Our Lady of the Angels Prep(OLA) and Quest Prep played out an exciting and absorbing final in the JISA Prep School Netball Competition on Thursday, December 5 at the Lela Robinson Courts in Kingston.
Our Lady of the Angels Prep(OLA) and Quest Prep played out an exciting and absorbing final in the JISA Prep School Netball Competition on Thursday, December 5 at the Lela Robinson Courts in Kingston.
OLA who had never won the competition under current coach, Grace Bourah, were the first to score as they tried to set the early tone for the game. OLA managed to take a 2-0 lead before Quest troubled the scorers but Quest refused to back down and led by their top scorer Aaliyah White fought their way into the game.
At the end of the first quarter OLA led Quest 5-4, as they sought to upset their more fancied opponents.
Quest would come roaring back in the second quarter, putting on a dominant offensive and defensive display, limiting OLA to just one goal while scoring 5 to take a 9-6 half time lead, despite the load roars of the many OLA spectators that filled the stands, drowning out the Quest support in terms of noise.
OLA came out a more composed unit in the third quarter, committing less errors while putting more pressure on the tall and outstanding White, playing goal attack for Quest. This would prove to be to OLA’s advantage as they cut into the 3 goal deficit, outscoring Quest by 5-4 in the third quarter as the scores read 13-11 to Quest leading into the final quarter of an exciting and absorbing contest.
OLA would maintain the defensive pressure on Quest who were guilty of having a one dimensional approach to scoring, through that of White. This pressure on the defensive end allowed OLA to have more possession on the offensive end and they chipped away at the Quest lead in the final quarter led by the boisterous and unwavering support in the stands.
While the pressure was telling at one end, the confidence was growing at the other and soon the scores were level as the two pronged attack of Ashley Coombs at goal shoot and captain Kaylea- Ashley McKenzie at goal attack for OLA, overcame the defence of Quest.
OLA scored the last goal of the game and it was joy unconfined when it was announced just moments after the final whistle that the Molynes Road based institution has just secured the title by a score of 16-15. The elated and overjoyed parents and teachers stormed the court hugging and praising the players while the Quest players wept uncontrollably after such a narrow loss.
It was sweet revenge for OLA who had lost out to Quest by one point in the semi-finals of the opening day rally in October.
For OLA, captain Kaylea- Ashley McKenzie had 8 goals from 15 attempts while Ashley Coombs had 8 from 12, while for Quest Aaliyah White had 14 from 26 attempts and Shantoy Wallace had 1 from 2.
Speaking with Yardie Sports after the win, captain McKenzie said, “I felt that we played excellent netball. I just want to thank the Lord for giving us the courage to win and blessing me and my teammates.”
For coach Bourah it was well worth the wait, “The team that remained calmest under pressure was always going to win and we were able to do just that. My girls are always better in the last quarter, they kept calm and they owned the ball.
“OLA has always been there or there-about, this year the girls have been more dedicated and we spent more time preparing to deal with the last two minutes of games. So after 20 years we finally got it right.”
Hydel Prep defeated Mavisville Prep 17-14 in the third and fourth playoff while Team Work defeated Victor Dixon in the private High School section.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login