GUERNSEY did what they could to ensure progression to the women’s play-off yesterday morning. Victory against the Isle of Man at the Venetoklio Hall meant that Pat Ogier’s team finished the group stage with five points having won two from three.
They were then left to wait for the result of the match between Bermuda, who beat the Sarnians in a tight battle on Monday evening, and the Cayman Islands.
‘Hopefully this gets us into the semis,’ said Ogier after the 47-35 win over the Manx.
He was right, it did.
Bermuda beat Cayman 64-44 and the reward for Guernsey is a semi-final against Group B winners Menorca.
Admittedly, the Sarnians made it harder for themselves than they should have done by enduring long periods when they did not capitalise on the multitude of opportunities they created against plucky opposition.
But, led once again by the superb Liz Kerr, they finally broke clear in the last couple of minutes when they turned on the style.
‘We have played two immense games against two very good sides before this and people were obviously tired,’ said Ogier
‘Coming out this morning for a 9 o’clock start after only a few hours’ sleep, having played last evening, was always going to be a big ask.
‘And all credit to the Isle of Man. They had nothing to lose and they made it really tough for us.’
With exhausted bodies, it was no wonder that Guernsey, who were without Kerri Brown and Emma Hicks due to injury, did not fly out of the blocks and it required a late rally to edge into a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Sarnians began to get into their stride in the second period, with the catalyst being a Kerr interception which led to a three-point play to increase the gap to five points at one stage before they went in at half-time 24-20 up.
A miserable five-minute period midway through the third allowed the Isle of Man back into the game when they had not been threatening to do so and they even took the lead briefly before Lenka Mascherucci claimed an important offensive rebound and followed it with a basket to level it at 31-31 going into the last quarter.
Strong drives to the basket by Kerr and Mascherucci put Guernsey back in control during the next three minutes and they pulled away over the last 90 seconds as they produced some exciting passages of play.
Kerr, who played the whole 40 minutes, finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Emma Pattimore contributed seven points while Amy Wright had the same number of rebounds.
‘We always had the feeling that we would get a roll going. Unfortunately, we left it till the last quarter to do so,’ said Ogier, before paying tribute to his team.
‘These are fantastic players who have worked so hard for three games, they deserve to make the semis.
‘There are good teams in the other group and the standard is probably better than we anticipated with the three new teams - Menorca, Prince Edward Island and Bermuda - proving to be very good.
‘It will be tough and we have got to work really hard, but I still feel we have a chance of making the final.’
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