DEFENDING champions Scotiabank ‘A’ registered a resounding 44-16 win over Appliance Traders Limited (ATL) in the 2017 Business House Netball Association Open League final at the Leila Robinson Courts last Saturday night.

The win enabled the Winston Nevers-coached Scotiabank ‘A’ to retain their crown while completing the Open League competition as the only unbeaten team. This was however the first defeat handed to ATL in the competition.

All the participating teams will now look forward to the divisional leagues — Senior, Intermediate and Junior — which are scheduled to begin in another two weeks.

Nevers said Scotiabank ‘A’ played extremely well. “We did not expect to win by such a wide margin as the scores in the semi-final play-offs had some close finishes, but surprisingly we won convincingly.

“Our aim, however, was to play a fast-attacking pace so as to wear down our opponents, try and dominate centre court, and also shut down balls from reaching inside our shooting circle, because ATL has two dangerous shooters in that position,” Nevers said.

The Scotiabank coach said ATL is a good team which didn’t play badly, but his team was more experienced, much better, and stronger overall in all departments of play. “We had planned to make the least number of mistakes to come out victorious.”

Losing Captain Shian Gonzales said she was very disappointed not only on the performance of the team, but the way in which ATL lost by such a wide margin. “I did not expect to lose so badly. This was one of our poorest performances from the players as we allowed our opponents to take control and dominate the match. The team produced too many mistakes that included several turnovers and failing to score our chances,” Gonzales said.

“When you allow a team like Scotiabank ‘A’ to secure a big lead, it is going to be very hard to catch them back as they have been playing together for many years and know how to win championships,” Gonzales noted.

Gonzales congratulated Scotiabank for their final victory as they played extremely well. “We now will have to try and lower our turnovers, build our endurance level and be very consistent in our approach in the upcoming divisional league, in which ATL will be placed in the Senior League section.”

Meanwhile, action in the first quarter was quite evenly contested with ATL applying the early pressure. Shenova Edwards gave them a 2-0 lead before the bankers opened their scoring.

ATL were going neck and neck in the scoring, with the defending champions being aided by Edwards and Captain Gonzales. The champions then scored two consecutive goals to lead 8-6 at the break.

Scotiabank ‘A’ then dominated the second quarter for a 20-7 lead at half-time.

Scotiabank ‘A’, who were in total control of the match, scored 12 unanswered goals in the third quarter for a commanding 36-8 lead at the break.

For Scotiabank ‘A’, goal shooter Tennisha Bernard netted 33 goals from 37 attempts and goal attack Shadian Hemmings added 11 goals from 13 efforts, while for ATL goal shooter Shenova Edwards scored 10 goals from 20 attempts and goal attack Gonzales scored six goals from 12 efforts.

Meanwhile, the Consolation Knockout final was won by Jamaica National (JN) Group who edged past Urban Development Corporation (UDC) 25-24. Rebekah Robinson scored 14 goals from 22 attempts and Tajmaine Marsh got nine goals from 18 efforts for the winners, while Nekiesha Cohen scored 17 goals from 20 attempts and Keisha Cohen added seven goals from 11 efforts for UDC.

National Housing Trust ‘A’ defeated Ministry of Education ‘A’ 21-15 to take third place in the Open League, while National Commercial Bank beat Bank of Jamaica 14-11 for third place in the Consolation Knockout competition.