Saturday night basketball in Sligo and in a chilly gym on the outskirts of town, a tight, inflamed crowd are lost in the midst of another torrid league encounter.
The All Stars are struggling against a tidy and slick side from Mid-Sutton Baldoyle (MSB), who have lulled their young opponents into a slow game before stinging them with a series of easy baskets to take the lead late in the match. Led by elegant motormouth Jerome Westbrooks, MSB are wonderfully composed in the glare of a game which has exploded in a haze of questionable calls, stray elbows, wild-eyed fans and blinding basketball.
With 3.32 left, Sligo are one point down and short on ideas. They rush up on defence, scavenging desperately to retrieve momentum. As MSB cross mid-court, Sligo's Pascal Bree, a hard-nosed, red-haired hustler, gets a hand to the ball and whips a pass to his brother Michael, who is fouled as he slashes to the hoop.
Michael Bree stands on the free-throw line, a loose, athletic 17-year-old, deceptively tall. He scores from the first shot to pull Sligo level and breathes a silent oath as his second effort rims out.
He has cause to be annoyed. A born gym rat, Bree has been haunting this court since the age of six, pursuing a sport which brought him through Sligo's underage system on to Irish schools teams and, after a dazzling summer in European competition, on to the roster of an American Division One college team by way of a four-year scholarship. He is the first Irish player to make that grade.
Right now, however, he shakes his head in disgust at the missed shot and crouches down to play defence. College days mean nothing when you're slugging it out in your backyard.
Davidson College, in North Carolina, is almost the archetypal American college. Tucked below the Appalachian Mountains, it is leafy, affluent, boasts a strong history and admits a mere 1,600 students. It even has an honour code which is rigorously adhered to.
Davidson is described as "a private college of the liberal arts and sciences founded in 1837 by Scotch Irish Presbyterians". They voted to admit women in 1972, the same time - perhaps by coincidence - the men's basketball team record began to go downhill fast.
In recent years, however, the sport has enjoyed a stunning renaissance there and Davidson are now back in Division One.
In America, Division One NCAA basketball means prime time television, features in Sports Illustrated, a fanatical following, and a national profile for the college. For the tiny percentage of players who make it, it promises a shot at the NBA. Just a few short years ago, the notion of an Irish player pulling on a Division One shirt was laughable.
But Davidson favour a strong European recruitment policy and a skinny Irish point guard caught their eye early last summer. After a few hard looks, they offered Michael Bree a scholarship worth $24,000 per year. "It all began in Portugal last April, I suppose. I was over with the Irish under-19 team at the qualifying tournament and I happened to play really well. This professional scout, Rob Muir, sent a list of promising European players to American colleges and my name was on it," he says, almost embarrassed at having to declare his ability as a ball player.
Bree was white-hot in Portugal, averaging 23 points per game and taking the overall tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP). Although Ireland performed dismally as a team in the second round, Bree's individual play earned him a place at the Nike Camp in Paris last June, an annual showcase for the best 70 young players in Europe.
He travelled over with Dublin youngster Gary Dredge, just after receiving a call from Davidson, who let him know they were interested. "Some friends of Coach McKillup's - he's the Davidson head coach - were watching in Paris and I think their report, along with Rob Muir's recommendation, made them go for me," he says, reluctant to dwell on the fact that he lit up the scoreboard in Paris as well. But he sold himself on court and, next month he is set to enter the world of the Wildcats, where he will, in effect, lead the life of a professional athlete who has to keep his academic grade average flying high.
"It's crazy, y'know," he says, grinning in wonder at the prospect of where the New Year will take him. "I always knew I wanted to go to the States after the Leaving Cert, maybe to a high school for a year. But this has come totally out of the blue."
In July, Davidson flew the Sligo teenager over for a weekend to acquaint him with his new home. Walked him around campus, guided him through the basketball Hall of Fame and flicked on the lights in a gleaming John M Belk Arena.
"Aw, it's such a nice place. The gym is incredible, a 6,000 all-seater. The floor itself is beautiful," says Bree.
Since returning to Division One, Davidson have played host to top college sides like Massachusetts, Firman and near neighbours Duke, an American sporting legend in their own right.
"You see these teams on TV during March Madness and the Final Four and it seems like a different world. To think about actually playing them is, I dunno, it's difficult to imagine," Bree says, smiling, his voice trailing off.
But the prospect of matching up against the elite in American college basketball doesn't seem to throw him. Behind the selfeffacing, likeable shyness lies an unwavering self-belief.
"Well, you just have to go out and play, see what happens," he says. "We played this American side, Xavier, in Tallaght before the European championships and they were good, you know. Really strong, physically. But I think we are catching up on them fundamentally, which is why you'll find a lot more Europeans playing in the States now."
Although Bree's wiry athleticism suffices in Ireland, serious playing minutes at Davidson will require many hours in the gym. "I just wouldn't be physically or mentally strong enough for it right now. So they have `redshirted' me until the fall, meaning I won't play games until then. The daily scene is training at 7.00 a.m. for two hours, then class, weightlifting in the afternoon and training again in the evening."
After ploughing through a prairie of paper work and SAT (scholastic aptitude) tests, Michael Bree was handed his four-year game development plan in September. As a Wildcat, he is expected to deliver.
"In the fall, they want me to play as backup guard to Ali Ton, a Turkish lad and a seriously good player. The coach promised me about 12 minutes a game."
His goals are increased as his experience grows. By sophomore year, he should be aiming to "run the show. Harass opponents. Master the alley-oop and the three-pointer under pressure." A year later, his objective is to "win games down the stretch by being your best at crunch time" and, when he is a senior, Davidson College hope Bree will aspire to "stamp an identity on the team and programme".
Strip away the talk and you look four tough years in the eye. "I have no doubt that it will be hard, but I'm looking forward to it. Davidson are very strong academically as well, which was important to me. Sure, it'll keep me busy."
But right now, he has his hands full with MSB. Although American player Terry Smith has pushed Sligo ahead with just over a minute to go, the Dublin side refuse to quit and are searching for a "three".
Bree is harrying his man, begrudging him even an inch of space, hungry for a steal. He is clearly enjoying himself, something he will reflect on later.
"I love playing basketball here. When I was young I played everything, was mad into football, but this was always the game for me. We have a really good team now and have a good laugh together. I'll really miss it."
It is difficult to quantify what he has achieved, leaping from a West of Ireland town into the storied corridors of NCAA basketball.
Scott McCarthy, the chief executive of the Irish Basketball Association, says: "We have had players going to the States on Division Three scholarships and a few to Division Two, but the jump Michael has made to Division One really is dramatic. He has set a new standard in Irish basketball. Davidson are a very strong school who play in a tough conference. Michael will have to build on his strength, but he has that natural ability which you just can't coach. It's a great achievement."
McCarthy, from Pennsylvania and a renowned player with Brown University himself, came to Ireland after signing for Sligo All-Stars back when hot showers were something of a luxury. He retains a soft spot for the club and often journeys north to watch their home games and maybe sip a beer with the old faces.
In the dying seconds of the MSB game, most of those faces are twisted in various degrees of distress as the visitors come searching for the points which would save the game. But it ends happily for Sligo; Michael Bree grabs a floated pass, cuts down court and rifles a precise ball at Smith, who seals the game with a lay-up. When the buzzer goes, Bree high-fives his opponents with a grin and joins a huddle with his team-mates. Then he wanders across to where a bunch of his friends are waiting in the crowd, his feet scarcely touching the ground.
