Paul-Andre Walker, Staff ReporterJAMAICA RECOVERED from the setback of having lost their first match in the Under-16 Caribbean Netball Association (CNA) Champion-ships in five years to drub hosts St. Kitts in their final game last night.
The title of Caribbean Under-16 champions went to Barbados after they defeated Grenada 30-9 to remain unbeaten in the competition.
The Jamaicans, who finished second owing to their only loss against the Barbadians, maintained their competitiveness and showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with, as they ran out 38-17 winners over the Kittians, who proved themselves in the tournament as legitimate conten-ders in the Caribbean.
The Young Sunshine Girlz ran out early 10-5 leaders in the first quarter and consolidated their position in the second quarter after jumping to 19 points while restricting the Kittians to just two points.
A big 30-11 lead in the third quarter set up the route to victory for the Jamaicans.
TEAM PERFORMANCE
Christina Salmon was back to her usual brilliance with a 17-goal shooting performance from 19 attempts. Danielle Ellis was also in outstanding form, bagging 13 goals from her 14 attempts, while Vannessa Walker had six from seven and Kerisa Kessna had two from four.
After the game, team manager Arlene Findlay spoke to The Gleaner and remarked on the team's performance.
"Had they played the way they did tonight and throughout the tournament they would have retained the title. Maybe this is a wake-up call," she said.
Even though the Jamaicans have not retained their title, they performed creditably and had returned to their usual confident selves which is a good sign for the very young and inexperienced team.
"They are a lot happier today. They still haven't recovered completely but today was one of the girls' birthday and she got a birthday present with a good performance," said Findlay.
The team is due back in Jamaica tomorrow morning.
