The girls started well and by the end of the first quarter had built a reasonable lead of 9 points (15-9).  The inexperience of the girls and the lack of match fitness started to tell in the second quarter as New Cal poured on the pressure to play catch up and at half time it was Fiji 25 and New Cal 24. 

 

In the third quarter the Fiji team managed to dig deep and work hard to try to maintain their lead and with an extraordinary effort from captain Ofa Moce, they managed to scrape ahead at the close by 42-38.  Then it was all or nothing.  Ofa had 4 fouls to end the 3^rd quarter and so was rested as long as possible and her place was filled with super efforts by Nandika and Kate.  Grace worked hard as well and Peniette showed that she will be a player of the future with some very good pull up shots in the lane. 

 

Vika, Leah and Cece all filled the point position as the team tried to find combinations that could bring some scores, and Britts and Cece and Vika worked so hard on the boards.  With 3 minutes to go. Ofa was reintroduced to the game and with her height and experience we managed to hold onto a win.  This was the first time these girls had been faced with holding onto a lead against a strong opposition and they are starting to learn what it takes to win a basketball game.

 

The girls cannot now end up lower than 4^th in the tournament and now face Australia in the first semi final on Friday.  A loss there will result in playing either Tahiti or Guam in the bronze medal game.

 

The men had a lead at the end of the first quarter but the relentless pressure of the New Cal men and the lack of match fitness for our men, saw this lead whittled away by the 3^rd quarter.  In the end the boys ran out of steam and the New Cal team went on to advance to the semis.

 

Our boys now play PNG on Friday to try to gain a playoff position for 5^th and 6^th.  At the end of the game most of the team were devastated, but Coach Lai put it all in perspective when he told them that they had come away to gain experience and to do the very best that they could against the opposition, and in this game they had showed great courage and determination and that they should not be disappointed at their performance.  Baravi echoed these sentiments and the boys will now regroup to try to finish in 5^th place.