PAGET Bearcats take on St. George's Internationals in the CellularOne Premier Basketball League Championship Finals on Saturday.It's the culmination of the season in the revamped league which has has been pitched at attracting families of fans to enjoy the action with music,concession stands and half-time prizes.

The finals are tightly poised between regular season division leaders Paget Bearcats with eight wins and one loss pitted against St. George's Internationals with seven wins and two losses. The east end side are aiming to make it three championships in a row.

The Paget Bearcats are led by their 6'4" Player/Coach Chris Crumpler who is a member of the Bermuda national team and head coach for CedarBridge Academy.

Crumpler was backing his 6'6" Power Forward Aaron Jackson to be a key figure in tomorrow's crunch match. Jackson has just completed his freshman season where he played basketball for Lakehead University in Canada. The rest of the Bearcats are high school players from CedarBridge Academy led by the number one high school player Richard Warner who has averaged 18 points a game this season.

Crumpler said: "Richard is quick and an athletic aggressive scorer as well as a solid defender.

"And our big bruiser Jonathan Lowe is slowly becoming one of the premier big men on the island at 6'5" and 230lbs!!!

"The rest of the players Charles Butterfield, Quincy Trott, Tejour Riley, and Anthony (Mugsey) Furbert all bring a different element to the team that has been crucial to our success this season."

Crumpler credits an aggressive style in both offense and defence in getting the team to the finals.

He added: "St. Georges is a big team and they have great players in Damon Saunders and Dean Jones who are both national team players, along with Charjuan Knight arguably the best center on the island. He also has the ability of a good guard player, which we will have to watch closely.

"On Saturday night we are going to look to push the ball and attack to keep pressure on them the entire game."

St. George's Internationals player/coach Pushkin Douglas said his is well-rounded with a strong frontcourt and an equally talented backcourt.

He said: "Charjuan Knight and Dean Jones provide great offence and excellent defence in the low post.

"Their presence deters most teams from venturing into the key. Alan Saunders and Johnny Lugo keep defences on their toes with slashing, cutting and three

pointers.

"With these two it helps complete a balanced attack with superior ball movement and stiff defence."

He said opposite number Crumpler was vital to making Paget tick. He explained: "Without Chris they become kittens. The key to defeating the Paget Bearcats is to limit Crumpler's shot attempts and contesting each shot."

Bermuda Basketball Association League administrator Kenny Simmons is thrilled with the outcome of the new revamped league.

He said: "The CellularOne league has exceeded our expectations as far as competitiveness and sportsmanship. We have been able to accomplish our objective in putting basketball in the minds of people.

"Each team has created there own respective fan base. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to all fans who have shown their support throughout our season.

"We would encourage all to come out and support what's going to be an exciting final between two great teams."

The finals will tip off at 8:30pm and admission at the Mount Saint Agnes gym is free. The TBI Women's Basketball League will fire up the night with two games - the first starting at 6 p.m. where the Hamilton Parish Hurricanes will play the Somerset Hornets and at 7 p.m. the Warwick Suns take on the St. George's Storm.