Gary Smith told his Worthing Thunder players to savour the prospect of an NBL Trophy Final appearance after they shot down Plymouth on Saturday.

Thunder beat their arch rivals 109-103 in a thrilling semi-final at the Leisure Centre.

Victory over Teesside at Sheffield on January 13 will give Worthing the first trophy of their short history.

Player-coach Smith said: "These guys have got to enjoy this win. Some of them have never been to a final before and this is their chance.

"We didn't play out of our skins. We can play a lot better but we still came out winners."

Paul Mundy-Castle top scored with 37 points. He fouled out just before the end, then bizarrely picked up some pom-poms and joined the cheer leaders as his team mates finished the job on court.

Thunder had led 38-26 at the end of a breathless first quarter in which they came from 6-0 down with runs of 12-2 and 14-3, led by the flair of Sean Hampton and Mundy-Castle.

The advantage was 16 points with 1min.43sec remaining but Raiders dragged themselves back into it, helped by Todd Cetnar's third three-pointer of the period right on the buzzer.

Both teams had decent runs in the second quarter but Thunder retained a handy advantage of 68-59 at half time.

Gaylon Moore was the star of the third quarter with eight quick points, useful rebounds and a steal.

Mundy-Castle unleashed the biggest three-pointer of the night as the lead fluctuated between four and 12 points before the period ended with Thunder 89-83 ahead.

Plymouth closed the gap to 96-93 with five minutes and 30 seconds to go.

As the tension increased, neither side scored for two minutes but then Hampton and Marvin Addy hit quickfire threes to send their team on the way to Sheffield.

Thunder will be running a coach to the match, price £18.00 (non-members) or £15.00 (members). Call the club on (01903) 529241.

Thunders Scorers: Mundy-Castle 37, Hampton 28, Moore 20, Martin 13, Addy 8, Vingoe 2, Brame 1.