MVP Hamon spearheads fourth Skipton triumph

They applied the finishing touches to that lofty feat in a Friday night finale where, although Mayside formed the opposition at St Sampson’s High, any one of three teams could have become champions depending on the final score.

Mayside had a long-shot of clinching the title on points difference, but that would have required a hefty 35-point win, while a smaller Skipton loss would have passed the honours to Le Mont Saint.

Yet Skipton held their nerve to win the decider 62-46 – thus concluding an intriguing three-horse title race.

And it was only fitting that 2019-20 MVP Max Hamon spearheaded the winning cause.

Amid tight zone defences and inhospitable circles both ways, Hamon’s mastery of the three-pointer proved instrumental in carving out a 21-goal lead well before half-time. They needed that buffer.

Hamon’s first scoring contribution came shortly after the tip-off when, after Mayside opened from a Jason Hull free-throw, he sank a fine three from the corner.

Skipton big man Sam Simon was snatching almost every rebound going and both teams enjoyed a few good chances in the following minutes, yet the scoreline was barely growing.

That was until Mayside’s Kaine Hyde came through. Young Hyde was never afraid to pop a shot and quickly nailed two three-pointers, putting the underdogs 7-6 up.

Their fortune largely ended there, though, as Skipton dropped a few good baskets and ended the quarter 15-9 ahead, Hamon’s second three-pointer being the finale.

Hamon scored from beyond the arc twice more just after resumption and veteran Paul Van Beek fired yet another three-pointer for Skipton, rallying their team while Mayside truly struggled to answer.

The upshot was that suddenly, after just 15 minutes, Skipton led 30-9.

It became a more even exchange in the run to half-time, reached 37-17, and quarter three was a dead heat.

But Mayside were determined to see the game out and with five minutes on the clock, they had slashed the deficit to 13 points.

The imposing Nico Robinson continued to impress both offensively and defensively, but young Lucas Ozanne upstaged him in that particular purple patch with a quick burst of seven points.

That resolute surge faded in the dying minutes as Skipton took the game and the title.

Hamon remained their clear top-scorer at 16 points – almost entirely from his five three-pointers – followed by Matt Sawbridge’s nine and Aaron Walden’s eight.

‘We had a lot of pressure on us coming into the game, knowing we had to win it to win the league,’ Skipton and Island captain Walden said.

‘It was not our best performance, but we stuck through it and managed to get over the line and get the win.

‘Every season is a new team, so it’s good to keep Skipton winning.

‘It was a stop-start season with lockdown, so it’s good to come out top, finishing the season strongly.’

Ultimately, the Guernsey Basketball Association’s top-flight draft system had created three competitive and well-balanced teams, but the mid-season injury of influential captain Jason Hooper proved too big an obstacle for Mayside to overcome.

Robinson instead headed their scoring this time around with 12 points, followed by Ben Colley’s 11.

Deputising captain Robinson admitted his team had suffered from being slow out the gate.

‘We showed good character coming back at the end, and we did not drop our heads in the fourth quarter,’ he said.

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