SOLENT STARS' men's second team cruised into the National Division 3 play-off semi-finals with a 94-71 dismantling of East Kent Crusaders at Fleming Park.

Stars looked jittery in the early stages with Clayton Milner unable to find any shooting form and it took two free throws and another basket from Ryan Payne to get them off the mark.

More nerves showed through as Dave McKay and Milner squandered four free throws between them, but then the same two players were responsible for putting Solent ahead in the seventh minute.

In an exciting climax to the first quarter, Crusaders went ahead again, but Craig Dawson levelled 16-16 just before the buzzer.

The scores remained tight for the next seven minutes with Andy Aung and Milner providing all Solent's points.

Liam Wyatt then picked up his fourth foul, forcing coach Mick Byrne to shuffle his pack and East Kent briefly took the lead, 27-26, before Stars produced the decisive moments.

Jon Rumsey reclaimed the lead and then Trevor Donaldson, pictured, sank two three-pointers, with another basket in between. Four more free throws from McKay stretched the lead to 40-27.

With McKay, Rumsey and Aung all scoring and Donaldson making a couple of steals, Solent's confidence came flooding back after the break. In one terrific three-minute spell they restricted the visitors to just one three-point score, while adding 11 of their own, and led 66-49 by the end of the third quarter.

Crusaders attempted a series of three-point shots to try and reduce the deficit, but they were handicapped when Robbie Parker fouled out with eight minutes remaining.

Paul Jessop added successive three-pointers to bring East Kent to within 14 points, 75-61, but Solent quickly re-established their rhythm and pulled away for a convincing win.

Fittingly for an all-round team performance, it was an unselfish pass from newcomer James Chubb that set up Paul Loosemore to complete Solent's scoring on the final buzzer.

Stars' reward is a home semi-final tie this Saturday (Fleming Park, April 9, 6pm).

They will be joined on the double bill by the women's first team, who begin their play-off campaign against Manchester (8pm).

The big danger to Solent is Australian Deanne Smith, who scored 44 points for Manchester in their recent 19-point win over Rhondda.

Should Solent win, they would travel to Rhondda looking to avenge an 87-50 defeat in their final league game.

Solent scorers: Dave McKay 25, Clayton Milner 18, Ryan Payne 14, Jon Rumsey 13, Andy Aung 8, Trevor Donaldson 8, Liam Wyatt 4, Craig Dawson 2, Paul Loosemore 2.

SOLENT STARS' cup-winning junior men's team are on course for a sensational double after brushing Plymouth aside 73-63 in the end-of-season play-offs.

It was not a great performance by the Stars, but they showed enough grit and determination in the second half to earn the chance to turn over Manchester Magic for the second time this season and progress into the final four.

Having already beaten Plymouth in the opening round of the Sureshot Cup, Solent had the upper hand psychologically, but Raiders had different ideas about the outcome.

Spurred on by a partisan home crowd, Plymouth began enthusiastically with a tightly packed zone defence, restricting Solent to a 10-7 lead. Stars were having a poor time of it in the shooting department with England centre Joel Freeland struggling to dominate the boards.

Raiders converted their enthusiasm into points in the second quarter to take a 31-24 lead into the locker room, but Solent heeded the warning and began turning the screw after the break.

With Freeland starting to make his mark and Liam Openshaw controlling things from guard, they led 46-41 going into the last quarter. Plymouth pulled back to within two points before Rowan Polonski hit a crucial three-pointer, sparking a Solent surge that took them 13 points clear with three minutes to play.

Solent scorers: Freeland 32, Openshaw 17, Glasspool 7, Titcombe 6, Sisley 4,Cooper 4, Polonski 3.