Noelita Lawrence-Ricketts
The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) – MoBay Chapter, hoisted the Popeyes sponsored Western Business House Netball title with an exhilarating 26-15 defeat of Sandals Resorts International in the final played at the Montego Bay Cricket Club on Wednesday night, December 11.
Teachers, instructed by Lecturer and veteran player Gina Haughton, walked away with $60,000 for their efforts, while the runners-up bagged $40,000, with the third place finishers bagging $20,000.
The flamboyant and lucky Iberostar, who were out-gunned in the semi-final, copped third spot, seeing off Sandals Resorts 33-22 in a contest which got intense and very competitive in the final three quarters of the match.
Sandals Resorts finished fourth.
SRI, who have never been late for a game and always showed up for each fixture with a full complement of payers, were also named the Most Discipline team and collected a plaque for their achievement.
FIERCE ENCOUNTER
Overwhelming favourites Teachers started the finale a bit shaky and trailed by two early into the match as SRI got on the board first and looked like causing an upset.
Teachers took a comfortable 8-2 lead after the opening quarter before establishing a 14-5 dominance at the halfway break.
However, the match turned on its head in the third quarter when Sandals Resorts International (SRI) struck with six unanswered goals while keeping Teachers scoreless for just over three minutes, as they crept to within four (13-17) going into the final quarter.
But the compact Teachers team re-established their superiority with a commanding 9-2 tally in the final quarter to race to the victory.
The lanky Amalya Stewart, struggling for accuracy in the opening five minutes of the match, ended with a game-high 20 of her teams’ goals.
BATTLE FOR THIRD
In the third place playoff, Iberostar dominated from start to finish with their 13 goals in the third quarter the most of the contest which saw the eventual winners holding a slender 15-13 advantage at the halfway stage.
However, Iberostar with the introduction of a sharp shooter, exploded with 13 points in the penultimate quarter, nine more than their opponents, who struggled to get the ball into the shooting area with regularity.
Sandals provided a bit of resistance, and pulled to within a goal of equalizing the match at one stage, before Iberostar pulled away to claim the win, despite the two sharing ten goals down the middle in the closing quarter.