MICO ‘A’ produced a sterling performance to defeat Waulgrovians ‘A’, 61-58, as the Berger/JNA Super League competition continued at the Leila Robinson Courts on Saturday.

The Mico ‘A’ aggregation, coached by Annette Daley, produced a good centre court display to outscore 12-time winners Waulgrovians ‘A’, coached by Marvette Anderson, in the final few minutes of the final quarter to emerge victorious.

The defeat for Waulgrovians could hinder their chances of qualifying for the best-of-three play-offs between the top two teams from the preliminary rounds.

After their win, Mico ‘A’ jumped into second place with 20 points from five games, while Waulgrovians ‘A’ slipped a place to third with 19 from six games.

Meanwhile, Tivoli ‘A’ are the front-runners with maximum 25 points from five starts. Defending champions JAMALCO are fourth with 12 points from three matches.

The JAMALCO-Tivoli ‘A’ encounter was postponed from Saturday and the teams are yet to face each other in the double round-robin competition.

WINDALCO are fifth with 10 points from seven games; UWI Pelicans ‘A’ six from five outings, while Tivoli ‘B’ are at the bottom without a point after four matches.

Jonathan Hibbert, who is the manager of Mico ‘A’, spoke on behalf of coach Daley. He said he was overwhelmed by the victory as the players stuck to the game plan.

“At one stage in the third quarter, Waulgrovians ‘A’ went up by seven goals, but we fought back and reduced the lead to one goal.

“Thereafter, the players took control of the fourth quarter,” said Hibbert, who feels the team can qualify for the top-two place play-off final.

Anderson said: “Waulgrovians ‘A’ did not necessarily break down in the fourt… quarter but squandered several turnovers and produced a number of unforced errors when it matter most.”

The first quarter produced fast, attacking centre-court plays from both sides, with Mico ‘A’ coming out at the first break with a surprising 16-11 lead.

With shooter Sharna Carridice and Vanessa Walker making full use of their opportunities, Mico kept their lead at half-time, 33-29.

Third quarter action was evenly contested, with Waulgrovians ‘A’ closing the lead, especially through national shooter Jheniele Fowler, who had to do majority of the scoring, while the defenders came under pressure. Waulgrovians managed to lead 47-46 at the final break.

With just a one-goal lead for the former champions, the fourth quarter turned out to be quite exciting as Mico ‘A’, who play just as fast as Waulgrovians, matched their more experienced opponents in the ding-dong battle that ensued.

Mico ‘A’, however, managed to best their opponents in the closing minutes as Waulgrovians failed to capitalise on their turnovers and committed quite a few errors.

Varridice netted 43 goals from 57 attempts and Walker 19 from 28 for Mico ‘A’, while Fowler netted a near perfect 55 from 58 for Waulgrovians ‘A’.

Meanwhile, WINDALO registered their second win from seven games by defeating Tivoli ‘B’, 54-45.