A year of netball rivalry decided by a single goal

For an entire netball season, barely a hair’s breadth separated the country’s top two school sides, Howick College and Avondale College.
Avondale may have been the defending national champions, but Howick seemed to have a slight upper hand each time they met – whether it was the final of the Auckland champs, by three goals, or the final of the Upper North Island tournament, by just one.
So when the two schools met again on Friday, in the final of the New Zealand secondary schools champs in Christchurch, Howick somehow managed to keep their cool in the final moments – when they were down to six players on court – and steal a 35-34 win.
When Howick’s captain, goal defence Avah Sila, was sinbinned for dangerous contact with a smidge over two minutes left on the clock, and the scores locked at 33-all, it looked like Avondale could finally turn the tables on their archrivals.   
But Howick had learned from being in that situation before, Howick College head coach Adelita Sotutu said, and knew to hold the ball and hold their nerve. A tip from dogged wing defence Unuhia Crosby-Te Whare, collected by goal keep Eseta Waqaira, gave Howick the final break that sealed their victory.
Their celebration? “We’re going to the Margaret Mahy Playground, which they’ve been dying to go to, then to McDonalds,” Sotutu said. “I can’t take them to the pub with me.”
Auckland’s domination in schools’ netball was spelled out with the top four teams coming from New Zealand’s oldest and largest netball centre.  St Kentigern College wrapped up third place with a 39-29 victory over Westlake Girls’ High School.
Howick went through the national tournament this week unbeaten, decisively putting away Christchurch Girls’ High in the semifinal, 43-19.
Avondale, though, had suffered a shock one-goal loss to Westlake Girls’ on Thursday morning, but beat St Mary’s College 46-32 in the afternoon – to line up another final showdown with Howick.
Back in August, Howick made history winning the Auckland schools championship for the first time, then claimed the Upper North Island schools title for a second year in a row.
“We’ve got a core group from last year, and they did a lot of learning last season when they were quite young,” Sotutu says. “Our word this time was ‘together’ and they really did it together and had each other’s backs.
“We’ve got a good little netball programme at school that everyone wants to belong to. We’re always challenging, always evolving, trying to make the girls ready and stronger.”
After a tense start to their fourth encounter of the year, Howick made an early three-goal leap ahead with wing attack Skylah Tainui-Takerei and centre Charlie Lindsay providing quality ball to goal shoot Sierra Lau’ese. Avondale quickly closed the gap through some smart long shots from goal attack Sosina Malafu, deftly fed by Lillian Henare-Vaihu.
But a timely intercept from Waqaira helped Howick take a 10-8 lead at the first quarter.
Avondale – coached by former New Zealand U21 player Rachel Rasmussen – had the better of the second spell, as defenders Amarnie Harris and Grace Jarvie-Otufanagavalu rattled the Howick attack, and they claimed a narrow advantage. But again, Howick came back – following a Crosby-Te Whare intercept – to snatch the lead, 17-16, right on the halftime buzzer.
Avondale’s strong defence through court made it harder for Howick to get the ball into their shooting circle in the third quarter, but with Lau’ese dominating the shooting, Howick regained control, up 28-26 going into the final stanza.
Still, Avondale kept charging back, with goal shoot Priscilla Rasmussen standing strong under the hoop and centre Lillian Henare-Vaihi disrupting Howick’s midcourt attack. When Sila was sent off for two minutes, Avondale took a one-goal lead. But Howick remained calm, and through the determined defence of Crosby-Te Whare (a big-game player, who’s been in the side the past three years) took it back with just over a minute left in the game.
It was the second time in 24 years Howick had won the title – the first in 2017.
Four of the players on court in the final – Rasmussen and Henare-Vaihu for Avondale, and Sila and Lindsay for Howick – are in the New Zealand U21 squad working towards next year’s Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar. New Zealand is aiming for a third straight world youth title.
“Avah and Charlie are pretty phenomenal leaders in our team,” Sotutu says. “No one will be able to hold them back if they get selected for the World Cup. We’re just super proud of them.”