Young Sunshine Girls suffer sweep
Published:Sunday | January 26, 2025 | 12:18 AMOrane Buchanan - Staff Reporter
THE TOURING South Africa under-21 team completed their domination over the young Sunshine Girls, securing a 47-33 win at the National Indoor Sports Centre yesterday, whitewashing the hosts in their three-game series.
The SPAR Baby Proteas entered yesterday’s assignment having already secured the series with 61-31 and 49-32 victories but didn’t seem willing to take their foot off the gas.
While the opening quarter was fairly close with the South Africans leading 12-8, they opened up a nine-point lead by the halfway mark, 25-16, forcing the Jamaicans into errors, a feature of the first two stanzas.
By the end of the third quarter, the proverbial fat lady was singing, the Jamaicans staring down the barrel of a 26-35 deficit.
In the closing 15 minutes of the encounter, the Jamaicans went even further behind, losing the encounter by 14 goals.
South Africa’s shooting was, again, led by Giada Prinsloo, who scored 22 goals from 25 attempts. She was assisted by Mbali Diphoko, who enjoyed 14 goals from 16 attempts. Thato Legodi and Michelle Vandermeca registered nine goals from 17 attempts and two from two, respectively.
The Jamaicans were led by Nickeisha Powell, who had 22 goals from 27 attempts. Teammate Kaydeen Gordon chipped in with nine from 14, while Kelliann Hunter had two from three.
Annette Daley, head coach of the Sunshine Girls, stated that, collectively, they will review the series and see where they went wrong.
“We got a number of South Africa’s centre passes but we didn’t convert them. It’s a step in the right direction, we have the tape and we will be doing our analysis,” she stated
Precious Mthembu, head coach of South Africa, was thrilled with the ruthlessness of her charges.
“It was absolutely amazing and this is a confidence booster for the girls. The whole idea to be here was a good idea for the girls and it’s a good step for the upcoming Netball World Cup in Gibraltar,” she said.