LG Mystics top 4 hopes dashed

Monday, 14 June 2010

A focused Southern Steel side have denied the LG Northern Mystics on all counts – a last win at home and a shot at the top four - with a 50-43 victory that has furthered the Southerners own chances of making the 2010 ANZ Championship play-offs.

In front of a sell-out crowd at the Trusts Stadium in Auckland, the LG Mystics were desperate for a win to keep their season alive, but as it transpired during the 60 minutes on court, little could be done to stop a storming Steel team in their fourth win on the trot.

The Steel were hellbent on shutting LG Mystics gun shooter Cathrine Latu out of the game, and they achieved their goal – restricting one of the competition’s top scorers to just 17 shots during the entire game.

"Sometimes we got a little too hesitant, but we hung in there and stuck to our game plan," Steel captain Megan Dehn said. "We waivered a little at times, but then we stepped up and brought it home. I’m really happy we’re continuing on into the finals hopefully."

The Steel sit in third place on the ladder and will finish the regular season with a trip to Sydney next Monday to face the unbeaten Swifts.

In tonight’s do-or-die game, both sides started fast, furious and relatively error free, scoring goal for goal until an uncharacteristic fumble by Latu allowed the Steel to capitalise on the first turnover.

It became obvious through the quarter that the pressure was more telling on the home side, who had slipped behind by five with four minutes left on the clock.

The Steel’s veteran keeper Leana de Bruin was quick on the rebound, and the midcourt zone applied by Wendy Frew, Erica Burgess and Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit was overwhelming.

At the end of the quarter the Steel had a 15-10 jump on the LG Mystics, but the home team bounced back immediately after the break to close the gap to two. Maria Tutaia was forced to take on the lion’s share of the shots, with Latu well covered by de Bruin, who had an eye trained on the intercept. So effective was the shutdown, Latu was constrained to just nine goals in the first half.

In an improved defensive effort, LG Mystics goal keep Althea Byfield waited patiently to seize her opportunities while wing defence Larissa Willcox spoiled a number of the Steel’s attacking plays.

Yet the Steel maintained their control of the game, dragging the difference out to five whenever the LG Mystics got within a couple, and led 26-22 at halftime.

Disappointed in her sides’ failure to protect their possession, LG Mystics coach Te Aroha Keenan rang the changes for the start of the third spell – introducing the experience of Jenny-May Coffin and the youthful exuberance of Kayla Cullen at goal defence.

The Steel were urged by coach Robyn Broughton to maintain their own game at their own speed, and complied by stretching out to seven early in the quarter.

The shooting combination of Daneka Wipiiti and Megan Dehn was at its clinical best, shooting confidently in the high 80 percentage range, well supplied by wing attack Liana Barrett-Chase.

Down 32-40 going into the final stanza, the LG Mystics reverted back to their original defensive line-up and inched back to a deficit of six. But the Steel smartly treasured the ball when it was in their hands, forcing the LG Mystics into the role of pursuer.

Ten goals in arrears, a last-gasp five-goal spurt by the LG Mystics had the crowd in raptures, but it was too little, too late.