Barbados, Jamaica out of blocks early with handsome wins

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Barbados scored two handsome wins and Jamaica sent a stern warning with a rout of Dominica, in the early stages of the Caribbean Netball Association’s Jean Pierre Youth competition here yesterday.

The Barbadian lasses beat St Lucia 33-26 in the opening day of action on Friday at the Leila Robinson Courts and returned to dismiss Dominica 40-7 in the morning session here yesterday.

Perennial champions Jamaica, meanwhile, laid down the mantle for their opponents when they annihilated hapless Dominica 65-7 in a trademark robust display on Friday night.

Trinidad & Tobago also won their opening match on Saturday handsomely when they easily brushed aside the Cayman Islands 38-7.

Pitted against a weak Dominica side, Barbados experienced little difficulty as they raced to a 9-3 first quarter lead, an advantage they converted into a 22-6 cushion at half-time.

They continued to cruise in the third quarter, outscoring the Dominicans 10-0 to lead 32-6 and erase any doubt of a comeback.

Behind accurate shooting from Marva-Deane Anderson and Deneen Taylor, Jamaica led 14-2 at the end of the first quarter before marching to a 29-4 half-time lead. The Jamaicans were in cruise control at 46-7 at the end of the third, with Dominica outscored 19-0 in the final quarter.

Trinidad & Tobago staked their claim as one of the tournament’s threats when they ensured the Cayman Islands’ losing start to the competition.

The Cayman Islands appeared competitive in the first quarter as T&T could only lead 8-3 at the end of the first stanza. When T&T turned up the heat in the second quarter, however, the Caymanians fizzled, and they were already pondering a 16-4 deficit at the half-time whistle.

T&T outscored their opponents 14-1 in the third quarter to put the game to bed at 30-5 at the start of the fourth.

Samantha Wallace led T&T with 23 from 30 attempts while Kalifa McCollin supported with 11 from 12 attempts.

St Lucia rebounded from their chastening at the hands of Barbados to score an impressive 51-9 victory over Guyana.

Goal shoot Chenna Prospere was the architect of their win as she shot 28 from 45 attempts while Jamie Ambrose collected 11 from 15.

On Friday night, Cayman Islands handed Guyana their first loss with a 25-18 verdict.