17 & UNDER – North Gambier v Millicent
When a goal shooter converts 25 from 29 in the first quarter, chances are your team is in control and that was exactly the case when North Gambier’s Stella Mobbs stamped her authority on the 17 & Under 2nd semi final, leading the Tigers to a 16 goal quarter time lead.
The injury ravaged Saints had no answer to Mobbs heigh and positioning, the defensive pressure from the Tigers and the pinpoint delivery from Macey Griffith, Coco Mackereth and Cara Nulty – who launched some wonderful long range passes to Mobbs to help set the tone.
Things settled for Millicent in the second quarter with North only adding one goal to its lead.
Abby Denton stepped up her work rate and netted 12 from 15 as the hard running of Lillie Paul, the tenacious defensive efforts of Mackinlee Alcock, who was forced from the court late in the second quarter with an ankle injury, and Maya Tarrant and the accurate feeding of Jaime Lucas saw Millicent run goal for goal with North.
Errors were the name of the game from both sides in the third as North held onto a comfortable 17 goal lead at three quarter time.
It was back to one way traffic again in the last as Griffith combined with Sarah Brown in goals, upping her output with 10 from 13 to finish the match in style.
Lindner was also on song at the other end of the court for Millicent, presenting strongly.
In the end, the opening quarter and the disciplined performance from the Tigers booked their grand final spot, leaving the Saints to fight it out with Casterton Sandford in the preliminary final.
15 & UNDER A – Millicent v North Gambier
The Millicent Saints knew they had to get off to a good start against an improved North side and they did just that in what turned out to be a match-winning first quarter.
It was the Saints who looked settled and composed right from the first whistle, using their speed in attack to deliver the ball to Kalani Dunn who did not let their side down scoring 13 goals for the quarter.
Piper Paul and Mylee Lynch used their smarts and speed to set up scoring opportunities and at the other end, it was Mattie Fauchelle and Emily Denton who shut down the delivery to the North goalies and the Saints went into the quarter-time break with an 11-goal margin.
North settled in the second with hard running from Maggies Collins and Georgis Nulty in the midcourt and Elodie Adams found space in the goal circle finishing well.
The third quarter went goal for goal as Bell Coghlan took over the midcourt getting vital touches in defence and using her speed across the court to set up Dunn under the post.
The last quarter was all the Saints as Mis Gysbers read the play taking timely intercepts and transitioned the ball well with Fauchelle downcourt.
It was Paul who then took control of the attack line setting the play and using her smarts to deliver the ball safely to Lynch & Dunn.
In what was a total team effort the Saints have advanced into the grand final.
Best for the Saints Dunn was superb under the post with a stunning shooting display and Coghlan ran hard all day in defence and attack.
For North, Collins did the bulk of the attacking across the court and was well supported by Nulty.
15 & UNDER B – Millicent v North Gambier
With close encounters all season, this match loomed to be no different and it lived up to the expectations as the match went goal for goal before the Saints went on a scoring spree in the dying minutes to win and advance into the season decider.
The Saints started strongly, scoring for the first 7 goals before the Tigers responded.
Tahnee Grosser led the Saints attack line, setting the play and finishing accurately.
At the other end, Jeda Hibberd’s tight pressure caused turnovers, and her battle with Claire Mitchell was a highlight with Mitchell finishing well late in the quarter to help her side to be one down at the first break.
North responded well and tightened up their defensive pressure with Penny Coleman and Isabella Stafford combining well to limit Grosser’s scoring opportunities.
The Saints, WD Lexi Nicholls used her reach over the ball to get some vital touches, but it was North which won the quarter and took a 2-goal lead at the main break.
The third quarter again went goal for goal as both sides were patient with the ball.
Eva Crowe and Hibberd tightened up in the circle with Crowe reading the ball and taking some clean intercepts to help her side win the quarter by two and the scores were all locked up at 20 all at the last change.
The final quarter started tightly before the Saints took control.
Lainie Rainsford used her speed in attack, finding Emily Walker on the base and she fed Grosser well who did not let her side down scoring 9 for the quarter.
Hibberd continued to dominate in defence and help her side into the Grand Final.
Best Players for the Saints were Hibberd and Gysbers and for North Coleman and Griffith.
13 & UNDER A – Millicent v North Gambier
Millicent has advanced to the 13 & under A grand final with an emphatic win over North Gambier in a match where the Saints generated plenty of scoring opportunities and their goalies converted accurately to ensure scoreboard dominance.
It was a seven goal margin at quarter time but the Tigers did settle into their work in the second to see a 10 goal half time advantage to the Saints.
The third quarter put the result beyond doubt as Millicent doubled their lead and at the final whistle, after the Tigers had again found more consistency in their game, the margin was 24.
Amarlie Thomson was outstanding in goals, netting 42 from 46, including an impressive 11 straight in the second quarter.
That being said, North keeper Amelie Adam did win the ball back on a number of occasions but the weight of supply eventually told.
Lucy Crowe was also one of the Saints who influenced the match – first in centre where she dominated on the drive and then at goal defence, where she took a number of interceptions and strong rebounds, as well as still being important in transition.
North centre Jenna Baron ran hard all day, while Mackenzie Harrold hassled her opponent and got her hands to balls all match but in the end the composure of Olive Thorne in her delivery ensured the Saint goalers had plenty of opportunities to score.
North now needs to regroup to take on West Gambier in this weekend’s preliminary final.
13 & UNDER B – Casterton Sandford v East Gambier After a tightly contested game for three quarters, in the end it was the favourites, Casterton Sandford taking a comfortable 20-goal win and advancing into the Grand Final.
Both sides started nervously, making errors all over the court, any missed shots were rebounded strongly at each end of the court.
Casterton’s GA, Adele Murphy set the play and helped her side go 3 goals up into the first break.
Casterton Sandford started strongly in the second as they applied full-court defensive pressure, with Marlee Robbins and Ylana Grigg driving the ball out of defence with speed they were able to score more freely and take a 9-goal lead at the main break.
Both sides made changes at the break and the match went goal for goal for most of the quarter as East started finding connections as Sailor McCracken used her speed through the midcourt to find Isabelle Cook.
The Cats held a match-winning 11-goal lead at the final change which they extended in a dominant last quarter to take a 20-goal win.
For the Cats, Murphy and Grigg had dominant performances and East was best served by Tilly Olsen and Sailor McCracken.
