It was heartbreak at home as the Southern Hoiho found a burst of late-game momentum to beat the Mainland Pouākai 78-69.
POUĀKAI – 69
Forbes – 17 pts, 10 reb, 6 ast
McGoldrick – 15 pts, 5 rbs, 2 blk
Reinoehl – 13 pts, 10 rbs, 3 ast
HOIHO – 78
Bradley – 17 pts, 4 rbs, 6 ast
Bowman – 14 pts, 13 rbs, 4 ast
Chou – 12 pts, 4 stl, 2 blk
Mikhaela Cann got the afternoon underway in Cowles Stadium by beating the hard show defence and banking in a floater.
Her backcourt mate McKenzie Forbes also got off to a quick start, unphased by the contest on a corner three.
Paige Bradley – the offensive engine of the Hoiho – operated effectively in the PnR, snaking a ball screen and finding Samantha Bowman en route to the rim.
New addition Abby Cubillo checked in and scored her first points as a Pouākai, wiggling her way down the lane for a crafty bucket.
Cann and Forbes doubled-down on their connection, with Cann rejecting a screen and finding a wide open Forbes for her second triple of the ball game.
While the Hoiho were 0/8 from deep in the opening quarter, they were winning on the offensive boards. Sammy Gallaher came flying in from the weakside corner for an offensive putback to close the first.
Diving into her bag of tricks in her home debut, Cubillo left Bradley in the dust with a deceptive behind-the-back dribble, taking the contact at the rim and getting both free throws to drop.
A one-dribble pull-up from Natalie Chou brought the Hoiho within 4 points at 26-22.
Forbes was in a zone as both a scorer and a facilitator, firing off a live-dribble bullet pass to Esra McGoldrick for a three-pointer.
She then followed that by finding Sharne Robati on the baseline, pushing the Pouākai lead to 15 points.
A series of baskets by Bradley and Chelsea D’Angelo gave the Hoiho some a boost in what was otherwise a quiet second quarter.
The Pouākai were up 43-35 on the Hoiho at half-time.
Reinoehl continued to find success on the interior, scoring on the roll to bring the pouākai to 50 points.
The threes were falling in bunches for Mainland, as McGoldrick landed another on the scoop pass delivery from Cann.
Bowman brought it back within single digits for the Hoiho with a left-handed post finish, and after a pair of defensive stops by Chou, it became a two possession game.
The third quarter ended with a bang as Sammy Gallaher cashed a quick trigger catch-and-shoot three to beat the buzzer and cut the Pouākai lead to just 1 point.
Some excellent team basketball for Mainland kickstarted the final stretch of the game. Cann pushed the ball to Cubillo in the corner, who threw a crosscourt pass to Forbes, driving baseline to re-find Cubillo, who swung it to Cann, driving and kicking to Reinoehl, who landed the running hook shot.
Bradley responded with some drive-and-dish action of her own, connecting with Bowman to give the Hoiho the lead at 65-64.
The Hoiho capitalised on their momentum as Ahlise Hurst dialled in from deep to bring their lead to 8 points with 2:23 remaining.
Stringing together a sequence of staunch defensive possessions, the Hoiho maintained their lead and won the game 78-69.
Next Sunday, the Mainland Pouākai host the Tokomonawa Queens at 3:00pm and look to bounce back with a win.