Ruthless Star shine over tired Neptune

STAR OF THE SEA salvaged a major trophy from an otherwise barren seasons when their richly talented squad defeated Neptune by 90-85 in the Budweiser Superleague Top Four final at the Maysfield Centre, Belfast, yesterday.

The result completed a remarkable weekend which saw all the league champions in the tour, national divisions fail to win a second major trophy.

In the first-half of the superleague final, Neptune appeared not to have fully recovered from a draining semi-final wind over Delta Notre Dame on Saturday night; but that was not to take anything away from Star's ruthless execution of their task, which helped them into a 53-35 interval advantage.

While Star's adrenalin levels appeared to drop dramatically during the half-time break, Neptunes were stirred by coach Tom Wilkinson and the result was a dramatic turn around. This was exemplified by the American Mario Mullen, who grabbed seven points in a row within two minutes of the restart - Terry Strickland followed up with a brace of scores.

It was four minutes before Star responded and they again surged into a 16-point lead. Neptune again dug deep and brought the deficit back to a single point, 80-81, with two minutes remaining.

However, the impetus of their comeback was killed by a marginal foul call on Strickland, which forced him to leave the game for his fifth offence. Neptune bravely battled on without him and with 20 seconds left a three-pointer from Gordon Fitzgerald brought the deficit back to a single point. But Star then played it safe and in the final few seconds they stretched to a five-point winning margin from the free throw line.

Star's fine team work rather than individual brilliance was behind their victory.

Earlier, the Division One Men's Top Four final was one of the most one-sided of the weekend, with MSB defeating a depleted Ballina (playing without Liam McHale) 89-63.

Naomh Mhuire won the Women's Division One Top Four final by 76-69 over Tolka. They made it hard for themselves after apparently cruising on a 20-point lead at half-time. Tolka, mainly through Rachel Kelly and Sharon Kelly, reduced the deficit to just four points with four minutes to go, before Mhuire hit five points in a row.

The shock of the day was Killester's 79-74 win in overtime over Blarney, who went right through the Division Two women's league season unbeaten. Blarney led 69-66 with 20 seconds remaining but Killester earned their chance in overtime with a dramatic three-pointer from Maureen Fallon with eight seconds to go.