Weekend Basketball Preview

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The Men’s Super League is set to come to a thrilling conclusion this weekend as, with just one round of fixtures remaining in the regular season, three teams remain in the race to the top.

League leaders Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, who feature former Kerry star Kieran Donaghy among their ranks, are the only team capable of winning the league outright but, in order to do so, they must get through one of the toughest concluding weekends of the season as they face UCD Marian in Dublin on Saturday evening, before facing UCD once more in Tralee on Sunday in a crucial double-header.

If Tralee win both games this weekend, Pat Price’s men will be crowned Men’s Super League champions on Sunday evening in the Kingdom. However, if they lose one game out of the two, the title race will be blown wide open again. Losing one game would see Tralee move to five losses and, if Templeogue win out over Moycullen in their last league game on Saturday, they will also remain on five losses, so the league would then be decided by a play-off between Tralee and Templeogue.

Meanwhile, if UCD win both of their games against Tralee, Warriors will be knocked out of the race completely, and again, if Templeogue win against Moycullen this weekend that would see a play-off between UCD and Templeogue to determine the winner, as both sides will finish the season on five losses.

“It’s a quick week for us this week having played on Monday as well,” reflected Warriors’ coach Pat Price ahead of this weekend’s battle. “We’ll prepare the best we can for a team who are playing their best basketball of the season right now. Our opponents are stacked with a deep roster, and we’ll need to match their energy levels on Saturday.”

UCD Marian boss Ioannis Liapakis stated: “This weekend is going to be extremely difficult because for us to reach a possible league final against Templeogue, we must beat Tralee twice in 24 hours! We know that we’re the underdogs and most people won’t give us a chance, but we love the challenge. We will do our best now to prepare for the games and, no matter what happens, I couldn’t be more proud of our players and the coaching staff who keep the team at such a high level.”

Elsewhere around the league, Maree will welcome Belfast Star to Galway, Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin face DCU Saints, while UCC Demons host Pyrobel Killester on Sunday in Cork.

In the Women’s Super League it is Champions Trophy quarter-final weekend. The quarter-finals will see two thrilling games take place in Cork, the first on Saturday evening between Fr Mathews and Maxol WIT Wildcats, while the second clash will pit two Cork neighbours against each other as Singleton SuperValu Brunell host Ambassador UCC Glanmire. League champions Courtyard Liffey Celtics have a bye into the semi-final rounds, as do second-placed DCU Mercy.

Over in the Men’s Division One meanwhile, this weekend will determine who will be promoted to the Men’s Super League for 2019/20 as the regular season semi-finals and final take place. Saturday will see two semi final showdowns – the first between Cup champions Tradehouse Central Ballincollig and Abbey Seals Dublin Lions in Cork, while the second semi-final sees the meeting of DBS Éanna and Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney. The winners of each semi-final will then meet in the big decider in Waterford on Sunday, with the winner of that game automatically promoted to the Super League for next year, while the runner up will play off against the bottom side of the Super League in a promotion/relegation battle in the coming weeks.

Saturday 23rd March 2019

Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:

UCD Marian v Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, UCD Sports Centre-Belfield, 17:00;

Maree v Belfast Star, Calasanctius College-Galway, 18:00;

Keanes Supervalu Killorglin v DCU Saints, Killorglin Sports Centre, 19:15;

Moycullen v Templeogue, NUIG, 19:30;

Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League

Champions Trophy Quarter final

Fr Mathews v Maxol WIT Wildcats, Fr Mathews Arena, 17:30

Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One

Regular season semi-final 1:

Tradehouse Central Ballincollig v Abbey Seals Dublin Lions, Ballincollig CS; 16.00