Star of the Sea will claim their first championship if they can defeat their Northern Superleague rivals, Dungannon, at the Maysfield Centre in Belfast on Sunday.
Having cleared the most difficult hurdle in their league campaign so far last weekend, in a 100-83 win over their only remaining rivals, Notre Dame, Star now just have to reach the finishing line. And they have three opportunities to secure the points they need to make sure of taking the title.
"But I don't want to have to travel to Tralee, nor play Neptune to clinch those points," said coach Danny Fulton this week, "so we will be out to win at all costs on Sunday. And it would be particularly nice to do it in front of our home supporters." Since their disappointing cup semi-final performance three weeks ago in which they lost by three points to Notre Dame, Fulton has driven the Star of the Sea squad on to maintain their momentum in the league. The result has been decisive wins over the past fortnight against Killester and their Dublin rivals, which have demonstrated how well the players have responded following their cup setback.
"I think, in fact, we are now playing our best basketball of the season, and the key has been to get the players to enjoy their sport again," Fulton added. "I thought both ourselves and Notre Dame were nervous in the first half last week, but our passing and shooting in the second half was really superb.
"The cup was an exception to our form and I blame myself for perhaps not getting the match-ups correct. But the important thing was how well we recovered to beat Killester with one of our best performances of the season," he concluded.
A feature of Stars' recent form has been the particularly high quality of their three-point shooting. They hit 16 against Killester and another 23 against Notre Dame, but they might find themselves up against equally adept long-range shooters with Dungannon.
Both Americans playing for the Tyrone club, Alcinder Boller and Jerald Reiner, are three-point specialists, and Reiner in particular has been a remarkable, lateseason acquisition. Fulton confesses that he has yet to see the best new player to join the Superleague since the New Year.
Dungannon have also been one of the revelations of the season following their promotion last year. They are currently joint third in the table and likely to qualify for the Top Six championship, although they cannot afford to drop many more points.
In order to make Sunday's match in Belfast count in the title race, Notre Dame must win in Tralee on Saturday. A loss for the Dublin club would leave Star in an unassailable position at the top of the table, even before the tip-off on Sunday at the Maysfield centre.
The battle for places in the endof-season Top Six championship gives an extra edge to other fixtures over the weekend. Killester can make sure of their place if they beat St Vincent's in the Dublin derby on Sunday in Glasnevin. St Paul's, Killarney, can enhance their chances and finish off Neptune's fading aspirations if they win in Cork on Saturday, while the duel of Marian and Ballina on the same night is critical to both sides in their quest for qualification. In Division One, the leaders, Sligo, have a tough game away to MSB, but second-placed Waterford are also on the road, away to cup semi-finalists Tolka Rovers, while third-placed Limerick are also in Dublin to play Tridents. With the top four championship places in the women's Superleague already decided, pride is the only element which will keep the remaining matches competitive. The proudest team of all, the champions, Wildcats, are at home to Blarney, who gave the Waterford side a tough match in the cup quarter-final in December.
The Irish Basketball Association has reappointed Enda Byrt as senior men's national team coach and Gerry Fitzpatrick as senior women's national team coach for three years.
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