T&T juniors have it all to do on final day against Ja, Denbigh

TRINIDAD AND Tobago’s (T&T’s) under-16 and under-18 teams have it all to do when the Island Vibes netball tournament goes through its final games today at the Leila Robinson Netball Courts.

This evening, the twin-island republic’s teams will be attempting to reduce the deficits they found themselves with after opening games on Friday.

Denbigh High School will oppose Trinidad’s under-18s at 4:30 p.m., before Jamaica’s under-16s go up against Trinidad’s under-16s at 5:45 p.m.

On Friday, the Winston Nevers-coached Denbigh ran out easy 36-18 winners over Trinidad’s under-18s, before the latter’s under-16s were walloped 40-13 by their Jamaican counterparts.

In the opening game, Denbigh and Trinidad were tit for tat in the first quarter, before the Clarendon team took a close 8-6 lead at the break.

On the resumption, the Denbigh team, led by 14 year-old goal shooter Crisada Wignall and Lengice Williams, who also shared goal-shooting duties, showed good form, helping to widen the lead and outscoring their opponent 10-5 to take an 18-11 lead at half-time.

Wignall and Williams remained impossible to contain throughout the second half, with Denbigh going into the final quarter with a 30-13 lead.

The Clarendon team took their foot off the gas in the final stanza, scoring just six goals to their opponents’ five.

Williams scored 15 goals from 17 attempts while Wignall had 12 from 16. The duo was assisted by goal attack Abigail Williams, who ended with nine goals from 13 attempts. Goal shooter Akeshi Quashie, with 12 goals from 14 attempts, led the goalscoring for the Trinidad team. Denbigh’s goal defence, Evelyn Smith, was named most valuable player.

Nevers had expected a tougher game from the Trinidadians, especially since he used a young team.

“It was a good win for the team but I did not expect it to be that easy. We used a very young team, with most of the girls being 14 to 16 years of age, but I think the six-week training camp we had preparing for the schoolgirl competition this season helped a lot with the gelling of the team,” said Nevers, who is expecting another win in today’s final game.

The second game was a one-sided affair for the young Sunshine Girls, who dominated from the opening whistle.

The Nardia Hanson-coached under-16s enjoyed quarterly leads of 7-3, 22-6, 33-8, and 40-13.

Kaelyn Kendra, with 27 goals from 32 attempts, top scored for Jamaica while, for Trinidad, Mekayla Grant scored 7 from 11 attempts.