Sport

Arnett's girls rule Division B

By PAUL-ANDRE WALKER, Staff Reporter

ARNETT GARDENS WERE crowned Western Union Division 'B' netball champions for the second year running last night.

Arnett, with a partisan crowd on hand in an electric atmosphere, achieved the feat with a 40-34 victory over Ravens.

The Arnett girls got good performances from National under-21 representative Kadian Mendez, who contributed 21 goals from her 30 attempts, added to countless moments of brilliant passing and good use of possession from her position at goal attack. Good shooting by Arnett goal shooter Shellyann Williams (19 goals from 23 attempts) didn't hurt either, as Arnett fought off a spirited first-half fight from the challengers.

Ravens' Corealette McDonald produced with amazing efficiency from goal shoot knocking down 20 goals from her 21 attempts. Phyllis Thompson didn't do badly at goal attack either, as she bagged 10 from 12 attempts.

The problem for the Ravens team, however, was a little further down court, where they made mistake after mistake and turned the ball over too many times to make the Arnett team pay.

In the first quarter where Arnett led 12-8, the game could have been closer, as Ravens closed a six-point gap to two with two minutes remaining in the quarter but made silly errors in their haste to get back in the game.

That trend would continue throughout the first half, as Arnett eased into a 21-17 lead.

That lead was increased in the third quarter to 31-22 and by then the writing was on the wall.

For her work in the game, Mendez was deemed the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final. Her her team took home the $40,000 cash prize for winning the title.

Ravens, who had nothing to be ashamed of, walked away with $28, 000 for their troubles.

In the earlier game, Ebony Strikers made light work of Alexander Strikers in the third place play-off with a 36-20 victory.

Ebony's win earned them $17,000 while Alexander Strikers took home $14,000 for fourth.

After the game, Arnett Gardens' coach, Delroy Garrison, heaped praises on his girls and what they had done for the community.

"We stuck to the task. We were depending on our attacking area to do the job and as you can see, they did it. This really means a lot. In Arnett, there is a crisis and I think the community will welcome this win and welcome the team as their daughters," said Garrison.