LE MONT SAINT are the Division One champions for 2006-07. In just their second season, the James Tracey-coached team picked up the biggest trophy in domestic basketball for the first time when they defeated Collins Stewart Two 62-44 at Beau Sejour last night.
‘I’m very, very pleased as it’s been something that I’ve wanted to win ever since I started playing basketball in Guernsey,’ said New Zealander Tracey.
‘It’s especially sweet to beat a Collins Stewart team to sew up the league, because there’s been such a rivalry. We’re so strong and experienced and everyone brings something different to the team.’
One of the key elements to Saints success this year has been former Muratti midfielder Jan Renouf, who a couple of years ago turned his back on Priaulx and island football to concentrate on basketball.
He said this league triumph was as sweet as any Priaulx title he had won.
‘It’s just as good because basketball is a sport that I love and whenever you win a championship, it’s just as good,’ said Renouf.
‘I think we started the season slowly but as the season went on we really picked our game up and we started playing as a team and that really showed. By the end we were as hot as a flaming sambuca.’
Saints’ island star Mark Barnett thought his team were the best outfit during the year.
‘I think we deserved it,’ he said.
‘This season the main difference from last season seems to be that when we aren’t playing well, we still stuck with teams so when we started playing well there wasn’t such a gap to come back from.’
That certainly seemed to be the case last night as they found themselves down by 16-10 by the end of the first quarter.
As the match got more physical, Collins picked up fouls but maintained their six-point advantage to lead 22-16 midway through the second quarter.
In response, Saints proceeded to hit their rhythm to level things by half-time at 24-all.
The whites never looked back as they began to pull the strings and by the dying moments of the game, Saints had a 58-44 lead as big centre Mike Beausire hit one two-pointer quickly followed by another.
His brother, Pete, missed an easy lay up right on the final buzzer but it did not matter as Saints had won 62-44.
Le Mont Saint: Barnett, Frihmat, Lawlor, Tracey, P. Beausire, M. Beausire, Renouf, Robert.
Collins Stewart Two: Govett, Smyth, van Beek, Farish, Hooper, Wilson, Wilkes, Chester.
Article posted on 15th May, 2007 - 12.00am
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