TEAM manager Cora Ricketts says despite the scorelines, Jamaica’s road to the 9th Jean Pierre Caribbean Under-16 netball title was not as easy as it appeared.

The Young Sunshine Girls returned to the island on Sunday after victory over the hosts Barbados 35-19 in Saturday’s final game of the round-robin tournament.

On the way there, they defeated Dominica 45-7, Grenada 40-13, Trinidad & Tobago 42-21, St Lucia 41-16 and St Vincent and the Grenadines 71-11.

“It wasn’t as easy as the scoreboard showed,” Ricketts stated. “They really played the way they should, the way they were trained to, hence the results they got,” she told the Observer.

“What probably helped was that our shooters were shooting better, but in the mid-court both teams were going back and forth but our defence was good so it was a matter of who shot best on the particular day and that’s what it came down to,” she explained.

Ricketts added that despite a few challenges, it was a good learning experience for the teenagers.

Jamaica also won the shooting competition ahead of Barbados as Thristina Harwood won a shoot-off against the Bajan player, 23-21.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Olivia Grange praised Jamaica’s junior netball team.

“I am very delighted that the Young Sunshine Girls have won the Caribbean championship again and have continued Jamaica’s great tradition of success at this level in regional netball,” she said.