NEPTUNE reclaimed the high ground in Irish men's basketball on Saturday night as they swept aside relegated Queens Annadale by 100-78 to win their ninth league title on their home court in Cork.
Elsewhere, Ballina won Division One and Wildcats made it three women's titles in a row.
A crowd of almost 2,000 thronged the Neptune Stadium to rekindle memories of past glories. No one appreciated the atmosphere more than Tom Wilkinson, who won seven league medals as a Neptune player but was presented with his first as a championship winning coach on Saturday evening.
From the early stages of the game which Neptune needed to win to be sure of the title, there was little doubt that the home side would give their fans the display demanded of them.
Within a few minutes of the tipoff, Neptune were 10-nil up and they never looked like losing their advantage. Queens bravely attempted to hold their own and deserved credit for being only 40-49 in arrears at halftime.
Neptune though, were quickly into their rhythm again and they completely dominated the second period. The margin of victory would probably have been significantly greater had Wilkinson not allowed the entire bench significant court time in the closing stages.
Mario Mullen was again the Neptune top scorer on 22 points, while Terry Strickland maintained his fine end of season form to score 21 and lead by example with a particularly strong first half performance.
Meanwhile in Killala, Ballina made a mockery of their extraordinarily inconsistent season, by winning the battle for the Division One title very convincingly, with a 109-91 victory over another promoted team, Dungannon.
Ballina's "big four" were in flying form as Liam McHale on 30 points, Shannon Sweeney on 28, Bo Fitts on 28 and Deora Marsh on 18, all clicked into top form on the night.
In Gateaux Women's Division One, Wildcats made sure of their third league title success in a row, with a 75-70 win over their only remaining rivals Meteors, in front of an 800-strong crowd at the Mercy Convent in Waterford on Saturday evening.
In the winner-takes-all cup final atmosphere that prevailed in the game, the lead changed hands all of nine times throughout the 40 minutes. Meteors had the narrowest of leads at the break, 39-38, and then eased ahead 54-45 early in the second half.
From there on however, Wildcats came back strongly to tie the game at 60-all with seven minutes remaining on the clock. At that point they changed to a zone defence, which was crucial as it restricted the free scoring Meteors' forward, Karen Hennessy, to just one more basket.
Wildcats edged in front with a couple of three-pointers from Caitriona White inside the last four minutes but it took two free-throws in the final minute from Olivia O'Reilly to put the game and the title just out of Meteors reach.
