By Neto Baptiste
The Antigua and Barbuda Wadadli Girls suffered a second straight defeat in the ECCB International Netball Series being held here at the YMCA Sports Complex after going under 48-21 to defending champions St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) on Monday.
Goal shoot Rayana Regis hit 13 of 21 attempts while goal attack Jamilia Fitz sank eight of 12 tries for the home team. For the defending champions, goal attack Shellisa Davis led the charge with 22 of 38 attempts with goal shooters Joseann Antoine and Kimesha Antoine both hitting 13 of their 19 attempts.
Antigua and Barbuda were beaten 59-25 by Barbados on Sunday night, but opened their campaign with a 45-41 triumph over Dominica.
Coach Karen Joseph said the team was prepared for a tough tournament.
“We knew that this was going to be a very tough tournament. The girls knew it, and they had their minds psyched on it, and what I can tell you though is that our girls have played exceptionally well. We went into the tournament with some injuries and that is affecting us and we’re not 100 percent fit, but sometimes we try to play at the same pace as our opponents,” she said.
Also on Monday, Barbados defeated Cayman Islands 63-24. Goal shoot Faye Agard led the charge for the Barbados team with 33 of her 44 attempts, while substitute goal shoot Jada Smith made good on 21 of her 32 attempts. In a losing effort, Kay Copeland landed 17 of 30 attempts for Cayman Islands.
Montserrat suffered a third straight loss, going under 68-11 to Grenada. Goal Shoot Carlene Alexander led the charge for Grenada with 45 of 56 attempts while goal attack Celina Brown picked up 20 of her 32 tries. Juana Osborne did the bulk of the scoring for Montserrat with nine of her 24 attempts.
In the other game contested Monday, Dominica edged St Kitts 54-51. Goal attack Seraphin Gordon carried the brunt of the scoring for the winners with 34 of 42 attempts while goal shoot Anna Mar Panthier picked up 20 of her 24 attempts.
Goal shoot Aaliyah Gibson was best on show for St Kitts and Nevis with 37 of 54 attempts with Rinita Challenger hitting 14 of 20.
Joseph said the body will make a decision on the way forward with scheduling following the passage of Tropical Storm Philippe.
“We’re trying to figure out our next step because tomorrow [Wednesday] we are supposed to be having a development programme from the ECCB but we are trying to switch that so matches could be played tomorrow morning and then we take a break so matches come back in the afternoon, so that’s what we’re looking at presently,” she said.
Matches are set to resume on Wednesday.
