Henry-Wright: Sunshine Girls ‘peaking at the right time’

Following the Sunshine Girls’ 74-28 victory over Wales in their final Pool B match at the Commonwealth Games yesterday, head coach Sasher-Gaye Henry-Wright said the team is peaking at the right time ahead of Saturday’s semifinal showdown against Australia.

Jamaica, which won a historic silver medal at the previous Commonwealth Games four years ago, turned in one of their best performances of the tournament.

“It was a very good game from us, but Wales did push us early in the game. But the girls had better control in terms of structure and they were also very good defensively,” assessed Henry-Wright. “However, we still have a few things that we need to fine-tune before that semifinal game against Australia.”

Henry-Wright was particularly pleased with the team’s ability to reduce the number of turnovers.

“I think that we are now getting it right because (in the) last three games that we played that wasn’t the performances that we really wanted. But we had a lot of turnovers and we spoke about it before this game, and I think that we really eliminated those turnovers. So I am feeling very pleased going into Saturday’s game,” she said.

“It was also good to see more discipline in our through play and so it was a very good performance from us because they were very determined and focused today.”

IMPRESSIVE START

The Sunshine Girls made an impressive start, executing efficiently at both ends of the court to establish a comfortable 36-18 halftime lead.

Jamaica continued to dominate after the break, delighting spectators with crisp passing, intelligent movement off the ball and a disciplined defensive effort. The Sunshine Girls outscored Wales 16-5 in the third quarter to extend their advantage to 52-23 heading into the final period.

The Sunshine Girls completed the victory in emphatic fashion, overwhelming Wales 22-5 in the fourth quarter.

Veteran goal shooter Romelda Aiken-George led the Jamaican attack with 26 goals from 30 attempts, while Shanice Beckford matched her tally with 26 goals. Rhea Dixon also made a valuable contribution, with six goals from eight attempts.