DEFENDING champions St Andrew High defeated arch-rivals The Queen’s School, 35-19, in the ISSA/Digicel Urban Area High Schoolgirls Senior League netball competition at the Leila Robinson Courts yesterday.

It was an unexpectedly easy win for the Jennifer Brown-coached St Andrew who not only won the feature clash, but also maintained their unbeaten streak.

Brown was pleased with the team’s performance and said it was an awesome triumph. “It was a very good match as all the players held their own nicely,” she said.

“Our strategy plan was to go out there early and attack Queen’s defence and also shut off their attackers by applying a tight defence,” Brown said.

She said shooters Tiffany Clarke and Janielle Green combined well to get the goals inside, while Azeza McCarty and wing-defence Jamie-Lee Bishop were superb in their defensive positions, cutting off and intercepting the forward passes from The Queen’s.

For Queen’s, it was a bitter defeat for assistant coach Kerry Smith, who took over for Marvette Anderson who is on national duties with the Sunshine Girls at the FAST-5 Tournament in New Zealand.

St Andrew, through shooters Clarke and Green, gave the defending champions a 10-4 lead at the first quarter and by half-time were up, 17-9. Queen’s shooters Kadijah Williams and Ramona Haughton were not as accurate as the opponents gave them few opportunities by outjumping them for the high passes.

St Andrew increased their tally to 24-17 at the end of the third quarter before outscoring their opponents, 11-2, in the final quarter for a convincing win.

Meanwhile, defending Junior League champions St Hugh’s High, coached by George Pryce, maintained their unbeaten streak with a comprehensive 44-23 win over Norman Manley High.

Shooters Kadie-Ann Duhaney and Jenelle Jones went on a spree as they led 14-4, 24-11 (half-time), 34-14 and 44-23.

Former Senior League champions St Hugh’s brushed away Norman Manley, 47-16, led by shooters Adean Thomas and Norrika Morgan. They led 9-4, 16-9, 32-13 and 47-16. St Hugh’s are unbeaten so far.

Another unbeaten Senior League team, St Catherine High defeated St Jago, 38-15, with shooters Anastasia Williams and Tashana Clarke allowing them to maintain the lead, 9-2, 20-3, 28-6 and 38-15.

Camperdown, also unbeaten in the Senior League, pulled off an exciting 37-36 win at the final whistle over Charlie Smith after 13-6 and 19-17.

Camperdown remained unbeaten in the Juniors as they defeated Papine, 25-8. The Queen’s rallied to defeat Meadowbrook, 25-18.

Meanwhile, Holy Childhood upset St Andrew High, 18-14, after leading 4-0, 11-4, 12-10 and winning, 18-14. Tarrant outscored St Jago, 26-12, with quarterly scores of 6-5, 13-6, 20-9 and 26-12. Vauxhall defeated Bridgeport, 22-9.

In other Senior League matches, Mona defeated Spanish Town, 38-17, with quarterly scores of 8-8, 14-12, 24-17 and 38-17, while Bridgeport defeated Greater Portmore, 34-11.

The Junior and Senior competitions continue tomorrow, starting at 1:15 pm.