The touring Sarnians faced a significant obstacle in the form of James Regalado, who scored a phenomenal 47 points towards his Falklands team’s eventual 82-79 triumph in Ynys Mon yesterday morning.
This contrasted starkly with Guernsey’s 97-39 victory over the Falklands at the home Island Games.
Regalado did not get to show his full colours then, going out injured in quarter one, and Guernsey coach Adam Farish admitted he was surprised to see him score so heavily yesterday.
‘He was the difference, really,’ Farish said.
‘He had an outstanding game.’
This relatively new-look Guernsey squad had gone in hampered by the 11th-hour withdrawal of Nico Robinson, who had chosen to stay home and support his pregnant wife, denying them a particularly dominant physical presence.
The Greens’ inexperience of the situation showed as the Falklands blitzed the first quarter 30-18 – no mean feat against the proven Sarnian defence.
Regalado was not only dominant on the scoreboard but would produce 10 rebounds and seven steals to be crowned MVP. His impact would have been even greater if not for Guernsey captain Aaron Walden’s battling defensive efforts.
By half-time, the deficit had stretched to 20 points, giving Guernsey a mountain to climb if they were to get that important first win on the board in this five-day, round-robin competition.
But they nearly did. The Sarnians came back out fighting, with James Alderton stepping in to lead a big defensive effort and Max Hamon making his mark with a flurry of three-pointers.
After going into the final quarter 66-59 down, Guernsey had a definite shot at snatching the victory.
It was a close call, with Guernsey tying the game in the final minute, but ultimately being unable to get over the line.
‘We did it to ourselves a little bit,’ admitted Farish.
‘First half, we showed some nerves and a lack of experience.
‘We have not been in this situation before – the 9am start too.’
He blamed turnovers and giving up shots for their early deficit.
‘To give away 30 points in one quarter is unheard of given our defence.
‘We got ourselves in too big a hole, though the guys came back really well from 20 points down to be back in the game.’
Outside of the long-term senior players, the coach also praised youngsters Saul Falla and Harry Heaume for stepping up and playing ‘some good minutes’.
Overall, there certainly were positives to be taken ahead of the remaining matches, the next of which is against the Isle of Man at 2pm today.
‘The fact they came away and then won the second half by 17 points, if they can do that over four quarters in any game, they will be all right.
‘We can take the learnings from the first half and we have got the momentum from the second half.’
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