NORTHERN Hawks recorded double victories over Southern rivals Kingston and Karana in State League netball at the weekend in matches played on the North-West Coast.
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It took the Hawks a while to settle in the opening quarter of their match against Kingston on Saturday.
Kingston was happy to let the Hawks know they had come to play and contested every ball.
Hawks' defenders Zoe Gough and Emily Garvey positioned themselves well in the circle allowing them to intercept and rebound the ball back into attack consistently giving them the edge 14-10, at the first break.
Hawks' goalie Danni Pickett had a great battle with Kingston defender Emily Handley who worked tirelessly to try and stop the Hawks scoring rate in the second with the Hawks ahead, 27-17 at half-time.
Hawks continued to build their lead in the third quarter with strong defensive play from all seven players on court to open up a 45-24 advantage.
Kingston could do little to interrupt the flood of goals from Hawks that were being created from well earned turnovers in defence and rewarded with a high percentage accuracy from Pickett and Georgie Briggs, running out convincing winners, 64-33.
Hawks' Emily Garvey was the player of the match.
Against Karana yesterday, Northern Hawks made a solid start to the match using their speed to beat their opponents in attack.
Hawks' goalies Georgie Briggs and Danni Pickett continued to shoot accurately capitalising on turnovers.
Karana defenders Eliza Baker and Gen Sullivan forced some errors on the feed to Briggs and Pickett but Karana were unable to convert to goals.
Hawks' Chelsea Coleman moved from wing attack into goal shooter at half-time which exposed Karana's ability to cover two tall shooters in the circle. Hawks were driving the ball into the goal circle quickly which kept Karana's defence under fire.
Hawks' Jade Woolnough found another gear in the fourth quarter at wing defence to initiate some inspiring turnovers spurring the Hawks on to win by 17 goals, 57-40.
Player of the match went to Hawks' Ashton Whiley.
``Although we had two big wins this weekend the team is still looking to build on this success and carry it through to next week's final,'' Hawks' coach Kellie Woolnough said.