St Peter’s netball champions, from left, standing: Dale Burden (Principal), Te Aroha Keenan (co-coach), Sade Kaipara-Morrison, Atlanta Bruce, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Sophie Waddell, Jorja Metcalfe, Lucy Sidwell, Annalies Kalma and Jenny O’Leary (manager). Kneeling: Waiata Jennings, Katie Te Ao, Kataraina Ormsby, Alana Paewai, Ella Bradley and Ange Russek (co-coach).
St Peter’s School students secured two national titles over the school holidays, the premier girls netball team winning the NZ Secondary Schools Netball Champs, and the girls basketball team winning the Secondary Schools National Basketball Championships for the fourth time in five years.
The basketballers won with a 78-66 victory against Hamilton Girls’ High School in the final in Palmerston North.
It comes after the team travelled to Greece in April to finish fifth in the world ISF World Champs – losing only one game to Greece in the final quarter.
From then on, the team has been unbeaten, playing a visiting Japanese Under-16 National team, winning the Waikato Secondary Schools Competition, Zone 2 Regional Tournament and now the national title.
Coach Leanne Walker’s daughter and team captain Charlisse, who has played in the team for the past five years, and was named Most Valuable Player at the tournament.
The St Peter’s premier girls basketball team, from left, Alana Paewai, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Waiata Jennings, Grace McGirr, Ella Bradley, Jayze Waihi, Toha Kemp, Ahi Williams, Dominque Stephens, Lyric Vaetoe, Emma Baker, Kaylah Waihi and Leanne Walker (Coach).
The netball team, captained by Kataraina Ormsby, secured the NZ secondary schools netball title last week in what was their first attempt at the tournament, after toppling tournament favourites Saint Kentigern College 35-31 in the final at Saxton Stadium in Nelson.
Ormsby said it was an “indescribable” feeling to have won the national schools crown. “We were just happy to come here and show the rest of New Zealand what we could do,” she said. “Making history for our school… I’m speechless and just so proud of the girls.”
The scores were locked at 26-26 with just under eight minutes to play but it was the calm heads of St Peter’s and patience with ball in hand that saw the underdogs pull away to lead by three with the clock counting down.
