A LARGE home support failed to ignite Guernsey as they lost to UWIC Archers II by 15 points at Beau Sejour on Saturday.  The Greens’ first national basketball league match on home soil did not go to plan as they were undone by a well-organised UWIC side.  The results saw the students jump to the top of the table and Guernsey remain third from bottom.

More than 100 people turned up at the leisure centre to watch the encounter.

‘Disappointing. We didn’t play well enough,’ said Guernsey coach Pat Ogier  ‘All the talk beforehand was about having the opportunity to play in front of our home crowd to show how far we’ve come and it was disappointing because we didn’t play to our full potential at the end of the day. Whether that’s nerves, I don’t know.  It was inexcusable the number of times we turned the ball over.  We never got going and when we got a run they found a way of putting a cap on it.  We didn't perform and they did and that's why they came away with a win.'

 

League regulations mean that Guernsey cannot play their national league fixtures at Beau Sejour.  They instead have to play their 'home' matches at Hamble Community Sports Centre just outside Southampton.  Earlier in the season they were due to play at UWIC but problems with the university side's court meant the match had to be postponed.  UWIC asked for the game to be replayed in Guernsey and, after approval from England Basketball, the match went ahead on Saturday.  Seating was put up on the adjacent court and the Guernsey supporters tried their best to get their side going.  'It's always great to have home support,' said Ogier, 'they always make a noise which spurs the girls on.  I just wish we could do it every week,'

The home supporters did not have much to cheer about when the game got going as it took the Greens more than five minutes to score their first points, which were two free throws from Jenny Rees, while UWIC already had eight on the board.

The Sarnians were struggling to penetrate their opponents' well-organised defence.  UWIC's point guard, Rachel Woods, ran her side's offence effectively while the visiting captain, Annabelle Hardiman, was a threat.  However, Guernsey eventually got going to narrow the gap to five points to finish the first quarter 11-16 down.  But while UWIC were composed when they had the ball, Guernsey were the opposite and tended to throw up shots willy-nilly.  When they kept it simple and stuck to the basics they were effective.  Rees and Gemma Batiste were the home side's most driven players and a lay-up by Batiste saw her side just one point behind at 25-26 come half-time.

Guernsey had outscored their opponents by 14 points to 10 in the second quarter.  But the students regrouped during the break and came out hard in the third.  The island side kept in touch with them thanks to one big three-pointer from Emma Hicks but UWIC started to step away towards the end of the quarter.  They set a trap on the halfway line which continually cornered and isolated Guernsey's ball carrier.  As a result Ogier's team turned the ball over too many times.

Going into the final quarter Guernsey were down 42-49 and needed to pull out all the stops if they were to make something out of the game.  Rochelle Vaudin hit a delightful three-pointer that kept her side in the hunt.  But their cause was not helped when their best player, Rees, was fouled out earlier on in the stanza.

Hardiman was also coming into her own and Guernsey were taking a battering on the inside from UWIC's fearsome centre, Moka Halbertsma.  Batiste kept driving to the basket but the rest of her team were guilty of being too wishy-washy in the attack.  Batiste top scored with 18 points.

UWIC's coach Sarah Wagstaff was not impressed with her team's efforts.  'It was pretty sloppy.  We started quite well but then we got lazy in defence.  Guernsey cut to the basket well and credit to them.  They punished us under the basket.  It's been great coming here and thanks to Guernsey and to Pat Ogier.  The girls have loved it and the crowd was great.  It's great to see the community get behind the team here.'

 

 

Guernsey and UWIC meet again next Sunday in Hamble.  The day before the Greens take on second place Solent Suns.  'It's going to be a tough weekend,' said Ogier. 'They are both good sides.'