Beausire: The show will likely bounce on
THE late season knockouts may be the only casualties of a basketball calendar stricken by a second lockdown.
Guernsey Basketball Association fixtures man Pete Beausire hopes to run their entire Vistra League programme after lockdown, save for the knockouts that would normally conclude the season.
This follows the precedent set last season when the GBA scrapped the eliminations but ran their standard league fixtures into August.
‘I do not see any reason why we cannot finish our season, unless this goes on for months and months and months,’ Beausire said in respect of a programme that would end in May ordinarily.
‘We had a plan in place that we have basically written off February, which means we lose a month of games, but we have a month’s worth of knockouts.
‘We will probably drop all the knockout fixtures and replace them with league fixtures.’
Playing into the summer should prove no problem, he added, even in the scenario of two months without matches, as their newly-adopted St Sampson’s High venue will remain available.
Beausire expects to keep the original calendar dates where possible, moving postponed matches later into the season.
Meanwhile, he enthused about the camaraderie of the island men’s team, who have been setting each other fitness challenges, and what could await after lockdown.
‘Last time when we got out of lockdown, people were more hungry and they really wanted to play,’ he added.
‘It made a really good end to the season.’
As the Vistra League pauses for breath, another three-horse race is taking shape for the men’s Division One honours.
Le Mont Saint top the table currently, but champions Skipton and the new-look Mayside both have games in hand, and the latter are unbeaten.
Ravenscroft Ravens are flying high in the Women’s Division with an impeccable record of five wins from five.
The serial champions recently thumped the improved Praxis Pumas 78-28, ending the latter’s run of form just hours before the island plunged into a second lockdown.
