Ajax rallied late to secure top spot heading into women’s club basketball’s final round.
The three-time defending champion went on a 12-2 run in the final minutes of its match against the South Pac Magic on Tuesday.
It was a defining period in a game in which the margin rarely grew above four.
Ajax took a 72-62 win over its arch-rival, moving to a 7-2 record for the season, one win ahead of a closely trailing Varsity.
Zoe Richards again showed her class and, at this point, must be all but a lock for the league’s most valuable player.
The forward had 31 points, including nine in the fourth quarter and seven late in the third, stepping up when someone needed to take over the game.
Natalie Ivamy had 11 points, while Emma Trolove added nine.
But this was very much the Richards show, as she regularly finished through contact and stepped out to hit two timely triples.
Millie Simpson was similarly dominant on the Magic side.
The league’s second-top scorer, trailing only Richards (21.8 points per game) with 19.9 points per game, poured in 27 for the Magic.
And for most of the game, little separated the teams.
The score was tied at 17-17 at the end of the first quarter, before Richards got to the line twice late in the second quarter, helping Ajax to a 37-33 halftime lead.
That became 49-48 at the end of the third quarter, as Richards hit a triple on the buzzer to give Ajax back the lead.
Ajax pulled out to 60-53 midway through the fourth quarter, but Simpson kept the Magic in the game.
She came off a screen and hit a pull-up jumper, before hitting a three-pointer to make it 60-58.
At that point, Ajax finally made its move.
Jane Hendry hit a floater, before Dre Whaanga crossed on to her right and finished well at the hoop.
A transition layup to Richards made it 66-58, giving Ajax the biggest lead of the game.
Georgia Te Au hit back with a basket, in her final game for the Magic before moving overseas, but Richards responded with a pick-and-pop three-pointer.
In the other game Legacy Harrison led Varsity with 22 points as it dismantled a very young Andy Bay Falcons 91-37.
