Basketball New Zealand

Noni Wharemate (Dave Lintott)

You’d have a hard job convincing anyone around the Women’s Basketball Championship that former Tall Fern point guard Noni Wharemate is past her prime.

The NZ Force Harbour Breeze captain has not been part of the national team set-up since the Beijing Olympics two years ago, but continues to stamp her mark on the domestic game.

Her latest exploits have carried the Breeze to a hard-fought 62-47 victory over archrivals Oceania Otago Goldrush in the WBC second round final at Waitakere.

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, the titleholders looked dead in the water, until Wharemate (28) put them on her back and dragged them back into contention.

A pair of baskets broke a 17-3 Otago run as the Breeze edged back to 27-36 at halftime, then Wharemate scored seven straight points out of the break. Moments later, centre Karlene Kingi gave Harbour a lead they never lost.

“I basically told them to wake up,” said coach Angela Perrott-Hunt. “We had just lost our focus on defence.

“We had scouted them, and knew a lot of their plays were run through ball reversal and we had to deny that. They got a lot more looks than we would have liked.”

The Goldrush, sparked by double international Suzie Bates and forward Patrice McKenzie (14 points), had dominated the first half, but could not find the same cohesion in the face of a renewed Harbour effort.

Bates was scoreless in the second half, while McKenzie had just five points. They had indeed created more scoring chances than Harbour, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and attempting 17 more shots from the field, but simply could not capitalise (22% FG).

They were still within reach with four minutes remaining when McKenzie rimmed out a three-pointer that would have seen Otago close within two points. From the miss, Harbour guard Chelsea Terei finished a fast break with a three-point play that started a 12-0 roll.

Case closed.

Wharemate led all scorers with 22 points (9/14 FG, 4/4 FT), but that didn’t begin to measure her contribution to this win. Her sped and relentless pursuit of the ball left opponents floundering.

“She thinks she’s really unfit at the moment,” marveled Perrott-Hunt. “But she’s just a class act.

“She doesn’t know any other way but to compete at 100% the whole time, whether it’s diving on loose balls or talking to the girls. She’s a fantastic leader.”

Terei compiled a double/double of 12 points/11 rebounds, along with four steals, three assists and a block. For the Rush, McKenzie finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four steals.

Harbour now enter the finals weekend in Dunedin next month with an unblemished record, but mindful that Bates, who only returned 24 hours previously from the NZ cricket team’s tour of England, will be much better and Otago will enjoy home advantage.

Meanwhile, Palmerston North Storm were the unlucky losers in a scramble for spots in the five-team championship division of the WBC finale on August 19-21.

A 58-65 loss to Taranaki Trojans for fifth/sixth placings this weekend saw them also fall behind NZ Force Academy (third) and Waikato Wizards (fourth). Academy edged the wily Wizards 58-55 in their playoff.

Women’s Basketball Championship

Round Two

Waitakere

Saturday, July 24
9am
Seventh/eighth
Hutt Valley Flyers 56 (Jess Slade 20, Ava Filipo 12, Margaret Scott 10) NZ Force Cougars 61 (Rhaiah Spooner-Knight 27)

Ninth/10th
MAGS 66 (Ashleigh Kelman-Poto 13, Morgan Roberts 12, Luiza Roberts 11) Te Wanango O Aotearoa 63 (Sandra Renata 21, Kendal Young 14)

11am
Third/fourth
Waikato Wizards 55 (Natasha Lenden 25, Aimee Firmin 14) NZ Force Women’s Academy 58 (Milika Nathan 12, Chevannah Paalvast 11)

Fifth/sixth
Taranaki Trojans 65 (Georgie Richards 16, Jelena Vucinic 14, Terai Sadler 10) Palmerston North Storm 58 (Natalie Moore 18, Jordan Hunter 15)

1pm
Final
NZ Force Harbour Breeze 62 (Noni Wharemate 22, Chelsea Terei 12) Oceania Otago Goldrush 47 (Patrice McKenzie 19)