Paul-Andre Walker, Staff Reporter
Jamaica's wing attack, Oberon Pitterson, grabs the ball ahead of New Zealand centre Temepara George, during the final of the NEM Tri-Nation Cup series at the National Indoor Sports Centre last night. New Zealand won the game 67-32. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
NEW ZEALAND ran away with the NEM Insurance Tri-Nation Cup after a 67-32 demolition of Jamaica's Sunshine Girls at the National Indoor Sports Centre last night.
From the get-go, the Silver Ferns were all over the Jamaicans, racing to an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The combination of Jodi-Ann Ffrench and Elaine Davis in the shooting arc never got going and Oberon Pitterson initially looked a little out of her depth at wing attack, with Laura Longman doing a very good job of keeping her away from the ball.
The second quarter wasn't any better from a Jamaican standpoint with Nicole Aiken and Nichala Gibson being given very harsh treatment from the pairing of Jodi Tehuna and Belinda Colling. That duo pushed the score to 31-17 and the game was virtually decided by halftime.
CRUSHING DEFENCE
Some life came to the court in the third quarter when Nicole Aiken and Davis teamed up in the arc, with Davis showing better movement at goal attack and Aiken showing better positioning at goal shoot, however, the crushing defence of the Silver Ferns in the middle of the court meant that getting the ball to them remained difficult.
That, added to Irene Van Dyk's entrance to the court, meant that the Jamaicans had more struggling to do.
Starting at 52-21, the fourth quarter was really just a matter of trying to salvage some pride and the Jamaicans had trouble doing even that.
Although they managed 11 goals, they failed to stop the scoring of the Silver Ferns, who raced to 67, bringing back memories of 1994 when they racked up their highest total against the Jamaicans at 71.
After the game, New Zealand's coach, Ruth Aitken, said the game wasn't as one-sided as the score suggested.
DIFFICULT GAME
"The score might look as though it was one-sided but the game didn't feel that way, it was very difficult," said Aitken.
Jamaica coach Janet Guy thought her team had underperformed.
"We underperformed today. There were too many turnovers and too many mistakes. We just have to go back to the drawing board," Guy said.
"The girls are young and we haven't been training with this particular set of girls for a long time, but they will have to learn fast," she said.
For the Jamaicans, Davis ended with 17 goals from 23 attempts, while Aiken had six from eight. Ffrench never shot much and ended with five from seven while Latoya Thomas had a perfect four from four.
For the visitors, Tehuna had 30 from 31, while Van Dyk had 23 from 24 and Colling ended with 14 from 17.
