There was almost no doubting the outcome as Erin Whalen caught in the corner.
The Mainland Pouakai guard had shredded the Southern Hoiho defence right throughout the first half.
She was five-of-six from the three-point as she let the ball go.
Moments later that became six-of-seven, the ball plummeting through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
It was an exceptional display, and one that effectively took the game away from the Hoiho yesterday at the Edgar Centre.
The hosts trailed 40-26 at halftime and, despite a spir-
ited fourth-quarter comeback, went down 74-61.
Hoiho coach Natalie Visger said the team was well aware of Whalen’s shooting ability.
But the range of threats the Pouakai team had made it hard to cover everyone, and Whalen responded to the space afforded to her in a sensational manner.
"Obviously we know that — we talked about that," Visger said.
"You just can’t give her any space. And that’s the thing — she’s not the only scorer.
"They have [Trinity] Baptiste, they have multiple scorers, and she shot the ball well."
Centre Shelby Cheslek had her best game for the Hoiho.
The American was a threat in the post, both scoring and passing-wise, while also hitting from the high post to finish with 22 points, four assists and nine rebounds.
Nicole Ruske and Laina Snyder both had moments of quality too.
But ultimately the slow start cost the Hoiho, the visitors capitalising on offensive rebounds and turnovers, while landing shots from deep to shoot out to a 26-12 lead.
The Hoiho were competitive enough from there, but it was too much to pull back from.
"We just don’t score well enough to be down that much," Visger said.
"It’s too hard for us, that’s a bother. But I thought they stuck with it, we used different line-ups and did a pretty good job.
"But [the Pouakai have] got a lot better. They look like a team ready for the playoffs."
There were patches of quality from the Hoiho throughout the first half.
Ruske immediately brought intensity and scored four quick points when she was injected.
They looked good playing inside-out, too.
Cheslek passed well out of the post, before finding her own scoring touch in the second quarter.
But every time the Hoiho closed the gap, the Pouakai hit back.
Whalen’s shooting kept them ahead in the second quarter.
Whalen cooled off after halftime, but Tessa Boagni and Jallin Cherry began finding ways to keep the visitors’ score ticking over.
The Hoiho stayed in touch and forced a time-out on back-to-back three-pointers from Snyder and Ruske.
But they could not close the gap and went to the fourth quarter trailing 58-41.
Cheslek continued to threaten throughout the fourth quarter, helping close the gap.
Tori Dugan hit a three-pointer with three minutes left to bring the Hoiho back to within nine points.
However, the Pouakai answered when they needed to, holding off the comeback to secure the win.
The Hoiho now have a two-week break, before facing the Mid-North Whai in their final game on August 21.
Tauihi Basketball
The scores
Pouakai 74
Erin Whalen 22, Trinity Baptiste 18
Hoiho 61
Shelby Cheslek 22, Laina Snyder 13
Quarter scores: 26-12, 40-26, 58-41.
