By Carolyn Johnson, Freelance Writer

Members of the St. Hugh's High senior netball team celebrating their 30-25 semi-final victory over Tarrant High in the Digicel/ISSA urban schoolgirls' competition at the Stadium Courts yesterday. - Junior Dowie

St Hugh's High's seniors are off to the ISSA/Digicel urban schoolgirls netball finals tomorrow while the juniors will stay in class.

The senior team won an afternoon off from studies when they beat Tarrant High 30-25 in their semi-final match at the Leila Robinson Courts yesterday. In the other semi-final match, Wolmer's Girls lost 34-27 to Dunoon.

In the junior semi-finals, Queen's defeated St. Hugh's 21-15 while Bridgeport beat Ardenne 16-13.

The St. Hugh's, Tarrant encounter proved to be the most exciting match of the day, as both teams came into the game unbeaten.

Students, teachers and coaches tried to make sure their team would remain the champions as they cheered, booed and stomped thereby increasing the intensity of the game. But it was the St. Hugh's supporters who were to storm the court and pile on their classmates at the end of four quarters.

"These girls really planned for it mentally and physically. They trained overtime yesterday. We had a competent shooter (Dahlia Swaby) and our goalkeeper (Sasha-Gay Lynch) stuck to the task. We lost the third quarter but we got it back near the end," a smiling coach Phillip St. Marie said.

"I'm disappointed but I knew we would lose because we lost two of our defenders who didn't show up for training last week," Tarrant's coach Delroy Johnson said. He explained that he only got to do work in the centre court, as his shooters (Christine Salmon and Samantha White) were away on the national team. "You could have seen it, they were unfit. St. Hugh's came and played well so they deserved to win, but I'm really disappointed."

The quarter finals of the rural competition will begin at 10:30 a.m. today at Brooks Park.

The junior segment will feature:

Anchovy vs Glenmuir; Holmwood vs Bishop Gibson; Cambridge vs Tacus Golding and Denbigh vs Herbert Morrison

The senior games will be: Herbert Morrison vs Holmwood, Edwin Allen vs DeCarteret, Mannings vs Old Harbour and Denbigh vs Manchester.