LMS firmly in the driving seat

Now, in a campaign that has gone to the final match, they will face champions Skipton in a season decider knowing that the title is theirs should they avoid a drubbing.

That follows a 63-50 victory against at St Sampson’s High against Mayside, who were long ago relegated to being third wheels in the title race but have not let that get them down.

The purple-and-whites continued their recent return to form and won the first quarter 21-18 in a scoring show headed by big man Martin Yabsley, who performed strongly in a clash against fellow titan Mike Beausire.

But a quality LMS roster, who nevertheless missed deadly outside-shooting threat Max Hamon, came out guns blazing from the interval and powered ahead to 40-32 by half-time.

They benefited from the return of Dan Marriott and fine form from Peter Beausire – who had just two hours earlier, in his alternative rowing focus, helped power LMS Pairs to a men’s doubles class victory – as they scored the lion’s share of points that quarter.

LMS made it 56-39 following a similarly strong third quarter but struggled in the last as Mayside rallied back slightly.

Amid a burst of consolatory points from Mayside coach Shek Sesay, young LMS player Lucas Ozanne earned his place in the game’s highlight reel by coming off the bench and scoring a three-pointer – his side’s last points.

Marriott scored a leading 21 points total as Pete Beausire finished on 12, one clear of junior Harry Gent.

Yabsley had a 20-point game for Mayside as Sesay contributed 11.

‘As a whole, I think the team played really well – really proud of them – and James Tracey did a great job rotating the whole team,’ said Pete Beausire, who is also Guernsey Basketball Association president.

LMS now lead Skipton by a single point, meaning a win, ideally, or a battling loss – within 32 points – in the decider would see them crowned champions.

That critical match takes place at St Sampson’s High on Monday 16 May, tip-off 9pm.

‘Basically it’s coming down to the last game of the season,’ the president said.

‘Anything can happen. Pretty confident in ourselves and hopefully pretty confident that we can get the win – that’s really important for us.

‘It will be good to finish the season on a high.’