Williams stars for Excelsior in ISSA netball

Defending champions Excelsior High and Gaynstead High will meet in Friday's senior final of the ISSA urban schoolgirls netball competition.

Excelsior defeated many-time champions The Queen's School 43-34 in a semi-final match at G.C. Foster College yesterday. Gaynstead easily got the better of St Catherine High 43-25 in the other semi-final.

Former Queen's High representative, Hasana Williams playing goal attack was the standout for the defending champions Excelsior. National player Williams who represented Queen's for several years at the junior level led the way, scoring 25 from 39 attempts and she really enjoyed playing against her former team.

"I was highly motivated and pumped up to play against my former team as I wanted to beat them. It was not even about me but for the team as I wanted to ensure that Excelsior reached the final," Williams said.

The game which was highly anticipated because of Williams' presence on the Excelsior team, was very competitive for three quarters before the defending champions found top form in the last quarter. The champions took a 10-8 lead after the first quarter then extended by one at half time going into the break 20-16. After the third quarter Excelsior led 30-27 but the Christopher Smart-coached team turned on the heat in the final quarter for a comfortable win at the end.

Goalshooter Rocoya Douglas had 18 from 39 for Excelsior. For Queen's, goal attack, Britney McKenzie had 31 goals from 41 attempts.

Gaynstead were very impressive in their game as they dominated St. Catherine all the way. They jumped to an 18-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back with other quarterly scores being 25-13, 37-20 and 43-25.

Defending champions Gaynstead and St Catherine will contest the junior final. The defending champions had to stave off a strong challenge from St. Hugh's, winning 36-29 while St Catherine stopped Norman Manley 28-17.