Guernsey Press

Farish proud of his side in Gibraltar opener

GUERNSEY made an impressive start to their men’s basketball campaign on Sunday, even though it ended in defeat.

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Guernsey's Jason Hooper makes a pass against Saaremaa. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 25162593)

They really rattled perennial medal contenders Saaremaa yesterday lunchtime in the Tercentenary Sports Hall, but just ran out of time as they fell to a narrow 71-63 loss.

It was a real ding-dong battle with both momentum swinging one way then the other, but although the Sarnians finished the stronger and won the final quarter 15-8, they just could not bridge the gap that Saaremaa had built up in the third.

‘If Saaremaa had played badly or missed a bunch of shots, you would be disappointed with that scoreline, but they were legit, they were making shots and they were coming out with plans for us,’ said coach Adam Farish, pointing to the opposition’s closing down of Jason Hopper late on – which allowed Agris Dulbinskis the chance to execute the biggest slam dunk the arena will see all week – as a prime example.

‘To be that close to the previous gold medal winners is a great start.

‘Historically we have struggled in the third and fourth quarters and we did have a wobble in the third today, but we brought it back, won the fourth and were just a couple of shots from dropping from really scaring them.’

Earlier, the Guernsey women’s side had gone down 55-33 to the Isle of Man, although coach Pat Ogier did not feel that the scoreline reflected how close the two sides were.

  • More in Monday's Guernsey Press.