Focused performance sees Ngongotaha win | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

When each half was just nine minutes long, Ngongotaha knew they had to make the most of the time.

Staying focused and keeping pressure on the opposition paid off as the team improved on last year's Kurungaituku performance and won the A Grade competition.

Last year, they finished second.

Captain Nadine Stone said the tournament was a hard-fought contest and involved checking out their opposition as much as focusing on their own game.

"We had very high expectations, but there were quite a lot of tough teams," Stone said.

"We had to snap into it straight away. As it was a round robin, we had to win all of our games to make sure we won overall.

"It's hard to know what your opposition is like. We kept going to the drawing board to see how the others were getting on.

"We couldn't afford to get slack."

The Kurungaituku win comes on the back of a successful season in the Netball Rotorua competition - they won the senior A grade in that competition too.

Stone is in her second season with the club, but played one game for them when at high school. "I think we were more focused than last year," she said.

"Last year we just turned up, had a bit of a warm up and played. This year we warmed up, had a good run and took it on to the court.

"We were going out there to win. Because it's only nine minutes each half you have to do a lot of damage in that time. The shooters had a bit of pressure to land all their goals."

The senior competition marks the middle weekend of the three-week Kurungaituku tournament.

This weekend, the secondary schools battle it out for honours.

Teams from across the country flock to the Westbrook netball complex to battle it out for the prestigious crown.

Stone said the team had a celebration on Saturday night and were planning on defending their title next year.

Ngongotaha Premier: Nadine Stone (captain), Hayley Ratama, Renee Papuni, Gabby Adams, Pani Taipeti, Aroha Taipeti, Chelsea Retemeyer, Laxa Iosona, Julia Harvey, Mika Tuilave-Charteris, Tutiana Hohepa and Jamie Rolleston. They are managed by Edith Taipeti.