Even though the scoreboard didn’t flash the numbers as Phyllis Thompson would have liked, the St Catherine High School netball coach says she is far from disappointed with the effort she saw in her players at the 2022 ISSA All-Island Championship.

The urban champions, St Catherine, went down a miserable 25–41 to the rural champions Glenmuir at Manchester High School on Friday.

Goal-shooter Kellian Hunter scored 22 goals from 24 attempts, and Kayla Wright got three goals from five attempts for St Catherine, while goal-shooter Shania Martin netted a game-high 29 goals from 36 attempts, goal-attacker Nickesha Powell chipped in with eight goals from 11 attempts, Tari Mendez came with three from three, and Makala Richards, with one goal from two attempts, were the scorers for Glenmuir.

“Not the result I wanted; the girls played a little flat, but I must give them the thumbs up because they went out there and gave their all, and I am proud of them,” Thompson told the Jamaica Observer.

“From the start of the season, I must applaud them [players] as they have been working very hard, plus today was their last game for the year, and we did want to go out with another title, but thumbs up to them again. They have fought really hard all season, and to reach this far was a very good achievement,” Thompson said.

St Catherine started the game immediately on the back foot as they failed to hold onto possession of the ball, and with too many unforced errors, they trailed 5-10 and 10-24 for the first two quarters.

The St Catherine-based team never recovered from the attack from Glenmuir, as they trailed 16-36 at the end of the first quarter before surrendering the game with a 16-point defeat.

Thompson stated that she and her team had a lot to show for their efforts with the urban title.

St Catherine had defeated defending champion Gaynstead High 26-23 in the grand finale of the Urban Area Under-19 competition held at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) in Kingston on December 8.

“It was a really good feeling, and now we’re all feeling good about winning the urban title, and most importantly, the girls are healthy.

“We are happy to win that title, and for competing for the All-Island title, we didn’t win, but it was a good game for the girls.

“It’s now rest time for them, and we’ll be working on a lot of things for next season to improve our play and see how far we can go,” Thompson affirmed.

— Ruddy Allen