LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter

Aqua's Tyrone Fairweather (left) is surrounded by Police players during a Homestyle Juices Division One Basketball League match at the National Stadium on Sunday. Fairweather scored the winning basket in a close 55-53 win. - Photo by LeVaughn Flynn

One of the island's oldest basketball clubs, Aqua Youths, is eager to return to the top flight league, says coach Howard McCatty.

Aqua, which won the national league in 1987 and was a force to be reckoned with throughout the 1980s, aren't satisfied with competing in the Homestyle Juices Southern Conference Division One League, a tier below the National Basketball League (NBL).

Despite a sloppy game on Sunday against Police at the National Stadium court, Aqua triumphed 55-53 courtesy of a last-minute shot by Tyrone Fairweather. That win, their eighth in 11 games, gave them some breathing space as they make a push for the title and their ultimate goal of promotion to the NBL.

"This win has guaranteed us a place in the second round and this was our first goal and we will only get better from here (because) we are contenders for the championship this year," said McCatty.

"The team is more hungry than I am to get back in the top league. We are now 34 years old and I think it's time we get back to the top," added McCatty, who has been with the club since it was founded in 1974.

McCatty was not too thrilled with his team's latest win, however, a scrappy affair against a Police team that has been struggling all season with five losses from eight games.

Missed free throws

After taking a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, Police rallied for a 27-26 lead at half-time. Aqua also missed a slew of free throws down the stretch which could have cost them the game.

With the game tied at 53-53 and about 1:30 remaining, Fairweather and Michael Walker missed a pair of free throws each. However, Fairweather pounced on a rebound from Walker's last free throw and made a mid-range jumper for the win with two seconds remaining.

Fairweather ended with a team-high 13 points while Orane Blackwood had 10 points and 15 rebounds and Leon Cole, who made his inside presence felt in the second half, finished with nine points and 16 rebounds.

Blackwood and Cole also out-rebounded the entire Police team, 31 to 30. Aqua totalled 45 rebounds.

This was the second consecutive game Police were losing which went down to the wire. Last week, they lost by a point to North Street Heats and suffered another agonising defeat on Sunday.

"It looks like we can't manage the crunch time," stated coach Craig Sterling after the match. "Fourth quarter is normally our strongest, but I believe we lost focus after realising how close the game was."

Gavin Boyd and Nicardo Clarke led Police with 13 and 12 points, respectively.