Holmwood make junior, senior netball finals

HOLMWOOD TECHNICAL netballers remain on course for a rare double as Carline Graham-Powell’s junior and senior teams advanced to Thursday’s finals of the ISSA Rural schoolgirl netball competition yesterday at GC Foster College.

Last year’s beaten junior finalists, Holmwood will get a chance to avenge their defeat to Manchester High after a one-sided 40-18 win over Titchfield. Defending champions, Manchester High stayed on course for back-to-back titles after getting by Mile Gully 41-14 in the other junior semifinal.

Homwood’s seniors had more of a challenge dealing with the team they beat in last year’s final, booking their spot among the final two this year with a 39-33 win over Glenmuir.

Denbigh will have a chance at stymying the back-to-back attempt after getting by Manchester 41-30 in the other senior semifinal.

After blowing away their opponents all season, Holmwood got their first real test against a resilient Glenmuir in their semifinals. With impressive goal attack Jada Ricketts and goal shooter Renrice Jones in great form, Holmwood cruised for three quarters, leading 11-9, 21-13, and 28-23 but got a rude awakening in the final stanza.

Led by lanky goal shooter Tori Mendez, Glenmuir scored three unanswered goals to tie up the fourth quarter at 29-29. Things got even more scary for Holmwood when Glenmuir took a one-goal lead at 31-30 with seven minutes to go.

The deficit woke Holmwood up and they rallied to register the six-goal win.

Ricketts, 14 goals from 28 attempts, and Jones, 16 from 25, led the way for Holmwood. Mendez was Glenmuir’s most productive with 29 from 32.

“I don’t know what went wrong today if it was the sun or what. There were too many turnovers by the girls, allowing Glenmuir back into the game after leading so easily, but like true champions, they fought back gallantly for the win. We have to be thankful to God for the win and we are looking forward to the final with Denbigh, as I know they are a good team,” said Graham-Powell.

Glenmuir coach, Ryan Reid, thought his charges could have come away with a different result.

“It was a gallant effort from my girls as after being down by eight goals at one stage. They reduced the gap to take the lead by one goal late in the final quarter, but some simple errors and some poor defending cost us the game. They did not play to instructions,” said Reid.

Despite Denbigh’s win over Manchester, their coach Winston Nevers was not a happy man.

In an affair that tipped towards one side or another at different points, Nevers thought his team’s leader, skipper and goal attack, Abigail Williams, had gone missing.

“It was a good game. I expected Manchester to do well as they have been a consistent team over the years. We started out very good but In the middle we let the game slip away after making a few changes. However, we reverted to the starting team in the third quarter and they got back their composure to pull away from there,” he said.

“Today my captain was like a spectator in the game. She allowed too many turnovers and her body language was not good. As an experienced player, I expected more from her and I will have to give her a serious talk ahead of the finals,” said Nevers, who also has a concern ahead of Thursday after ace shooter Leneice Williams got injured.

All urban, rural and Intercol finals will be played on Thursday inside the National Indoor Sports Centre, starting at 9 a.m.