Hummingbirds, Spurs to face off in Elite League final

Defending champions Kingston Hummingbirds and last season's beaten semi-finalists Manchester Spurs booked their place in next Sunday's Red Stripe Flavours Netball Jamaica Elite League final, after wins over the St Catherine Racers and St Ann Orchids, respectively, in Friday's semi-finals at the National Indoor Sport Centre.

In a game that could have gone either way, champions Kingston hummingbirds defeated Racers 61-54, while the Spurs outclassed the Orchids for a 67-39 win.

In the feature game, the champions trailed the Racers by one (14-13) after the first quarter but fought back to tie the game 31-31 at half-time.

The teams continued to trade blows in the third period but cancelled out each other to go into the final stanza tied at 43-43.

However, the Hummingbirds found their groove in the fourth quarter, forcing numerous turnovers to gain the upper hand and then push on for a seven-goal win.

Hummingbirds coach Kerry-Ann Brown said while her team started flat they were in the game even if they were down in the first period.

She also pointed out that she was pleased with the way they held it together to tie the game at half-time before finding their feet in the last quarter to take the victory. 

"The third quarter was rough. Racers really pushed our goal shooter, pushing her out of position. So our third quarter was the worst for us.

"At the break, we spoke about it and said we just want to score all our (centre pass) goals and we went back in the fourth quarter and just took it over the line."

Tracy-Ann Francis had 50 from 52 attempts for the Hummingbirds, Zenasha Hinds seven from 11 and Tania Thomas, four from five.

Racers' Kelsey Jonas bagged 18 from 24 attempts and Azana Wilmot 36 from 44.

St Catherine Racers coach Rasheed Joseph said, although goal shooter Simone Gordon, who was missing because of injury, was a big miss, they had the game in their hands to win.

"We have been battling since the start of the season with just maintaining and playing a disciplined game and, again tonight, we fell short, but just the whole discipline of maintaining a steady game, that's where we lost it."

In the opening semi-final, Manchester Spurs turned in a dominant performance to brush aside their opponents and book their place in the decider.

Mone Wilmot had 30 from 31 attempts. Shanise Beckford supported with 17 from 18, Kaydeen Gordon had a perfect 13 from 13, and Quannie Walker, four from five attempts, for the Spurs.

For the Orchids, Kestina Sturridge, had 23 from 31, Natalie Campbell 10 from 14, and Kaliyah Hibbert, six from eight attempts.

The Spurs wasted very little time in establishing their dominance, racing to a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and, at half-time, were ahead by 20 (38-18).

The Orchids improved a bit after the half-time break, but were only able to reduce the deficit by one goal (52-31) after the third period and two at full time.

Assistant coach of Manchester Spurs, Anniece Ebanks, said the plan was to execute over the four quarters, despite being overwhelming favourites.

"We never had the intention to underestimate anyone, because the ball is round and anything can happen. All in all, it was a fair performance. There were areas we could have tightened up on but, at the end of the day, we won," she said.

Orchids captain Theresa Beckford said the instruction was to go out and play a simple game and support each other.

"But we got a bad start on the drawing board and we dropped our heads and we ended the game with a negative vibe. So we could have done way better, but kudos to Manchester Spurs," she commented.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com