JAMAICA’s Sunshine Girls suffered a 42-53 loss to England in the opening game of the three-match Supreme Ventures Sunshine Series at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC), yesterday.

The visiting English Roses took the early lead and rushed to a five-point lead (8-3) by midway the first quarter.

The Sunshine Girls tried to pull themselves back into contention after a short timeout. After a few fumbled attempts at the goal post, the Jamaicans landed the ball in the target.

The long-range shooting skills of the Girls were on the improve as goal attack Thristina Harwood pumped in a ball from 10 yards out.

A few quick interceptions and the Girls were back in the game and had pulled themselves level 10-10 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter and held on 13-13 by the end of the quarter.

The Sunshine Girls held the competition for much of the second half to be behind by only a point, but with a few minutes remaining England went ahead and held the lead 28-24 at the end of the second quarter.

As the second half began, the English ladies added a point to their lead before the Sunshine Girls once again whittled the advantage to within two points, but it was a see-saw effort as England moved away yet again.

A timeout was called with England leading 36-32 as the Jamaicans looked bent on putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

However, the locals failed to add to their score as England continued to let it rip 40-32 at the end of the third quarter.

As though they could smell defeat but powerless to stop it, the Sunshine Girls saw the score drift away by another two points.

In the dying minutes the eager England captain Pamela Cookey made a rare foul pass that went flying past wing attack Sasha Corbin, and the Jamaicans stole the interception but not for long as the English managed to retake the initiative and put away the goal.

“It was good, but in a lot of parts we just weren’t able to take care of the ball. It’s something that can be fixed,” Jamaica coach Oberon Pitterson-Nattie said. Sabrina Spence ended with 33 goals from 42 attempts, while England goal shooter Rachel Dunn had 25 from 28.