ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ senior netball team, the Vincy Jewels, continued their march towards retaining their ECCB International Netball Series title on Thursday by defeating Saint Lucia 57–43 at the Tanteen Hard Courts.
The Vincy Jewels, having stopped the much-fancied Bajan Gems in a friendly encounter the night before, were pushed in the opening exchanges but never ventured out of cruise control on their way to holding leads of 18–11, 30-19, and 44-29 heading into the final quarter.
Vincentian goal-shooter Maryann Frederick enjoyed a shooting accuracy of 94.44 per cent as she netted 51 goals from 54 attempts, while goal-attack Kristiana Christopher scored six from her 10 attempts.
Saint Lucia’s effort was led by goal-attack Merlika Destang, who scored 25 goals from 30 attempts, enjoying an accuracy of 83.33 per cent, while goal-shoot Shem Maxwell made 18 of 22 shots.
In a post-match interview, debutant Phiunza Laborde said the Jewels’ strategy was “for us to come stronger than last year”.
“A little bit more change in strategies, not to come with the same because, obviously, they would come much harder, but we planned on sticking with the good mindsets, a more focused mindset, so that we can conquer them in the end.”
Frederick has scored 315 goals from 347 attempts in the six matches that she has played. She is followed in second spot by Grenadian goal-shooter Lootysha Cato with 237 goals from 285 attempts, also from six games.
Rayana Regis of Antigua and Barbuda is third with 198 goals from 253 attempts from six matches.
In other results, the Cayman Islands, which are ranked 40th in the world, shocked the 21st-ranked Grenada 58–46, Antigua and Barbuda won over Dominica 60–38, Anguilla defeated Montserrat 39–25, Barbados trounced Guyana 94–16, Cayman Islands defeated Dominica 58–43, and Montserrat edged Guyana 37-34.
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