BELFAST Star will travel to Super League pacesetters Maree of Galway in the quarter-finals of the National Cup this weekend in what will be their biggest test of the season so far.

Star have not had many good runs in the cup down through the years but Head Coach Adrian Fulton believes that if his side bring their best form that they are a match for any team in the country.

Star, currently joint leaders of the Northern Conference alongside Éanna on six and two, go into the cup clash against seven and one Maree after a solid 91-81 win over Killorglin in La Salle last weekend.

Quick out of the blocks, Fulton’s side racked up a 32-14 lead against the Kerrymen in a blistering opening quarter with scores coming from no fewer than seven players including five three-pointers from a mix of Max Richardson, Conor Quinn and team captain Conor Johnston.

Back-to-form Aidan Quinn also scored well and hit a big three in the second quarter, alongside a further two three-pointers from Shon Briggs. Killorglin, however, came back strongly into the game and outscored the home side to leave it 50-41 to Star at the half.

Scoring honours were more or less shared in the final two quarters thanks to a very determined effort from the visitors who were, incidentally, making the longest road trip in the League.

Head coach Adrian Fulton thought his team were at their best for stretches of the game.“Yes, we were very pleased with the win against a very talented KCYMS side who never gave up and kept us focused until the end,” said Fulton.

“We played some of our best basketball of the season but that ability to stay focused for as close to 40 minutes as possible will eventually define how competitive we’ll be going forward,” he said.

“We had a good scoring spread tonight, eight players in total and three in double-digits. But the big disappointment was an ankle injury to our under-20 Irish International Darragh Ferguson.

“Darragh has been playing exceptionally well this year and is going to have a very good Super League career. We really hope he will not be out for too long.”

Shon Briggs topped the scoring for Star with an impressive 25-point haul. Max Cooper and Max Richardson hit 16 points apiece.