Collins Stewart go top

CHAMPIONS Collins Stewart moved to the top of the Yorkshire Guernsey Division One with an effective if not convincing win over Le Mont Saint Garage. The eventual score, 68-57, belies the closeness of the game until the last quarter.

For three-quarters of the match it appeared that they could cause an upset but with an injury to James Roberts and a reluctance to give the ball to their most successful player, Michael Beausire, their challenge petered out.

The 13 points from Beausire and 12 from James Tracey were not enough against the 20 from Collins Stewart's Richard Davey and the strong inside work of Nick Jennings with 14.

The difference between the two sides was inside the key in the final quarter when Collins Stewart had size and strength in numbers.

Richmond Worriers in the second division jumped a few places in the league to challenge the leaders when they squeezed home against Cable & Wireless by a single point, 46-45.

Going into the last minutes, the two teams were locked at 45 points each.

The Worriers were awarded two free throws to be taken by Andy Elder with just 20 seconds to go. He had already scored 20 points so it appeared that the game was safely won. He missed both to heighten the tension.

Luckily for them they were awarded two more free throws when Gorg Pflugrat was fouled as he tried for the winning basket.

Confidently he 'glassed' the first throw to take his tally to 16 for the match and with just five seconds to go, it was immaterial that he missed the last throw.

Martel-Dunn rose to second in the third division as they outscored Bachmann 53-25. Both sides had plenty of opportunities to add to their tally but it was Martel-Dunn who achieved more success.

Bachmann relied on the

shooting of Wendy van Katwyk who obliged with 17 points that included three efforts from outside the arc, one of which was nearer the half-way than the three-point line.

Back to full strength, Martel-Dunn were led by Natalie Grainger with 18 points and Alison Keiller showed continued improvement with 14 to sink Bachmann, for whom Marina Bleasdale worked hard to drive her side forward.

In the Business League, the Royal Bank of Canada returned to court with a win over Les Camps Eagles by 70 points to 30.

Aaron Le Masurier started slowly and finally found his touch with 20 points but there was an impressive first outing for Natalie Whitty who scored 12 and showed the value of speed on the fast break.

The Eagles lacked scoring power on this occasion with Marc Le Page scoring 14 points.

Specsavers managed a second win when they overcame the Island U17 girls 60-50 although they were in danger of losing four minutes from the end.

The girls were within two baskets when they missed the

several chances that were presented. They were left to rue their failure as Phil Sweet scored eight points to ensure Specsavers came away with a win.

Adam Grogan cajoled Specsavers constantly to help Chris Bourgaize score 18 points as well as making 20 points himself.

Vicky Loveridge made a welcome return to the team with 16 points but needed more help around the key.