Fishing For Another Pearl
The way the Southland Pearls ripped through the Open zone four women’s bracket should have sent a strong warning to their opponents this weekend.
The Pearls were dominant in Invercargill last month on the way to the zone four title, the first step in their quest for back-to-back national championships at the Oreo Open and Wheelchair Basketball National Championships in Levin, starting Friday.
Southland cruised through five games, winning by an average 25.6 points per contest, including a 29-point win over neighbours Eastern Southland in the final, with 18 points being their closest winning margin.
With the return of 2007 Open women’s MVP Melinda Martin, captain Tracey MacDonald, Sarah Barnes, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickitt, Kat Manaina and coach Richard Dickel, Southland again shape-up as a favourite at nationals.
While Jenny Ferguson was unavailable and a torn anterior cruciate ligament ruled out last year’s tournament teamer Jo Thompson, Dickel has added three Dunedin-based players – Elise Cassidy, Gemma Curry and Danielle Culnan – to bolster his roster.
Southland open their title defence on Friday morning at 10am against wildcards Palmerston North, and will face confident zone three winners Wellington and zone two runners-up Rotorua in group A.
In the lead-up, Southland resorted to playing men’s club and high school teams in an effort to get competitive games and last weekend lost to an Otago team, which included Tall Fern Suzie Bates, by nine points.
“I think we’ll be tough,” an understated Dickel said. “We’ve got a couple of ex Otago players in. We’ll be good, we’ll be tidy.”
If Dickel seems evasive, it’s due to the nature of women’s basketball in New Zealand this season. With no national league, all women players were eligible for the Open tournaments, not just those below national league level.
“You do the rounds, you hear things but you never exactly know until you get there. Without a women’s national league this year, you don’t know who might show up to play.
“Western Bay of Plenty will be tough, they were last year, Wellington will be tough, Hutt Valley, and with Auckland out, it will be interesting.”
Unbeaten zone two winners Western Bay of Plenty head group B, with zone one winners Massey, zone three runners-up Hutt Valley and wildcards South Canterbury, who finished third in zone four but got an invite after Eastern Southland withdrew.
Wellington, a team which could challenge Southland, includes Shiana-Rose Harris, a member of the title-winning Wellington team and a tournament team pick at the Oreo Under-21 championships in March, along with national under-18 player Jasmine Davis and Turkish guard Sezen Mercan.
Ava Filipo, a tournament team selection in Tauranga last year, leads the Hutt Valley line-up that includes Margaret and Lisa Scott, and Chelsea and Courtney Stubbins. Palmerston North, who earned their place after Auckland withdrew last week, include two previous All-Star selections in Michelle Swain and Helen Richardson.
Women’s semifinals are set for 5.30pm and 7pm on Saturday, with the final at 1pm on Sunday.
Oreo Open and Wheelchair Basketball National Championships
Women
Group A
Southland Pearls
Wellington
Rotorua
Palmerston North
Group B
Massey
Western Bay of Plenty
Hutt Valley
South Canterbury
Oreo Open and Wheelchair National Championships Draw (631KB pdf)
