All-Island netball titles up for grabs

THE 2023 ISSA schoolgirl netball season will come to an end tomorrow with the All-Island finals set to take place at the Leila Robinson Courts where new champions will be crowned.

Urban junior champions, The Queen’s School, will take on rural champions Manchester High School at 2 p.m., to be followed by a clash between rural champions Holmwood Technical and urban champions, St Catherine High in the senior final.

Like they did a year ago, the rural teams will be hoping to continue their dominance over their urban counterparts. Last year Holmwood had stopped St Hugh’s in the juniors and Glenmuir defeated St Catherine for the senior title.

More pointedly, both rural coaches, Simone Smith of Manchester and Carline Graham-Powell of Holmwood, will be hoping for a repeat of 2011.

Then, Manchester took care of St Hugh’s for the junior title before Holmwood got by St Andrew to win the seniors.

Following their 33-17 demolition job of defending All-Island champions, Holmwood, Manchester, who were underdogs in both the semifinals and final, will start favourites to get by Queen’s.

In what was a complete display, led by MVP, goal defence Alliyah Morgan, goal shooter Kysa Forbes, goal attack Britanique Daley, goalkeeper Jay Ann Thompson and centre Denai Walker, they totally dominated Holmwood. A repeat of that performance should see them winning their second All-Island title.

Smith is expecting her team to come out and play hard.

“The girls really played well against Holmwood and I expect them to come out and play hard once again,” said Smith.

The Marvette Anderson-coached Queen’s have been improving after each game. After qualifying from the first round as the second best third-place team, they pulled off a gutsy 27-21 win over a good Wolmer’s team and are now undoubtedly in the hunt for their seventh All-Island title.

Their last win came in 2014.

A very aggressive team, young wing attack Teshae Freckleton, goal keeper De-Eziah Martin, goal shooter Brianne Bailey and goal attack Mikala Morrison were standouts in the urban final. They will be hoping for a repeat performance in their team’s bid to break a long drought.

“It is about taking care of the ball and controlling the middle. If you have both ends good it means that the middle is where you need to win the game, so our plan is to control mid court,” said Anderson.

Final last year

After failing to win the title in their first All-Island final last year, the Phyllis Thompson-coached St Catherine will be hoping to go one place better. However, they will be up against a school which has been very successful at this stage of the competition. Graham-Powell will be seeking her 11th senior All-Island title.

After just doing enough to win all their games leading up to the final, St Catherine stepped it up to produce their best game of the season. In what was a fantastic all-round performance, they were just too good for a quality Gaynstead, easily putting them away 42-29.

Goal attack Kayla Wright was brilliant, earning the MVP of the game. Once again, she is expected to combine well with wing attack Paris Major, and the very tall and accurate goal shooter Kellion Hunter.

Another tall player, in goalkeeper, Kaydean Gordon, and goal defence Asharie Thomas are expected to marshal things in defence for them.

“It will be a competitive game but I know my ladies will go out there and execute just like they did against Gaynstead. I know they will make me and everyone happy with what is happening in netball at the school,” said Thompson.

At this stage of the competition, Holmwood are deadly and winning 10 titles is no fluke as they go for title number 11. After being knocked out before the rural final last year, they will be highly motivated this time around. In the rural final against defending champions, Glenmuir, they showed grit and determination to hold on for a close 39-37 win in an epic affair and will likely need another gritty performance against a solid St Catherine High team.

Jessica Chaplain, who returned to the team for the semifinal after being out with a broken arm, is expected to play a key role at centre.

She, along with goal attack Jada Ricketts and goal shooter Rasheda Brown lead a very powerful attacking unit, while goalkeeper Celina Collins, and goal defence Shaquan Hamilton are expected to continue their good job in the defensive area.

“The girls are on a high and I love it when they are in that zone because it is a good indication that another title is on the horizon,” said Graham-Powell.