Narrogin and Districts Netball Association Rising Stars team shine at Great Southern Regional Championships

Narrogin and Districts Netball Association Rising Stars teams travelled to Albany at the weekend to compete in the Great Southern Regional Championships.

The carnival featured teams from representative associations including Esperance, Katanning, Kojonup, Denmark, Ongerup and Albany.

As the 20s and under attended their last ever Rising Stars carnival in Albany, the team gelled together to play some quality competitive netball.

With several experienced teams in the division, the team unfortunately could match the well-versed teams to come away with a win but they worked tirelessly.

The mid-court combos chased after each ball and the dynamic defence of Asha Slawinski and Sienna Lanciano followed up every rebound.

For some it was a final hurrah of a long journey in Rising Stars, including the effortless combination of Tyler Steer and Claire Conlan in goals.

Against tough competition all weekend, our 16s side managed one win game and had several close matches for the four games they played.

All nine players, who hailed from various NDNA clubs, worked hard on their positioning and fundamentals throughout the carnival.

Under coaches Kelly Steere and Chloe Campbell, the girls were able to match it against some very strong competition and worked together as a team to create some enjoyable netball.

The defensive combination of Bella Budby and Shona Banks worked tirelessly all weekend to create turnovers to allow the girls opportunities to work the ball down court into goals.

The final match of the weekend was against eventual carnival grand final winners Esperance.

The girls matched them for the first half and put into practice all the strategies that they had been working on at training over the last few months.

The carnival was a rollercoaster carnival for the Rising Stars 14s team.

They started off with a great win on the Friday night, where Bella Corasaniti shot a phenomenal game.

Saturday started off with a couple of losses, one of which followed the trend set at the championships, being decided by one point in a nail-biter.

The girls found their groove after this, bagging a couple of wins in a row thanks to Lennay Labuschagne, Ifeoma Ezeorakwe and Mia Ewen providing some amazing defensive combinations.

Latika Baxter found her niche in the circle and Emma Furphy, Tenisha Harper, Rayne Kapene and Jemma Dann led some good drives through the centre.

The team ended up finishing second in their pool, playing off against Esperance in the bronze medal match.

This was a back-and-forth battle and the girls dug deep, winning by five goals to claim third place.

The 12s team began their campaign strongly with a win to boost their confidence Friday night against Kojonup.

One win and one loss on Saturday had them finish in second place in their pool where they took on Albany Green for a place in the grand final.

Albany Green, who went on the win the division, proved too strong for the NDNA girls in a tough game with fantastic defence through the entire court to hold Albany Green to their smallest winning margin of the carnival, 40-22.

There were wonderful highlights, Indie Cooper at goal shooter had some very strong holds and was a strong presence in our goal circle.

Morgane Collette showed her strong drives and leads in every game and Penny Watts had some fantastic feeds and fast passes into the goal circle.

Marley Steere performed some great front cuts to be in front of her player and led well all down court.

Emma Grout showed her closing speed, getting her hands or fingertips to some excellent contests resulting in turnovers and holding on the circle for some great backline pass options.

Ellie Samulkiewicz played some great games in defence, sticking well to her player and having the amazing ability to look up just at the right time to intercept a ball.

Piper Franks was a tall presence in defence also sticking to her player and using her outside arm to get around her player and get several deflections.

Miah Beck showed strength in attack and defence, blocking out her opponent for rebounds at both ends and defending well.

Paige Ortega was strong in defence, sticking well to her player and chasing up loose balls with speed with every chance.