Barbados easily defeated the Under-21 Squad 76-26 Friday night at the Netball Stadium, as the newly-announced national side continued its preparations towards next month’s World Netball Championships in Singapore.
The starting line-up, which featured Laurel Browne, Nikita Piggott, Sabreena Smith, Latonya Blackman, Kizzy Marville, Lisa Puckerin and Shonette Azore-Bruce, rushed to a 25-4 lead.
Browne was a perfect 15 from 15 and Piggott ten from 12 in that quarter.
The same combination had a very healthy 43-7 half-time lead. In contrast, Chemyne Alleyne was held to six from eight and Jeneice Clarke one goal for the Under-21s.
In the third, Lydia Bishop replaced Browne at goal shooter; Sabrina Browne came in at wing attack; Damisha Croney at centre; Samantha Browne took over at wing defence and Fay Sealy replaced Azore-Bruce.
The lead stretched to 62-20, but the Under-21 combination of Shonica Wharton (11/12) and Shannon Hackett also did much better on the attack. Wharton made a big impact, finishing with 16 from 17.
Senior head coach Alwyn Babb said they were able to cut down many of the errors and also executed some of the set plays they had been working on.
He said some people would have questioned using Blackman at centre, but she needed room to run and the goal defence/goalkeeper roles tended to restrict her.
“At centre, she was really able to explode as a player. She restricted the ball coming through the middle when Barbados was defending and assisted with a smooth transition on the attack.”
Babb said they were getting closer to determining the Barbados starting seven.
Last night, the team was scheduled to take ona Combined Clubs unit which would’ve been a better test of their ability to make sound decisions under pressure.
Summarized scores:Barbados 76 (Laurel Browne 26/32,Nikita Piggott 29/34, Lydia Bishop 21/28). Under-21 Squad 26 (Chemyne Alleyne 6/8, Jeneice Clarke 1/2, Shonica Wharton 16/17, Shannon Hackett 3/6). Quarter scores: 25-4, 43-7, 62-20.