Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls delivered another scintillating performance to secure the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series title, as they defeated South Africa 59-47 in the second game of the three-match series at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Wednesday.

With this victory, the Jamaicans, who won the first match 55-47, took an unassailable 2-0 lead and will now aim for a series sweep in Saturday’s final game.

While shooter Shimona Jok once again led the scoring with an impressive 35 goals from 37 attempts, it was defender Latanya Wilson who stole the spotlight, as she copped the Player of the Match award for her dominant performance on the defensive end. Shanice Beckford contributed 14 goals from 17 attempts, while Rhea Dixon (six from six) and Mishca Creary (four from five) added the other goals.

For South Africa, Maseko Kamegelo led with 19 goals from 20 attempts, supported by Elmere Van Der Berg (16 from 16) and Rolene Steutker (12 from 14), but it wasn’t enough to overcome Jamaica’s all-around strength.

Jamaica’s head coach, Sasher-Gaye Henry, was thrilled with her team’s performance but again acknowledged room for improvement.

“We are excited; it is a big accomplishment in our journey. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game, and the girls were extremely on point. I think we had some great patches in our game, brilliant moments in defense and midcourt play, but there is room for improvement as we lost the last quarter.

“That is something we have to look at. We tried rotations, and we wanted everybody to get a feel of the excitement and intensity, so we are pleased with what we accomplished tonight,” Henry said post-game.

The game began at a blistering pace, with both teams trading goals in an intense, end-to-end battle. However, Jamaica’s defensive maestro Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and her unit made the difference, as they forced crucial turnovers that allowed the Sunshine Girls to take an 18-13 lead by the end of the first quarter.

South Africa fought back in the second quarter and gradually narrowed the gap to just three goals at one point. But Jamaica responded with poise to regain control and assert their dominance as they widened the gap to eight goals, a deficit which they maintained at 34-26 at the half-time interval.

On the resumption, Jamaica offensive efficiency and defensive tenacity were again on show, as they turned up the intensity, with Wilson leading the charge at the back.

Her ability to disrupt South Africa’s flow and create turnovers allowed Jamaica to stretch their lead to 15 points, the largest margin of the game. South Africa managed a late goal to close the quarter at 50-36, but the damage was already done.

With a comfortable lead, the Sunshine Girls focused on managing the game and executing their plays in the final quarter. Despite being outscored 11-9, Jamaica had already done enough to secure a 12-goal victory and the series win.

South Africa’s coach Jenny Van Dyk praised Jamaica’s performance while pointing out her team’s struggles.

“It was a great performance from the Sunshine Girls. No excuses for us—we are obviously quite disappointed in ourselves, as we expected quite a lot from this second match, but the Jamaicans were just so clinical in that second quarter.

“This is a learning process for us with a fairly young and inexperienced squad. They need to understand that against a world-class team like this, it’s not about performing well once; they will just come back stronger. So disappointed, but there’s a lot to take from this,” Van Dyk shared.