The Middletown High School boys basketball team enters tonight’s season finale against rival Hamilton with a chance to capture a second consecutive Greater Miami Conference championship.

A win against Big Blue combined with a Sycamore loss at Princeton would leave the Middies (11-10 overall, 8-5 GMC) and Aviators in a three-way tie for first with the Lakota East-Fairfield victor, and Lakota West could make it a four-way split by winning at Oak Hills.

“We’ve still got a shot at the league, it’s Senior Night and it’s the Big Blue, so there’s a whole lot there,” Middletown coach Josh Andrews said. “But it’s got to be business as usual, because we know Hamilton is going to bring their best effort.”

Big Blue (8-13, 4-9 GMC) will be trying to close the regular season with wins in two of their last three games to avoid a fourth-consecutive last-place finish.

“We talked a little bit about keeping them from winning a title, but our main concern is focusing on ourselves and doing what we do,” Hamilton coach Tim Robinson said. “We want to build some momentum heading into the tournament. They’re favored to win, so we’ll go out and play as hard as can and see what happens.”

Middletown beat Hamilton 65-60 in their first meeting on Jan. 4, marking the Middies’ 10^th consecutive victory against their rivals.

“I know the kind of fight the Hamilton kids are going to bring, and they’re coming into our gym to try to win a basketball game,” Andrews said. “We better be ready, because it’s going to be an electric atmosphere.”

Prior to tip-off, the Middies will honor 1958 Middletown graduate and Basketball Hall of Fame member Jerry Lucas. The floor at Wade E. Miller Gym will be dedicated as Jerry Lucas Court.

“We’re going to stay out there and watch it because I think it’s important for high school kids to see what has happened before them in the past,” Robinson said. “Jerry Lucas is one of the greatest of all time. He goes way back before all of us. So does this rivalry.

“This is what high school sports is all about, getting in front of a huge crowd and playing your best,” Robinson added. “These kids will be able to talk about the time they played in front of a Jerry Lucas and a soldout crowd for the rest of their lives.”