TITANS levelled the series in the Jersey Basketball Association finals against Squirrels in dramatic fashion, setting up a mouthwatering “winner takes all” showdown on Tuesday.
The JBBA Division 1 is made up of four teams, competing in a round-robin style league where each team meets twice.
Squirrels, containing Island players Cameron Stables and Miguel Martins, remained unbeaten throughout the league to automatically qualify for the finals.
Titans finished in second place, requiring a play-off match against third-placed Team X, which they won to qualify for the finals.
Stables said: “The finals has been set up beautifully.
“Tuesday is a genuine winner-takes-all scenario, which should make for an amazing spectacle.”
The Squirrels won the first game of the series with a close 66-63 victory, before the Titans hit back to take game two 75-69.
“We were full of confidence coming in to game one and we did well to get over the line in what was a really close game,” added Stables.
“We have an experienced side and I think that played to our advantage in the latter stages of that game.
“We were disappointed not to win it in two games, but Titans played really well to win the second. The teams are pretty evenly matched. Both have Island players and a good mix of youth and experience.
“Going to a decider, anything can happen. Obviously, I hope we [Squirrels] can get the job done, but it should be an awesome occasion.”
Basketball is quickly becoming one of the most popular and widely played sports in the world, with leagues like the NBA in the United States becoming increasingly watched around the globe.
However, in Jersey, it has been a struggle to keep the standard of domestic basketball at a high level.
Stables continued: “With just four teams competing in division 1, we always know who we are playing against and their styles.
Stables continued: “It can sometimes be tricky to keep the motivation and standards high.
“We want to make sure that, while our juniors are getting some wonderful opportunities of high level coaching and travelling matches, we can have the same level for our seniors too.
“We have some excellent players on the Island and we want to train and compete at the highest level we can as well.
“From next season, we will be looking to change the league system and marry division 1 and 2 together and have one top division of 8-10 teams.
“Spreading the talent pool, having new competition to play against and also offering some of the division 2 players a chance to compete against the best in the Island is only going to help the level of local competition.
“We have a thriving junior development section and we want to make sure when those guys are old enough to play senior basketball, they have a strong league system to enter into and help them continue their development.”
Game thre of the JBBA finals is set to start at 7pm at Beau Sports & Activities Centre on Tuesday.
Squirrels: Cameron Stables, Miguel Martins, Josh McDowell, Jenson Holmes, Marc Bryant, Joe Jackson, Josh Hearmon, Paul Milbank, Luke Sette, Jack Searson
Titans: Milo Kutvolgyi, Ben Kutvolgyi, Vincent Grimault, Richard Moniz, Antonio Faia, Tommy Little, Muhammed Anaja, Jake Michel, Bardia Bonakdar
