At their home opener in front of a passionate Ōtautahi crowd, the Mainland Pouākai defeated the Northern Kāhu 88-79.
The heated early season matchup was one for the history books, as it saw both the Pouākai knock off the Kāhu for the first time in franchise history and IImar’I Thomas score a tied league record of 37 points.
POUĀKAI – 88
Cann – 26 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
McGoldrick – 15 pts, 10 rbs, 4 ast
Forbes – 13 pts, 8 ast, 3 3pt
KĀHU – 79
Thomas – 37 pts, 8 reb, 4 stl
Tupaea – 18 pts, 3 rbs, 4 3pt
Leger-Walker – 6 pts, 4 rbs, 4 ast
19/10/24 BOX SCORE
McKenzie Forbes got the show underway for the Pouākai, reading IImar’I Thomas’ hard show and tossing it to a rolling Haliegh Reinoehl down the middle of the floor for two points.
Despite Esra McGoldrick’s imposing length, Chevannah Paalvast was able to get the hoop and the harm to open the Kāhu’s account for the night.
Starting in the place of injured Cassandra Brown, Sharne Robati played with confidence and got a pick-and-pop three to fall off the feed from Forbes.
The Kāhu adjusted to the Pouākai’s zone defence by swinging the ball to the corner and finding Thomas open under the basket for her first field goal.
Robati and Tahlia Tupaea traded catch-and-shoot looks from deep. Robati notched 10 points in the first quarter.
Ashlee Strawbridge checked in for Mainland and immediately made her mark, collecting a high-flying o-board and landing a hook shot.
While it was Krystal Leger-Walker who kicked off the 2Q with a corner triple, the second quarter was all about Mikhaela Cann and the Pouākai.
Cann launched her scoring surge by cutting to the basket and slinging a high-reaching reverse layup of the glass. She followed it up with an offensive putback and a tightly contested corner three directly in front of the amped Pouākai bench.
Tupaea and Penina Davidson found some momentum playing in the pick-and-roll as Davidson finished with her left hand at the basket.
Continuing to score in punches, Cann knocked down a pair of three-pointers, raising her first half scoring total to 20 points.
Bringing showtime basketball to Ōtautahi, Forbes knocked down a couple triples of her own and threw a flashy behind-the-back bounce pass to Cann for the lay-in.
Entering half-time, the Pouākai held a 46-38 lead over the Kāhu.
Paalvast was quick to score after the break, getting the shooter’s roll on a mid-range pull-up.
McGoldrick however pushed the lead back out to 16 points with a controlled eurostep around Leger-Walker.
With 5 minutes left in the third quarter, Thomas started to heat up and do her damage downlow. Her 11 points in 3Q was only a sign of things to come heading into the final stretch of the game.
The fourth quarter opened with a bang as Reinoehl popped for her 2nd triple of the night.
Thomas responded with a pick-and-pop trey of her own, a not-so common sight for the post savant.
After a defensive stop from Thomas, the ball found its way to Tupaea who knocked down the jumper to cut the Pouākai lead to just 3.
With mere minutes remaining, Cann stepped up and scooped in a difficult layup to keep the Pouākai ahead.
Once again, the Kāhu went to Thomas who hit a turnaround hook shot from well outside of the paint.
McGoldrick extended it back to a two possession game, attacking a closeout and converting on the and-one opportunity.
With a league record in her sights, Thomas did the exact same down the other end, bringing her total to a tied Tauihi best of 37 points.
Spotting up in the corner, a three-pointer from McGoldrick kept the Kāhu at bay as the Pouākai went on to win the game 88-79.
The Pouākai and Kāhu will face off again in Auckland Oct. 25th, and the Pouākai will fly home to face the Southern Hoiho in Christchurch Oct. 27th.
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