How about this for a cup final omen? Brighton Bears juniors and cadets beat the Jets last weekend.

It was a hard fought though as lowly Gloucester Jets were seen off and coach Phil Waghorn was not totally impressed by this first away trip of 2003.

The cadets trailed 19-17 at the end of the first quarter but turned that around to change ends with a 33-25 advantage The third quarter finally saw Bears pull away, led by strong drives from Charlie Ellis and good team defence.

It was 53-36 at the final break but Ellis then fouled out and the visitors dropped their defensive intensity as Gloucester clawed their way back.

Jets were level with two minutes to go but baskets from Toby Attwood saw Bears through 59-55.

The juniors raced into a 26-4 first quarter lead before a combination of effort from Gloucester and poor decision-making from Bears saw the hosts pull back to 34-25 at the half.

The third quarter was more of the same with Jets hustling hard.

There were no signs of the effort that had seen Bears narrowly lose in the Hoopfest semi final a few days earlier and, in the end, they were relieved to get away with a 58-54 win.

The juniors travel to leaders East London this weekend so they will need to be in much better form to get the result there.

Hoops fans in Sussex will struggle for some live action this weekend. Both the county's NBL division two south teams are away.

Bognor Pirates go to Colchester tonight (6pm) and Brighton Cougars visit Swindon Sonics tomorrow (4.30pm).

Worthing Magic are also on the road, going to Southend Swifts today (5pm).

In wheelchair basketball, Sussex Sonics are away and will fancy their chances at Essex Outlaws today.

Sonics have been handed a decent draw in the cup, at home to third division MGK Panthers, based in Birmingham.