The end of season Durham County Cup Final will be an all-Teesside affair after Middlesbrough Mavericks and Middlesbrough College Academy won their respective semi-finals this week at Peterlee Leisure Centre.

The first semi-final was a derby as Middlesbrough Mavericks lined-up against division one neighbours Teesside Huskies and an engrossing battle gave Mavericks a 79-67 success.

Huskies had the initial lead at 7-2 after three minutes. Ian Viveash then woke Mavericks up with five points in a 13-2 spurt for a 15-9 cushion just five minutes later. The pot started to boil in the second quarter and as the speed of the game increased so tempers rose as the battle under the boards took on something akin to sumo-wrestling. Meanwhile the score had moved on to 43-29 as Andy Buchanan and Viveash gave Mavericks a 10-4 finish to the half.

Marek Pawlak stretched Mavericks lead to 52-37 before Tony Hanson took the action to the heart of Mavericks defence to cut the gap to 52-46 by the sixth minute of the third quarter. The foul count went into overdrive in the last quarter and a run of points from the line brought Huskies closer at 62-58 with five minutes to play and an explosive finish looked likely. It did not however materialise as Pawlak bagged a brace of baskets in a 8-0 run between the fifth and sixth minutes, a run which quite literally seemed to knock the stuffing out of Huskies. Mavericks suddenly had a 70-58 lead to defend, something they did very well during the closing moments of the game.

Viveash and Pawlak took the scoring honours for Middlesbrough Mavericks with 23 and 21 points apiece, Mark Johnson chipped in with 10. Four players shared most of the Teesside Huskies points, Creon Raftopoulos and Stonebridge got 17 each, Hanson scored 15 and Stuart Anderson added 10.

If the first semi-final had been a bit of a battle the second tie was more of a ballet as Middlesbrough College Academy beat division two side Belmont A 85-58 in a fast, open and entertaining exhibition of basketball.

As in many games the first quarter was even as the two sides measured each other up. Geoff Pollard opened the Belmont account with a three-pointer, but Kieron Achara and Williams Omope soon had the Academy side of the scoreboard ticking over and the ten minutes closed with them 19-14 up. Wayne Robinson and Chris Bunten took up the reins for Academy in the second quarter and although points from Andrew Knox kept Belmont in touch at 34-26 as the first-half finished, the class gap was beginning to show.

The third quarter was the decisive one. All five players on court hit points for Academy as three spurts of three baskets to one increased their lead to 53-32 and despite a 6-0 Belmont finish the quarter ended with the Middlesbrough outfit cruising at 53-38 ahead. The final quarter was more of the same as Belmont played their part in the entertainment, but Academy piled on the agony.

Five players finished in double figures for Middlesbrough College Academy; Achara (20), Duncan Mackie (17), Omope (14), Robinson (11) and Carl Latham-Henry (10). Four players shared all but three of the Belmont A points; Lee Davie (19), Stephen Graham (14), Gary Simpson (12) and Knox (10).

Belmont A had gone into the County Cup tie as underdogs, but just a night earlier they had been firm favourites to reach the final of the Division Two Cup. It was not to be though as Trimdon Community College Association raised their game, or at least Lee Norton did with a massive 58 points to lead them into the final as 110-98 winners.

Norton hit a pair of three-point baskets and Ian Harrison added a trio of field-goals in a 16-4 Trimdon opening. The good start took Trimdon to the end of the first quarter with a 26-18 cushion. The second quarter belonged to Belmont. Lee Davie set their ball rolling, but it was the combination between Andrew Knox and Stephen Graham which gave the Durham side the lead for the first time at 38-37 after seven minutes and the advantage at 51-44 as the half-time whistle blew.

Belmont were still ahead at 58-52 three minutes into the second half when once again Norton went on a mission, grabbed himself 16 points and put Trimdon firmly back in the driving seat with a 74-60 eighth minute cushion which Belmont this time could not deflate. The final quarter was an sparkling shooting match which netted an aggregate 64 points and gave Trimdon the prize.

Norton was the undoubted star of the show with his 58 points, although Harrison and Lee Armstrong added 18 and 13 for Trimdon CCA and once again four players managed double figures for Belmont A; Knox (27), Davie (23), Graham (22) and Simon Whittaker (10).

The second semi-final tie between East Durham and Houghall College B and Hartlepool Hornets could not be played and was postponed until a later date.

There was no problem with the two semi-finals of the Division Three Cup.

The first tie pitched Young Houghtonians against the most improved team of the season Specsavers Wear Valley Wolves and a full-strength Wolves were at their best to win 77-69.

A 10-0 run in the third, fourth and fifth minutes of the second quarter gave Wolves control at 27-13 after a slow start. Anthony Burdis hit back immediately for Houghtonians with a couple of three-point baskets, but Sam Attah then hit the last four baskets of the first half to give Wolves a 35-28 interval lead. Wolves made the game safe during the last three and a half minutes of the third quarter. Three-pointers from Ben Evans for Houghtonians had been countered by scores from Ian Bunnett and Wolves had a narrow lead at 51-45 as the game reached that point. The next few minutes were all Wolves as they collected 11 points without reply and the Houghton challenge was spent at 62-45.

Attah collected 36 in leading Wear Valley Wolves into the final, as Ian Stringer and Kosoko added 17 and 13. Burdis hit 30 of the Young Houghtonian points, whilst Evans and Luke Jenner got 13 and 12.

The second semi-final gave Durham Saints a 88-76 win over Hartlepool Hawks, but there was a big scare near the end of the game when a terrible clash of heads left a player on the floor with a possible broken neck. It was perhaps fortunate that one of the referees, Mal Turnbull, is a paramedic and he looked after him until he was taken to hospital where the injury turned out to be less severe than first though.

Saints went into the game as underdogs, but the win was a victory for experience over youth.

Leon Thompson and Sean Ward scored the points for Hawks and Neil Guthrie had replied for Saints in an even 14-14 seven minute opening. Colin Lishman then hit seven points in a 9-4 run which gave Saints the advantage at 23-18 as the quarter finished. The second quarter was a roller coaster. First Saints, then Hawks and finally Saints again had good spells as the latter finished the half with a 42-32 lead, a ten point deficit which Hawks could not pull back during the second twenty minutes.

Lishman topped the scoring for Durham Saints with 28 points as Guthrie, Chris Plummer and Phil Bailey added 22, 19 and 17 respectively. Four players got double figure scores for Hartlepool Hawks; Leon Thompson (25), Luke Thompson (17), Ward (14) and Dan Dixon (12).

A couple of league games were played and one of them gave Nissan a 95-74 division one win at home to East Durham and Houghall College A.

This fixture was won and lost in the first quarter. All five players on court hit baskets as Nissan opened in unstoppable form to net a 10-2 lead before College had even got the short journey north out of their legs. Steve Johnson and Barry Fenwick then combined to stretch that lead to 17-2 by the seventh minute and when the clock ran down to end the opening ten minutes Nissan were in total charge with a 28-8 cushion. The remaining three-quarters of the contest was even as Ian Barrow and John Harding combined well for College. What they could not do however was to make inroads into the deficit as the Nissan big man gave them control of the boards at both ends of court.

Bill Spragg led the Nissan scoring with 28 points, Neil Baxter netted 21 and Steve Johnson, Chris Maddison and Barry Fenwick all got double figures with 15, 12 and 11 respectively. Barrow was excellent for East Durham College and he finished with 35 of their points. John Bergin and Harding hit 18 and 14.

Mens County Cup Semi-Finals: Middlesbrough Mavericks 79 Teesside Huskies 67; Middlesbrough College Academy 85 Belmont A 58.

Division Two Cup Semi-Final: Trimdon Community College Association 110 Belmont A 98.

Division Three Cup Semi-Finals: Specsavers Wear Valley Wolves 77 Young Houghtonians 69; Durham Saints 88 Hartlepool Hawks 76.

Division One: Nissan 95 East Durham and Houghall College A 74.

Womens Division: Tyne and Wear Cadettes 58 Tyneside 74.