Blaze A captain Saunders proud of her young guard

The annual Deloitte Winter League Premier Division title-pushers’ first meeting of the season against Lightning Strike suggested a close contest, which it was – eventually.

A resurgent Lightning ultimately lost out 50-45 after equalising in the final quarter at Les Varendes, having successfully climbed the mountain of a 15-point deficit at half-time.

Both sides had highs and lows. But Blaze’s storming second quarter, orchestrated by their five U19s on court, showed them in a new light.

They dominated that period 19-8 and captain Zola Saunders had to praise that young quintet – GS substitute Sophia Roger, GA Eva Bourgaize, WA Frankie Savident, C Demi Young and GK McKenzie Rich.

‘I’m super proud of them,’ she said after watching that quarter contentedly from the bench.

‘That combination of U19s, they were just so good to watch.’

Blaze had been the slightly stronger side in quarter one, leading 14-10, and a fairly even exchange of goals followed the break.

But then Lightning suffered from errors and Blaze struck a significant scoring run, making it 33-18. That included spotless shooting from Bourgaize and Roger with player-of-the-match Savident supporting them.

Strike impact sub Kiara Walsh – their eventual POM – helped them break a shooting rut and get back into the game in quarter three, which ended with them trailing 39-31.

Then the improbable happened. To vocalised surprise from spectators on the stage, a determined Lightning fought back hard and drew level at the 42-goal mark midway through the final quarter.

But Strike soon ran out of steam and with Blaze getting several important turnovers – McKenzie and circle ally Ella Staples contributing significantly – that they soon capitalised on, they reached the half-century mark in the dying embers.

‘We were awesome,’ Saunders said.

‘We had a wobble, and I generally think that’s just down to experience, as we’re kind of a building team again.

‘We had five U19s on and when we ran away with it, we sat back a bit, and fair play to Specsavers [Lightning] – they really, really pushed us. They definitely gave us a good fight.’

Weighing future development with their league ambitions, she added: ‘We want to be competitive, but we’ve also got a very young squad, which we’re building and getting used to playing with.

‘We want the girls to go out there and do their best, and I think they can.

‘Although they’re only U19s, they can compete for it.’

For opposition captain Donna Brehaut, whose composed shooting had been instrumental to Lightning’s comeback, it was a ‘game of two halves’.

‘We stepped it up in the second half and showed great resilience to pull back a 15-goal deficit,’ she said.

‘We have got to make sure we get a better start.

‘We will take the positives from the way we pulled it back, but disappointed in our first half.’

Another notable performer for Strike, who also had converted Blaze player Abbie Greening shooting against her previous side for the first time, was the versatile Lyndsey Bell.

Although Blaze, Lightning and Rezzers Green have been the clear top three in recent years, a dark horse seems to have emerged in the ‘Prem’.

Hot off a victory against Blaze the previous week, Rezzers Black walloped Lightning Flash 82-29 that same night at St Sampson’s High.

A 19-8 first quarter proved impressive enough, but a massive performance in the next period gave them a practically insurmountable 46-15 lead by half-time.

Rezzers GK Viv Kemgne and Lightning C Kerys Chamberlain were crowned POMs for their respective sides.

With inter-insular veterans’ champions Verona Tomlin, Tiff Gervaise-Brazier and Anna Sauvarin (nee Trump) in the side, plus the intriguing addition of Naomi Szmierek, the Rezzers ‘B’ team’s arsenal looks very capable this season.