Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica's captain Simone Forbes (right) catches the ball ahead of her teammate Nadine Bryan (left) and South Africa's Refiloe Mochaka during the final of the National Commercial Bank Sunshine Savers netball series at the National Indoor Sports Complex on Thursday night. Jamaica won 61-47. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Following the Sunshine Girls' 61-47 victory over South Africa in the final of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Sunshine Savers tri-nation series at the National Indoor Sports Complex on Thursday night, head coach Connie Francis said she was impressed with the level of maturity shown by her young players throughout the series.

Committed to programme

"I think our young players have grown throughout this series because they have committed to the programme and it is only a pity that I couldn't have given them a lot more playing time because they have really earned it," said Francis.

"It is good to know that we have quality players who can stand their ground and keep their composure and know that it is a close game and we have to keep our lead and not lose it," said Francis.

It was not the first time during the series that she was showering praises on her young charges.

After beating South Africa 53-38 in their first match-up on Tuesday night, Francis had said: "I'm really impressed with Vanessa Walker and Malysha Kelly because they really stepped up and played well for us and these are two of our Under-21 players."

Jamaica went unbeaten in three matches during the series, but in spite of the success, Francis says they need to work on ball-handling skills because it is one of their major pitfalls.

In Thursday's match-up, the Jamaicans came out firing in the first quarter as they quickly took an 18-11 lead at the end of the period.

However, the South Africans rallied strongly in the second period through their goal shooter, Claudia Basson, who sunk 10 of her 34 goals during the period. But the Jamaicans held on to a 29-26 lead at half-time.

Francis introduced a number of Under-21 players at the start of the third quarter and they outscored the South Africans (12-11) for a 41-37 lead going into the final quarter.

Romelda Aiken, top scorer in the Girls' win over South Africa on Tuesday, stepped up her game in the fourth period, scoring eight straight goals to extend the home team's advantage to 12 goals (56-44). This led the South African coach, Carin Strauss, to call a time-out with less than four minutes remaining.

Solid support

However, the time-out did not stop the Sunshine Girls as they scored goal after goal to romp to a comfortable victory.

Aiken finished the match with 40 goals from 45 attempts and received solid support from captain Simone Forbes, who sunk 21 from 25 tries. Tsakane Mbewe was the next best scorer for the South Africans, with 13 goals from 18 attempts.

Francis said she was satisfied with her team's effort.

"I think this was a gusty performance, really a good effort by the girls," said Francis. "I also believe it was a good effort by the South African team because they came out and they really challenged us tonight."

Meanwhile, Strauss said, "I don't think we played well in the third and fourth quarters because our legs weren't getting us where we wanted to go. But I am happy with the players. I think the Jamaicans played well ... it was a nice high-scoring game for spectators and I think we really tried our best tonight."