League Round 4
| osition | Team | GP | W | L | %won | For | Agst | Points % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Northern Kāhu | 5 | 5 | 0 | 100 | 191 | 117 | 163 |
| 2 |  |
Mainland Pouākai | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60 | 135 | 145 | 93 |
| 3 |  |
Tauranga Whai | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 145 | 161 | 90 |
| 4 |  |
Tokomanawa Queens | 4 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 109 | 115 | 94 |
| 5 |  |
Southern Hoiho | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 122 | 164 | 74 |
