DEFENDING champions General Accident Insurance defeated arch-rival Scotiabank ‘A’ 46-38 to retain their 2013 Business House Netball Association (BHNA) Senior ‘A’ League title at the National Stadium last Saturday.

The insurance aggregation also captured the double, as prior to the start of Senior League, they had defeated Jamaica Broilers in the Open League competition.

They made their presence felt quickly in the first quarter by racing to an 8-2 lead before the first break at 15-7 led by shooters Margaret Lawrence and Sabrina Spence. At the other end, the bankers’ shooters of Tenisha Bernard and Naudia Brown failed to get on even terms with the defending champions.

Scotiabank ‘A’ managed to narrow the gap 19-15 in the second quarter, but despite outscoring the defending champions 10-8, they still trailed 23-17 at the half-time break.

General Accident maintained at least a five-point lead with the bankers closing quickly 31-29, but once again failed in their bid as a few turnovers were squandered inside the centre third as the defending champions moved away again 35-30 at the third-quarter break.

Scotiabank ‘A’ saw their lead cut to 38-35, but soon dominated the fourth and final quarter through centre court players Tamara Hylton, Nadine Bryan, Shanice Lee as they increased the lead to 42-34.

With the bankers struggling to contain their opponents, defenders coach/player Oberon Pitterson-Nattie and Samantha Mundle kept their attackers at bay with some nice interceptions.

For General Accident, Spence netted 29 goals from 33 attempts and Lawrence 17 goals from 19 attempts, while for Scotiabank ‘A’, Coleman scored 22 goals from 36 attempts, Brown 10 from 20 efforts and Bernard six from nine attempts.

Spence was voted most valuable player in the Super ‘A’ League final.

Meanwhile, winning coach Pitterson-Nattie said the team had a very good start and the players kept up the challenge to stay in front all the way to the end.

“We adjusted and made some changes and it was a very good victory as it was a team effort,” said Pitterson-Nattie. “We also took a time-out to break Scotiabank’s momentum in the fourth quarter when they closed the lead to three goals.”

Winston Nevers, coach of Scotiabank, said the shooting was very poor throughout the entire match, especially in the first quarter where “we trailed by eight”.