Sunshine Girls take hold of Margaret Beckford Trophy

Having wrapped up the Sunshine Series to claim the Margaret Beckford Trophy with a game to spare against South Africa, Jamaica's head coach Sasher-Gaye Henry and her team are celabrating a "big" achievement.

The Sunshine Girls, powered by a dominant showing in game two, defeated the SPAR Proteas 59-47 at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) last night to take a 2-0 lead.

Last Saturday, the Jamaicans had won the first of the three-match Test series 55-47.

"This is a very big accomplishment on our journey. We know it was going to be a hard-fought match and the girls fought well," stated Henry, whose team were securing back-to-back series wins. They had beaten England Roses 2-1 in a four-game showdown that consisted of two matches in Manchester, England, and the others at the NISC.

The Jamaicans drew one and lost the other game on European soil, before dominating home court with a couple wins.

Last night, the Sunshine Girls were led in scoring by Shimona Jok, who shot 35 goals from 37 attempts, accompanied by Shanice Beckford with 14 goals from 17 attempts, Rhea Dixon, six from six and Mishca Creary, four goals from five shots.

South Africa's Elmere Van Berg was perfect, scoring 16 from 16, Kamegelo Maseko registered 19 goals from 20 attempts and Rolene Streutker shot 12 from 14.

Jamaica led 18-13 after the first quarter, 34-25 and halftime and 50-36 by the end of the third quarter.

After switching out the main shooting pair of Jok and Beckford in the final quarter, the home team found it more difficult to create scoring opportunities against a South Africa team that fought tooth and nail to outscore the Jamaicans in a quarter for the first time this series.

"This was a great performance by the Sunshine Girls," South Africa coach Jennifer Van Dyk said.

"For us we need to do better and we're disappointed in ourselves."

The final game of the series will be played on Saturday at the same venue with match time set for 6 p.m.

UNDER-21 SHOWDOWN

Yesterday's senior contest was preceded by an Under-21 showdown between the countries and just like Saturday, the South Africans won, 49-32, to secure a 2-0 advantage.

South Africa got off to a fast start at led 16-8 after the first quarter and kept powering away as the game lengthened to lead 25-16 at halftime and 38-23 at the end of the penultimate quarter.

The visitors had won the opening match 61-21 and Jamaica's head coach, Annette Daley, lauded her team for the improvements.

"We are seeing improvements and that is all that we're asking. We want them to understand that we aren't asking for perfection, especially at this stage. It's about learning in every step of the way and we saw that on court," Daley shared.

Nikisha Powell led the young Sunshine Girls, scoring 21 goals from 31 tries, while Kelly-Ann Hunter netted six from nine, Lenice Williams four from five, and Jada Ricketts one from two.

For South Africa, Giada Prinsloo topped all scorers with 31 goals from 33 tries, while Mboli Diphoko (11 from 12), Thala Legidi (six from nine) and Lisa Ingwerson (one from three) netted the other goals.

Their head coach, Precious Mthembu, stated adaptation was key.

"We definitely adapted to the Jamaican style. The speed of the ball getting down the court is something we did very well. Last time we were a little slack but this time we adapted quickly to the situation," Mthembu stated.

The Under-21 series is being played as a curtain raiser to the seniors showdown and they, too, will play their final match at the NISC on Saturday, beginning at 3 p.m.

Staff Repoprter Orane Buchanan contributed to this article