TRALEE'S easy victory over Dungannon on Saturday, combined with a third successive defeat for their nearest pursuers Star of the Sea, means that there is now a clear gap at the top of the table and an ever increasing likelihood of a first ever league title for the Kerry club.
Their 97-79 win over Dungannon on Saturday featured yet another notable performance from in form American Ricardo Leonard who scored 28 points and also from their much improved Irish player John Teehan, who scored 25.
With Star of the Sea losing to Ballina for the second time in a fortnight, Tralee can now afford to lose at least one and probably two of their remaining four games and still be champions. With three of those remaining fixtures set to take place on their home court, it is unlikely that they will slip up.
It is all in stark contrast to the situation which pertained in the Budweiser League less than three weeks ago when Star of the Sea had their fate in their own hands in both the league and cup.
But a knee injury to Javan Dupree combined with the cup final defeat to Ballina set the slide of three consecutive defeats in motion. Last week, Tralee won by a big margin and on Saturday night last in Killala, Ballina again beat the Belfast side 85-76, this time in the league.
As it was in the cup final, a standout performance from 35 year old veteran Deora Marsh, who scored 26 points. kept Star under pressure throughout. Another 26 from Jason Rubrite and 15 from Liam McHale proved crucial.
Ballina led by two points at the break and, employing strong defence, they curtailed Dupree and Gabe Jackson to the point that neither player came close to matching up to Ballina's Americans. Dupree still had his best game since the cup semi final win over Neptune by scoring 18 points but Jackson only tallied 14.
A narrow victory for St Vincent's yesterday over Killester by 98 points to 96 keeps the Glasnevin side in with an outside hope of catching Tralee. Effectively, St Vincent's are joint second in the table with Star after a Rob Phelps lay up four seconds from time earned them a fine victory over their Dublin rivals.
St Vincent's success was notable insofar as they played for almost the entire match without one of their Americans, Scott Sytulek, who retired injured after Just three minutes.
In Division One Marian clinched the title with their 13th straight victory. Their 100 per cent record never looked under threat in a 105 87 win over St Gall's.
Meanwhile, Queen's clinched promotion along with Marian after a 111-76, victory over their only serious challengers Sligo in Belfast on Saturday night.
If Sligo win their last game and Queen's lose to Marian in the final round of matches next week a highly possible outcome the teams would be tied on points. In such circumstances, the deciding factor is the aggregate points total in the matches between the two tying teams, and Queen's have the clear edge by 188-160.
In women's basketball, Wildcats moved within two games of clinching the title with an easy 71-40 win over Wexford in Oznam Street on Saturday. Only a potentially tricky away fixture against Tolka next week, appears to separate Wildcats from a successful defence of their league trophy.
Tolka's form over the weekend, though, was less than impressive as they lost 77-58 at home to cup winners Meteors.
