ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada — St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) remained undefeated as they got past Dominica 57 – 40 on Tuesday, overcoming another hurdle on the pathway towards retaining their ECCB International Netball Series title.
The Vincentians, though tested in the opening quarter, soon found their rhythm and gradually took hold of proceedings to register another victory.
The quarter scores were 9–8, 25–20, 38–34 and 57–40, all in favour of the defending champions.
Leading the victory charge for SVG was goal-shoot Mary-Ann Frederick with 46 goals from 49 attempts, and goal-attack Kristiana Christopher netted 11 from 13 attempts.
For Dominica, goal-shoot Galeine Gordon-Seraphine scored 25 from 30 attempts, Shernel St. Rose 8 from 13, and Kenya John 7 from 7 attempts.
Earlier on Tuesday, SVG demolished Montserrat 92–10. The quarter scores were 31–02, 46–06, 73–08, and 92–10.
The game, which was scheduled to commence at 6:30 a.m., got going at about 8:10 a.m. because of rain and was further delayed during the second quarter
Speaking to the media following Tuesday night’s game, coach Natasha Baptiste said she always tells the players that there is always room for improvement, whether they win or lose.
“There are times when we strayed from the game plan, from the strategy, but the young ladies pulled back, because they know exactly what is required of them. So when they stray, they know when to pull back and when to correct the errors,” Baptiste said.
It been difficult for the defending champions over the last two days, with a half game on Monday morning, a full game on Monday night, and two full games on Tuesday.
Tuesday was scorching hot in Grenada, with the mercury rising to 30.4 degrees Celsius.
“It has been tough. The sun has been a real beater for us because we finished like about after 10 this morning and then we had to be back here,” Baptiste said.
“It’s been hard on the young ladies, even hard on us as the management team but we are rallying them, we are doing what is required to keep them hydrated and all of that so that they can come out and do the job that they’re here to do.”
The Vincy Jewels take on Barbados at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, which is a an important game for both teams, for ranking points and, some commentators say, an even bigger match for bragging rights.
“That is so true because we, fortunately, went ahead of Barbados in the rankings,” Batpsite said.
“So we are 17, they are 19. So the game, even though it doesn’t go towards the ECCB title, it is very important for us, and we are coming out just as though it is a title match. Because for us, it is a title match in the sense of ranking.”
On Monday, Cayman Islands pushed SVG all the way throughout, the first quarter ending at 11-11 with the second quarter ending with the Cayman Islands leading 25–22.
Then, at one point during the third quarter, Cayman Islands enjoyed a 7-goal lead over the defending champions.
However, the Vincy Jewels stormed back to lead 37–35 at the end of the third quarter and went on to win 55–43.
Vincy Jewels goal-shoot Mary-Ann Frederick scored 44 from 59 attempts, while goal-attack Kristiana Christopher netted 11 from 17 attempts.
SVG began the defence of their title on the opening day Saturday, with a dominant first-half display.
The champions were leading Guyana 42-10 when the rains came again minutes into the third quarter, forcing the umpires to call the players off the court, and later the organisers decided to postpone the games.
The Vincy Jewels stormed out of the blocks with crisp passing despite the many slips and slides as the players tried to cope with the wet surface in St. George’s.