DEFENDING champions John Mills and Windward Road both retained their Junior and Senior League titles, respectively, at the 2009 Institute of Sports (INSPORTS) Junior High Schoolgirls netball finals which ended at the Leila Robinson Courts last Friday.

It was a similar situation last year where both teams shared the titles for both the Junior and Senior Leagues.

John Mills defeated Windward Road 14-9 at the junior level, while Windward Road turned the tables on John Mills with an exciting extra time 23-22 win in the senior competition.

The Senior League final between unbeaten teams, champions Windward Road and John Mills, was the best match seen for a very long time as it provided the spectators with lots of action and tense moments.

John Mills took the first quarter 7-4 through shooters Rene Medley and Abby Gayle Mullings after gaining more possession and putting better passes together.

The second quarter saw Windward Road coming into their own with their shooters Lisa Blackwood and Nahara Smith along with their centre court players. With the game evenly contested and few turnovers being wasted, Windward Road outscored John Mills 6-4 goals, but still trailed 11-10 at half time.

Action continued in the third quarter with play still even between the teams as they began working harder with the scores locked three times at 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15 before John Mills netted a goal in taking a narrow 16-15 lead at the break.

With the game so close, it could have gone to either team in the fourth quarter as attacking plays switched from either end.

Windward Road levelled the scores 16-16 before John Mills scored two unanswered goals for a 18-16 lead, but the defending champions quickly pulled back a goal to be 18-17 behind. The scores were tied again 19-19 and also at the final whistle 20-20.

The game then went into a four minute extra time spell to determine the winner with Windward Road netting two quick goals at the restart to take a 22-20 lead before John Mills netted for 22-21. John Mills netted again to make the scores tied once more 22-22.

Windward Road scored once more for a 23-22 lead, while John Mills seemed to have lost their shooting rhythm and missed quite a few scoring chances.