Racers edge Orchids in exciting BEL clash

In a thrilling game of minute margins, constant replenishing made the big difference - one point – as St. Catherine Racers eked out a 46-45 win  over St. Ann Orchids in Netball Jamaica’s Berger Elite League feature clash in the feature clash of Thursday night’s double at Leila Robinson Courts.

Having tied their first match 39-all, the stage was set for an exciting affair and the teams never disappointed as they kept close from the start, with St. Catherine Racers leading from start to finish at 11-9 after the first quarter, 25-20 at half-time and 34-32 at the end of the third quarter.
The competitive, shot-for-shot battle went right down to the wire with Tracy Francis breaking the tie to scored St. Catherine Racers’ winning goal inside the closing seconds.

St. Ann Orchids made one last bid and got the centre pass to shooter Simone Gordon, but as she turned to put up her shot, there came the buzzer to set off a heartbreaking moment, for the Orchids, and joyous celebrations among St. Catherine Racers. Both teams are now tied on seven points.

“We really tried to ensure that every quarter we go in we had fresh legs. So we sort out a combination of players and had those players playing together for each quarter. I think that’s what helped us,” analysed St. Catherine Racers’ head coach, Christopher Smart. 
He also attributed a late-game switch for their success.

“In the latter part of the game they got flustered a bit, but then Nardia couldn’t stay strong because she was carrying an injury … we brought back Jamila (Tulloch) at wing attack. I thought that made a difference with Jamila coming to play wing attack with the fresh legs and we were able to play stronger and get the ball going towards the circle,” added Smart.

Francis led St. Catherine Racers with 40 goals from 45 tries, while Zonasha Hinds hit four of eight and Nardia Hanson two from three.

For St. Ann Orchids, Gordon scored all 45 goals, from 53 attempts, while Tricia Brown and Patricia McCalla each missed three attempts apiece.
St. Ann Orchids suffered heavily from an under-manned team, with their national goal attacks Thristina Harwood and Rebekah Robinson unavailable.

“What I think worked against the team is the fact that we played without our two goal attacks, we were playing with actually one shooter. We were actually (doing a) makeshift in the goal attack position because Rebekah (Robinson) did her surgery, so she’s out and Thristina (Harwood) is nursing an injury, so we played with eight players only. Two of those players who were absent are the shooters, which was critical,” said Shawn Murdock, assistant coach of the Orchids.
Murdock added: “I must commend the though. Without having our starting goal attacks we were able to fight to the very end.”

In the opening game on Thursday, red-hot Manchester Spurs burned St. James 63-33 to record their fourth win in as many games and lead with 12 points. The Spurs, which led 12-6, 24-12 and 43-22 at the end of the first three quarters, were led in shooting by Anna-Kay Griffiths, who scored 33 goals from 42 attempts, while Nicole Dixon scored 17 of 22 and Gezelle Allison 13 of 23.

St. James Sharpes’ goals were scored by Danielle Masters, 13 of 21 attempts, Petal Smith, eight of 10, Amanda Pinkney, five of eight, Shedieky Hamilton Barnes, six of 11 and Mischa Creary, one of three. The Sharpes have three points.

All four teams will return to action in today's triple-header. St. Catherine Racers will face red-hot Manchester Spurs at 5:00 p.m., at 6:30 p.m. it will be Sharpes vs Gaters and in the 7:45 p.m. nightcap, Kingston Hummingbirds will play St. Ann Orchids.