Utility Trust St Pauls are at home today in the Dominos Women’s Super League, against Portlaoise Panthers from 3.30. Enda Walshe reports
Flexachem KCYMS host UCC Demons in the Domino’s Men’s Super League, at 7:15. Ger Nolan reports
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors are at Marian from 7. Alan Cantwell reports
In Men’s Division 1 Killarney Cougars are home to Moycullen at 7.30. Clodagh Donnelly reports
Utility Trust St Pauls Lakers are away to Titans from 7. Enda Walshe reports
The Women's BIDL League has Grvey's Tralee Warriors at Brunell from 6.
Basketabll Ireland weekend preview;
A game with huge implications at both ends of the table gets this weekend's Domino's Men's Super League slate underway as Energywise Ireland Neptune travel over 400km to Newforge to face Belfast Star on Saturday.
Both sides will be feeling refreshed after a week off to ring in the new year with the National Cup semi-finals taking over in Cork last weekend. After two consecutive defeats, Star got their season back on track last time out with a 23-point victory over Sligo which took them to second place in the standings at 9-3 for the season. Head coach Adrian Fulton is wary of how fast things can change for any of the playoff hopeful at this level.
“We have put ourselves in a good position to push for a home playoff quarter-final, but there is a long way to go and with the depth of the league, you can’t look beyond the next game or you will lose. There are just too many good teams. We have plenty of depth but there are areas in which we must improve if we are going to win come the playoffs”.
• Adrian Fulton, Head Coach, Belfast Star
For Neptune, they are coming off of arguably their most crucial victory of the season after a 95-77 triumph over local Cork rivals and fellow relegation candidates UCC Demons. The win put a game buffer between Neptune and Demons as Neptune reached 3-9 and sit in 11th. Head coach Ciaran Kiveney is optimistic they can continue the resurrection of their season when they head north on Saturday.
“Belfast are at the opposite end of the table of us and rightly so as they have been playing some fantastic basketball, we are looking to keep our turnaround in form going and hopefully we will be able to cause an upset”.
• Ciaran Kiveney, Head Coach, Energywise Ireland Neptune
Limerick Celtics fell just short in Cork at the weekend as they suffered a three-point overtime defeat to league leaders Ballincollig in the National Cup semi-finals. This weekend, they host EJ Sligo All-Stars who sit one spot below Celtics with an identical 4-8 record. Sligo will be looking to stop the rot as they are currently on a four-game winless streak in the Super League. Celtics have started to find their feet in their first season with two wins out of their last four. The Limerick side's American guard AJ Williams has seen his own upturn in form and finds himself in second in points scored across the league. Sligo will be aiming for a repeat of the return fixture where they defeated Celtics on the buzzer earlier in the season.
Another fixture that is bound to have massive implications in the playoff race sees third-placed Killester travelling to Griffith College Éanna, who currently sit in fourth. After a rough few weeks due to injuries to Killester’s pro’s, they’ve managed to recover and get back on track with three wins on the bounce including wins against other members of the chasing pack for the playoffs in Belfast and St. Vincent’s. Éanna have won four of their last six games and also hold the bragging rights over Killester after defeating them by 11 points in IWA back in October.
UCD Sports Centre will showcase a cup semi-final rematch as UCD Marian look to get revenge on Garvey’s Tralee Warriors after Tralee knocked out Marian last weekend to advance to the Domino's MSL National Cup final in two weeks’. Marian will be hoping to improve on the offensive side, as they saw just one quarter of play last weekend with more than 20 points. Head coach Ioannis Liapakis said they will look to rectify the errors of last weekend in order to maintain their playoff push.
“Saturday’s game vs Tralee is going to be another difficult task for us. Tralee are a great team with a great coach and they proved it to us last Saturday in the cup. This Saturday will be a great opportunity to learn from our past mistakes and try to correct them so we will be able to win the game”.
• Ioannis Liapakis, Head Coach, UCD Marian
UCC Demons could potentially drag other teams into the relegation fight as they host Flexachem KCYMS on Saturday. Demons are currently bottom of the table after the loss to Neptune two weeks ago. But Killorglin themselves currently sit on four wins, level with Sligo and Limerick Celtics. With Sligo and Limerick facing each other and Neptune travelling to Belfast, a win for Demons could leave potentially four teams separated at the bottom of the table by a singular win should Demons pick up their third win of the season. A win for Killorglin could go a long way in hunting for that final playoff spot which currently has three sides level for. However, a loss in Kerry could leave them in an entirely different situation come the end of this weekend.
Amidst all of the drama across the Domino’s Men’s Super League, league leaders Ballincollig secured their 13thconsecutive victory of the season to reach the National Cup final. This weekend, the Cork side travel to Glasnevin to face St. Vincent’s on Saturday night. Vincent’s find themselves finely poised at 6-6 and sitting in sixth just one win short of fifth position. Ballincollig are 10-2 in the league after starting the season 0-2. They are currently one win ahead of Belfast Star. The trio of Latrell Jossell, Latavious Mitchell and the December player of the month, Josh Steel, have powered Ballincollig to 13 straight wins which has also seen head coach Ciaran O’ Sullivan earn coach of the month for December too.
All of the high-stakes action this weekend will be decided live and exclusive on BITV.
Killester will need to avoid a post cup slump as they look to make it back-to-back wins over UCC Glanmire, just eight days after defeating the Crok side to reach the Domino's WSL National Cup final.
Killester have won three of their last four league games, however, the injury loss of star Samantha Haiby saw them slip to defeat to FloMAX Liffey Celtics. Head coach Mark Grennell is unsure if Haiby will be at 100% this weekend but is confident in the squad available to get the job done and maintain their spot at the summit of the Women’s Super League table.
“ Sam is obviously key to us, the point guard might be the most important position on the court these days in basketball. To lose her with no practice or reps for her replacements was difficult, but those players started to figure it out late on against Liffey. If they have to do it again this weekend, they will be more prepared and we will be better for it over the course of the season. Everyone faces challenges throughout a season, navigating those together is part of the fun as a team and for the coaches”.
• Mark Grennell, Head Coach, Killester
For Glanmire, they will be hoping the home advantage in the Mardyke will push them over the line to get revenge for the semi-final defeat last weekend. Glanmire currently sit in fourth with a 6-4 record but could potentially be level with as high as second place depending on results elsewhere.
Utility Trust St. Paul’s Killarney are one of the sides currently level with Brunell in second place. Killarney welcome Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers, who are fresh off of just their second victory of the season after they defeated the winless Catalyst Fr. Mathews. The win was the Panthers first since week one of the season. Killarney have managed to edge their way back towards the higher end of the table after two straight losses were followed by wins over Brunell and Waterford to get them to 6-3 for the season.
Catalyst Fr. Mathews are now 0-10 this season and relegation is looking increasingly inevitable for the Cork side. This weekend, they hope to grab that elusive first victory when they travel to Colaiste Iosagain to face Trinity Meteors. Meteors have just one win in their last four which could give Fr. Mathews hope as they prepare to face Irish international Hazel Finn, who finished second in the December player of the month voting.
FloMAX Liffey Celtics have rejuvenated their season in recent weeks Their 5-5 record is a vast improvement after starting the season with four straight defeats. Liffey will host SETU Waterford Wildcats on Saturday, who themselves are struggling with one victory in their last three fixtures. Both sides are locked at 5-5 through ten games this season, but a win for either side could see them potentially enter the top four depending on results for Trinity and Glanmire this weekend. December coach of the month Hillary Netsiyanwa is aware of the dangers Waterford possess but feels a return to Leixlip will play a factor in Liffey getting their sixth victroy of the season.
“ With Sarah and Kate Hickey both being healthy and the addition of Alyssa, Tiarra and Sanija, they have so many threats all over the floor so we have got a tough week of preparation to make sure we can compete. It has almost been five weeks since we have played at home so I am looking forward to playing in our home gym”.
• Hillary Netsiyanwa, Head Coach, FloMAX Liffey Celtics
On Sunday, Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell could potentially join Killester at the top of the table if Killester slip up in Glanmire, should Brunell secure a win over McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles. Cavan managed to put an end to a winless run when they defeated Trinity Meteors two weeks ago. The victory put two wins between Cavan and Portlaoise to give Eagles a two-win cushion in eighth. For Brunell, they have four victories in their last five and hold a 7-3 record in second. With the division being so tight in the playoff spots, Brunell could either be level with top spot at the end of the weekend or could be potentially as low as fifth pending results elsewhere.
As the race for the playoff spots heats up in the Domino’s Women’s Super League, all the action will unfold live and exclusively on BITV.
