The Bermuda basketball team delivered another dominant display in the defence of their title after thrashing Faroe Islands 71-18 in Jersey yesterday.

The team’s impressive showing was one of the highlights of day four of the NatWest Island Games for Bermuda, with the defending champions finishing their group with a perfect record of four wins.

Steve Simons, one of three Bermuda captains, admitted the team barely stepped out of first gear against a weak Faroe Islands.

“Today’s game was all about fine-tuning for us,” Simons said. “We knew the competition was pretty weak, so we really focused on running our stuff and executing with precision.”

Bermuda powered to a 14-0 lead after three minutes, extending their advantage to 36-12 by half-time and only allowed six points for the remainder of the game to cap off a convincing performance.

“We made a conscious effort to play solid defence and rely on our defensive philosophy to get the result we wanted,” said Simons, who plays as a guard.

“The second unit got a lot of minutes today which only bodes well for our future games. They stepped up and played well and it gives us something to build on going forward.”

Despite missing a few key players from the previous three gold-medal teams, Simons said he was confident Bermuda would retain their title against undefeated Saaremaa in tomorrow’s final.

“We’re confident about the game [against Saaremaa],” Simons added.

“We just need to focus on executing and sticking to our defensive principles.

“If we do that, stick together as a team, we’ll bring home gold for the fourth consecutive Island Games.”

In the women’s 200 metres, Natasha Trott stormed to victory in her heat, posting a time of 26.32sec, while Taahira Butterfield came third in her heat to also qualify for today’s semi-final in a time of 26.39.

Butterfield won gold in the 100 on Monday, with Trott taking silver. Gayle Lindsay did not start her women’s 800 heat. Ashley Estwanik competed in the women’s 10,000 but did not finish.

Kim Baglietto, of Gibraltar, won the race in 36:23.36, with Marna Leila Vandsal Egholm, of Faroe Islands, coming second in 36:48.25 and Louise Perrio third in 37:21.72.

In the men’s 3,000 steeplechase, Bermuda’s Ryan Wilson finished a respectable seventh in a time of 10:10.88. The winner was Daniel John Romeril, of Jersey, who finished in 9:44.01, with Guernsey’s Ed Mason second in 9:50.47 and Alan Corlett, of Isle of Man, taking the bronze medal in 9:51.64.

Gavin Manders’s bid for a podium finish in the men’s singles came to an end yesterday, with Bermuda’s No 1 tennis player losing in the quarter-finals to sixth seed Stuart Parker of Jersey. Manders lost the first set 1-6 and the second set 6-7 after battling his way back.

Manders was also in action in the doubles with his partner David Thomas. The Bermuda pair were defeated by Guernsey’s Dominic McLuskey and Patrick Ogier in a closely-fought match. Manders and Thomas put up a good fight, rebounding to win the second set 6-1 after losing the first 3-6.

However, a defeat in a tiebreaking third set sealed the victory for the Guernsey pair.

In badminton, Emma Calow and her doubles partner Rowena Cespedes enjoyed a good run before bowing out at the quarter-finals, losing to top seeds Kimberley Clague and Cristen Marritt of Isle of Man, 21-7, 21-11.

In the men’s singles, Michael Paynter won his round of 64 match against Kasper Thy Jessen, of Gibraltar, 16-21, 21-12, 21-13, but was defeated 21-13, 21-14 by Albert Navaroo Comes, of Menorca, in the round of 32.

Also in the round of 64, Bermuda’s Rohan Pai lost 14-21, 21-16, 11-21 to Douglas Clarke, of Falkland Islands, while Matthew Nicholson was beaten 21-7, 21-8 by Brett Haining, of Shetland Islands.

Denzel Simons also lost in the round of 64 against Matthew Honner, of Isle of Wight, 21-8, 21-4, as did Mark Haugen who retired injured in his match against Nikki Nathansen, of Greenland.

Bermuda’s men’s indoor volleyball team came unstuck against Aland, losing 25-21, 22-25, 25-18, 25-9. They finished second in their group, winning two of their three games to advance to the semi-finals where they will meet Saaremaa today.

The women’s indoor volleyball team also tasted defeat yesterday, losing 25-10, 25-12, 25-11, to the Faroe Islands.

Bermuda’s women finished third in their group and will play Hitra in the fifth/sixth-place play-off match today.

In the men’s beach volleyball, Bermuda’s Eric Haller and Gary LeBlanc lost to Jersey 42-14. They were then forced to retire injured against Gotland, finishing sixth in their group. Lisa LeBlanc and Rebecca White lost 42-21 to Cayman Islands in their women’s game.

Bermuda’s shooting team of Raymond Beaulne and Kevin Constable finished sixteenth in the Universal Trap Team final. Andrew Pereira and Terence Madeiros are fifteenth and 24th, respectively, in the English Skeet Individual final with two rounds remaining. Nelson Chesterfield Simons is twelfth in the Fullbore Queens shooting event.

In sailing, Hereward Peter Dill is eighth in the Laser Radial with two races remaining. Stephen O’Reilly is seventeenth. In archery, Bernard Wade III lost to Daniel Power of Guernsey in the round of 16 to end his run in the Recurve Head to Head Knockout.