2 weeks ago
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DEFENDING CHAMPIONS St Catherine High and Holmwood Technical retained their urban and rural senior netball titles, respectively, after impressive wins in the finals of the ISSA schoolgirls’ netball competition at the National Indoor Sports Centre yesterday.
St Catherine High made it three wins in a row in the urban final after defeating The Queen’s School 32-24 while Holmwood got the better of Denbigh 38-30 in the rural final.
New champions were crowned in the juniors as Holmwood Technical completed a double after getting by defending champions Manchester High 21-16 in the rural final. In the urban final, Wolmer’s High School For Girls went one place better than last year after beating St Hugh’s 31-25 for their first hold on the title.
In the top match of the day, the Carline Graham Powell- coached Holmwood seniors, led by the outstanding Jada Ricketts at goal attack, produced a flawless fourth quarter to get by Denbigh.
The Winston Nevers-coached Denbigh were out of the blocks fast after an 8-5 first-quarter lead. Holmwood came back in the second quarter to hold a slight 15-14 lead at the halftime break.
It was still close going in the third quarter as Denbigh, led by goal shooter Leneice Williams and goal defence Evelyn Smith kept their team in the game, with Holmwood holding a 27-24 lead going into the final quarter.
However, like true champions, it was all Holmwood in the final quarter as Ricketts was unstoppable, creating good passes and scoring goals for her team as they outscored Denbigh 11-6 in the final quarter to win by an eight-goal margin. Rickets led the way for her team with 33 goals from 39 attempts. For Denbigh, Williams was on target with 28 from 40 attempts.
“This one is special as despite starting out a bit slow, I was not worried as the girls were well prepared and were ready for the occasion, and I am very thankful to all those who helped to make this happen,” said Graham Powell.
“Turnovers were our problems today. The girls played well in parts and it was unfortunate to lose our only game of the season at this stage,” Nevers said.
After losing to Queen’s in the preliminary round, an immensely improved St Catherine turned up for yesterday’s final. The Phyllis Thompson-coached team led from start to finish for an easy win against the Marvette Anderson-coached Queen’s.
The very tall Kydeen Gordon, with 27 goals from 38 attempts, was outstanding for St Catherine. They went into an 11-4 first-quarter lead then maintained their lead with 20-12, 23-17, and 32-24 scores in the last three quarters.
“Winning three in a row gives an awesome feeling. I must give credit to my tall goal shooter, Gordon, who used to be my goalkeeper, but after losing one of my tall goal shooters from last year’s team, I had to find a replacement. I am so proud of the girls as they worked hard all season,” said Thompson.
After defeating St Hugh’s in the clash of unbeaten teams in the urban finals, Wolmer’s coach, Tracy Ann Griffiths, was overjoyed with the school’s first junior success.
“We are very happy to be crowned champions. The girls were very disciplined, and they worked hard all season and pulled off the win. I am so proud of them,” said Griffiths.
English (US) ·