A MASSIVE 41 points to 13 second half – mostly emphasised by a 29-5 third term – has seen the Whai record their second straight win in the Tauihi Basketball Aoetearoa. The Round 2 fixture last night saw the Whai come from behind at the first two breaks to post a 27-point victory over the Southern Hoiho, who slipped to a 0-3 start in the 2022 season.

SOUTHERN HOIHO 13 | 12 | 5 | 8 (38)
WHAI 11 | 13 | 29 | 12 (65)

Southern Hoiho started off the game relatively strong trying to grab their first win of the season. The teams traded blows for the first term, before the home team built some momentum into the second quarter and lead by as much as eight points at one stage in what appeared to be a low-scoring game. Hoiho held the lead for the majority of the first half, but had seemingly thrown everything they could at the Whai, and only had a one-point advantage (25-24) at the main break.

Then along came the third term. The Whai scored the first eight points of the quarter as Sharne Robati, Esra McGoldrick and Kyra Lambert were cooking. Southern Hoiho worked their way back to five points with Zoe Richards (three) and Laina Snyder (two) to trail by five with 5:39 on the clock and the score 30-35. From that point though, the Whai scored the last 18 points of the term, as Robati (six) and Lambert (nine) were the key catalysts for the performance. It silenced the home crowd as the Whai raced out to a 23-point three quarter time buffer.

With the first basket of the final term through McGoldrick, the Whai made it 25 points from a 20-point hot streak. Eventually Snyder would put in one of two free throws to break a nine-minute 12-second scoring drought. The damage for the match was done though, as the Hoiho held firm to again win the final term, this time in a nail-biter to secure the 65-38 victory. The winners dominated all the key statistics, shooting at 38 per cent compared to Hoiho’s 22 per cent – though neither was able to penetrate from long-range – whilst having comfortably more rebound (53-42), assists (15-9), blocks (5-0) and points in the paint (40-20).

Lambert finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in an almost triple-double performance, leading the way alongside Robati, whose 16 points and seven rebounds came in just 21 minutes. Sheniqua Greene (11 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, three blocks and two assists) helped herself to a double-double, while Jelena Vucinic picked up 11 points from 13 minutes off the bench. No one scored double-digits for the Hoiho, with Shelby Cheslek (nine points, six rebounds and two assists ) and Snyder (seven points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists) the best in a disappointing loss for the home team.

Southern Hoiho next play Tokomanawa Queens tomorrow on the road, while the Whai also hit the road to face Northern Kahu on Wednesday, July 13 to close our Round 2.