Jamaica’s Under-21 netball team suffered a second consecutive defeat to their South African counterparts, as they went down 32-49 in the second game of their three-match series at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Wednesday.
With the win, South Africa, who won the first game 61-31, secured the series win and left Jamaica hoping to salvage pride in Saturday’s final encounter.
Despite a valiant effort from Nickesha Powell, who netted 21 goals from 31 attempts, the young Sunshine Girls struggled to find rhythm against a disciplined South African side. Contributions from Lenice Williams (four goals from five attempts), Kellian Hunter (six goals from nine attempts), and Jada Ricketts (one goal) were not enough to close the gap.
South Africa’s attack was led by Giada Prinsloo, who dominated with 31 goals from 33 attempts, supported by Mbali Diphoko (11 goals from 12 attempts) and Thato Legodi (six goals from nine attempts), while Lisa Ingwersen had the other goal.
The visitors stormed out of the gates as they scored the first three goals and asserted dominance early. Jamaica struggled to penetrate the goal circle and committed multiple turnovers, which saw them trailing 16-8 by the end of the quarter.
Jamaica showed glimpses of improvement but continued to play timidly and squandered possession with regular turnovers, while South Africa maintained their composure and extended their lead to 25-16 at halftime.
The young Sunshine Girls required a strong showing in the third quarter to overturn the deficit, and they managed to score first, but South Africa’s accuracy kept them in control. The visitors, who at one point enjoyed a 16-point cushion, extended their lead to 38-23 by the end of the quarter.
With a huge gap facing them, the final quarter was more about damage control for the young Sunshine Girls, and though they fought hard, they couldn’t match South Africa’s clinical execution. The Baby Spar Proteas stretched their lead to 20 points at 47-27 before Jamaica closed the gap slightly at the end.
Despite the loss, Jamaica’s head coach, Annett Daley, emphasized the importance of growth and learning for her young team.
“It’s about incremental changes and having discussions with the ladies for them to understand that we are at the beginning really, and it’s about having a beginner’s mindset and learning,” she said.
“We looked at the tape in terms of how well they did and how we improve, and we have seen improvement. It’s really about learning each step of the way and making the adjustments. We saw that on court and saw the errors, and now we know we can fix them,” Daley added.
South Africa’s coach, Precious Mthembu, also acknowledged her team’s room for improvement despite their commanding win.
“Today was a little bit slow, but we were more focused on what we could control. I think Jamaica came a little stronger. We were slack, especially on attack—our timing was a bit off, so that is something to work on,” Mthembu noted.
“These are young kids, so you can do something good, and then it just goes awry. It won’t happen the first time, so we have to do it over and over in our training sessions. We definitely want to finish stronger than we started. We want to walk away with three solid wins to please everybody back home and ensure the girls give the best possible performance on court,” she declared.