December 21, 2020

Irish Schools Basketball Association U15 Boys Inter-Regional Championship 1997-98

Finals

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Plate Final
30.11.1997	South West	43	North West	24
	Cup Final
30.11.1997	South	41	Dublin North	36

[Reference: 1]

Report

South won the Irish Basketball Association Schoolboys Under 15 Inter-Regional Championships in 1997, triumphing 41-36 against Dublin North in the Cup Final. The Plate Final was won by South West who defeated North West.

About Irish Schools Basketball

Following Reorganisation of Irish Schools Basketball in the early 1990s there were 9 Regions in total accross the whole island. As well as playing Leagues at Grades from Senior (U19) to Cadet/Cadette (U16), Second Year (U15) and First Year (U14), which qualified Schools for the All-Ireland League Playoffs, there was a single-elimination (knockout) Cup played on an All-Ireland basis from Round 1, and Inter-Regional Representative Competitions.

References

Newspapers

[1] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, December 1, 1997. Pg. 30

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Evie (Our Lady’s Templeogue).

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 19 December 2020

December 21, 2020

Irish Basketball Association Sprite U19 Junior Women’s National Cup 1997-98

Finals

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Semi-Finals
24.01.1998	SHS Tullamore Cyclones	87	Naomh Mhuire	72
24.01.1998	Castlebar Mother Hubbard Rockets	60	Blarney	48
	Final
25.01.1998	SHS Tullamore Cyclones	82	Castlebar Mother Hubbard Rockets	64

[Reference: 2]

MVP: Susan Moran (Tullamore).

Pool Results

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Pool 1 Final
23.11.1997	SHS Tullamore	67	Supermacs Limerick	42
	Pool 2 Final
23.11.1997	Blarney	57	Killester	43
	Pool 3 Final
23.11.1997	Naomh Mhuire	63	Portlaoise	49
	Pool 4 Final
23.11.1997	Rockets Castlebar	48	Meteors Dublin	44

[Reference: 2]

Report

Susan Moran deservedly won the MVP Award in the Irish Basketball Association Women’s Junior U19 Cup in 1997-98, scoring a phenomenal 53 points in the Final for SHS Tullamore Cyclones as they defeated Castlebar Mother Hubbard Rockets 82-64 in an all-regional Final at the National Basketball Arena. The Finals were preceeeded a Preliminary Round with Four Pools, the winners of which met in the Semi-Finals: SHS Tullamore Cyclones (67-42 v Supermacs Limerick), Blarney (57-43 v Killester), Naomh Mhuire(63-49 v Portlaoise) and Castlebar Rockets (48-44 v Meteors). In the Semi-Finals at the NBA Tullamore knocked out Naomh Mhuire and Castlebar Rockets defeated Blarney.

About Basketball Ireland / Irish Basketball Association Cups

The Irish Basketball Association ran the National Cup for the Top Two Divisions as well as any regional teams that wished to enter in both Men’s and Women’s as well as Junior (Under 19) Cup for both Men and Women. The Cups were Knockout (single elimination) from the First Round. They were replaced by Super League and Division 1 Cups when the Association rebranded as Basketball Ireland in 2003. The Junior (U19) Cups were replaced by Under 20 and Under 18 Cups. Other Cups included the Irish Wheelchair Basketball Cup and introduced in the late 2010s the National Intermediate Cup Competition (Tier 3).

References

Newspapers

[1] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Sunday, November 16, 1997. Pg. 60.

[2] Cliona Foley (1997) “Garvey’s Grizzled by Sizzling Denny” Irish Independent. Monday, November 24, 1997. Pg. 30.

[3] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, January 26, 1998, Pg. 31

[4] Anon. (1997) “Sports Round Up” Irish Times. Monday, November 24, 1997. pg. 28 [Internet] Available online at: https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1997/1124/Pg028.html#Ar02800 [Accessed 19 December 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Ann Hanley, Killester and Ireland National Team.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 19 December 2020

December 21, 2020

Irish Basketball Association Women’s Super League 1997-98

Final Table

	P	W	L	PF	PA	Pts
Avonmore Snowcream Wildcats (C – NC)	16	16	0			48
Openet Naomh Mhuire (NC)	16	13	3			42
Tolka Rovers (NC)	16	12	4			40
Meteors (NC)	16	10	6			36
Blarney Spring	16	8	8			32
Killester	16	7	9			30
Supermacs Limerick	16	5	11			26
Riverisland Castleisland	16	1	15			18
Lee Strand Tralee	16	1	15			18

[Reference: 1]

Top Four Playoffs

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Semi-Finals
	Snowcream Wildcats	65	Meteors	43
	Tolka Rovers	64	Naomh Mhuire	61 ot
	Final
	Snowcream Wildcats	82	Tolka Rovers	68

[Reference: 2]

Regular Season Results

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Week 1
05.10.1997	Snowcream Wildcats	75	Killester	51
05.10.1997	Lee Strand Tralee	51	Blarney	64
05.10.1997	Meteors	75	Limerick	40
05.10.1997	Riverisland Castleisland	72	Tolka Rovers	94
	Week 2
12.10.1997	Lee Strand Tralee	50	Riverisland Castleisland	58
12.10.1997	Killester	51	Meteors	72
12.10.1997	Snowcream Wildcats	72	Openet Naomh Mhuire	64
12.10.1997	Limerick	62	Tolka Rovers	64
	Week 3
19.19.1997	Meteors	48	Snowcream Wildcats	52
19.10.1997	Openet Naomh Mhuire	104	Lee Strand Tralee	58
19.10.1997	Riverisland Castleisland	49	Limerick	70
19.10.1997	Tolka Rovers	83	Blarney	45
	Week 4
26.10.1997	Supermacs Limerick	49	Killester	46
26.10.1997	Meteors	66	Blarney	45
26.10.1997	Openet Naomh Mhuire	79	Riverisland Castleisland	62
26.10.1997	Tolka Rovers	72	Snowcream Wildcats	78
	Week 5
09.11.1997	Lee Strand Tralee	39	Meteors	72
09.11.1997	Snowcream Wildcats	107	Supermacs Limerick	34
09.11.1997	Riverisland Castleisland	42	Killester	70
09.11.1997	Blarney	53	Openet Naomh Mhuire	98
	Week 6
16.11.1997	Riverisland Castleisland	67	Blarney	91
16.11.1997	Killester	56	Tolka Rovers	77
16.11.1997	Snowcream Wildcats	106	Lee Strand Tralee	42
16.11.1997	Supermacs Limerick	47	Openet Naomh Mhuire	68
	Week 7
23.11.1997	Tolka Rovers	70	Meteors	69
23.11.1997	Blarney	60	Snowcream Wildcats	105
23.11.1997	Killester	47	Openet Naomh Mhuire	74
23.11.1997	Supermacs Limerick	83	Lee Strand Tralee	50
	Week 8
30.11.1997	Meteors	56	Openet Naomh Mhuire	62
30.11.1997	Lee Strand Tralee	56	Tolka Rovers	89
30.11.1997	Killester	58	Blarney	56
30.11.1997	Riverisland Castleisland	67	Snowcream Wildcats	146
	Week 9
07.12.1997	Lee Strand Tralee	58	Killester	79
07.12.1997	Supermacs Limerick	69	Blarney	74
07.12.1997	Meteors	97	Riverisland Castleisland	57
07.12.1997	Tolka Rovers	70	Openet Naomh Mhuire	73
	Week 10
21.12.1997	Tolka Rovers	107	Riverisland Castleisland	53
21.12.1997	Killester	53	Snowcream Wildcats	90
21.12.1997	Supermacs Limerick	97	Meteors	84
21.12.1997	Blarney	59	Lee Strand Tralee	44
	Week 11
04.01.1998	Meteors	73	Killester	38
04.01.1998	Openet Naomh Mhuire	56	Snowcream Wildcats	67
04.01.1998	Riverisland Castleisland	63	Lee Strand Tralee	67
04.01.1998	Tolka Rovers	86	Supermacs Limerick	58
	Week 12
11.01.1998	Blarney	68	Tolka Rovers	57
11.01.1998	Lee Strand Tralee	52	Openet Naomh Mhuire	76
11.01.1998	Snowcream Wildcats	83	Meteors	61
11.01.1998	Supermacs Limerick	90	Riverisland Castleisland	64
	Week 13
18.01.1998	Snowcream Wildcats	83	Tolka Rovers	58
18.01.1998	Killester	77	Supermacs Limerick	63
18.01.1998	Riverisland Castleisland	61	Openet Naomh Mhuire	119
18.01.1998	Blarney	54	Meteors	56
	Week 14
01.02.1998	Openet Naomh Mhuire	91	Supermacs Limerick	59
01.02.1998	Lee Strand Tralee	40	Snowcream Wildcats	84
01.02.1998	Tolka Rovers	66	Killester	60
01.02.1999	Blarney	97	Riverisland Castleisland	50
	Week 15
08.02.1998	Supermacs Limerick	53	Snowcream Wildcats	83
08.02.1998	Meteors	80	Lee Strand Tralee	41
08.02.1998	Killester	61	Riverisland Castleisland	39
08.02.1998	Openet Naomh Mhuire	63	Blarney	53
	Week 16
15.02.1998	Openet Naomh Mhuire	66	Killester	35
15.02.1998	Meteors	55	Tolka Rovers	81
15.02.1998	Snowcream Wildcats	81	Blarney	62
15.02.1998	Lee Strand Tralee	50	Supermacs Limerick	57
	Week 17
22.02.1998	Openet Naomh Mhuire	57	Tolka Rovers	59
22.02.1998	Killester	94	Lee Strand Tralee	56
22.02.1998	Riverisland Castleisland	51	Meteors	81
22.02.1998	Blarney	94	Supermacs Limerick	52
	Week 18
01.03.1998	Openet Naomh Mhuire	52	Meteors	62
01.03.1998	Snowcream Wildcats	123	Riverisland Castleisland	26
01.03.1998	Tolka Rovers	95	Lee Strand Tralee	46
01.03.1998	Blarney Spring	57	Killester	71

[References: 3-27]

Report

Wildcats of Waterford won the first Super League title in 1997-98 defeating Tolka Rovers 82-68 in the Final.

Snowcream Wildcats from Waterford were on top of the Irish Basketball Association Women’s Super League at the end of October 1997, with four wins from four games. Tolka Rovers and Meteors were both a game behind on three wins and one loss, although Opent Naomh Mhuire from Inchicore in Dublin had a game in hand with two wins from three. What made Wildcats position even more outstanding was three of those wins came agianst their three nearest challengers, for all of whom it was their only loss.

By the end of November, Snowcream Wildcats were still undefeated, with maximum points from 8 games, their eighth game being a 146-67 demolition of Riverisland Castleisland, Jillian Hayes contributing 30 points in the game. Tolka Rovers and Openet Naomh Mhuire could not be counted out however with 6 wins from 7 games each in second place. Meteors were a bit further back in fourth with 4 wins from seven games.

At the years end Snowcream Wildcats were still undefeated with 9 wins, two ahead of Tolka Rovers and Naomh Mhuire, with Naomh Mhuire having a game in hand. Tolka Rovers narrow three-point loss at home to the women from Inchicore in Week 9 damahing their title hopes. Meteors were still hanging in there in fourth with 6 wins.

By the last weekend of league action in January before the Cup Finals Weekend, Snowcream Wildcats had kept their unbeaten record, stretching it to 12 wins. Openet Naomh Mhuire occupied second on 9 wins, with Tolka Rovers and Meteors tied in third on eight wins each.

At the end of the season at the End of February / Beginning of March, Snowcream Wildcats finished off their League campaign with an astonishing 123 to 26 victory over Riverisland Castleisland, to top the table with a perfect 16 wins from 16, three wins ahead of Openet Naomh Mhuire in second, with Tolka Rovers in third on 12-6 and Meteors finishing off the season in fourth with 10-6, sneaking into the playoffs ahead of Blarney Spring with a win over Opent Naomh Mhuire on the last day as Blarney lost to Killester.

The National Championship in the National Basketball Arena on the 14th to 15th March saw Snowcream Wildcats win all three major Competitions with an 82-68 triumph over Tolka Rovers in the Final after a 65-43 defeat of Meteors in the Semi-Finals. The other Semi-Final was a 64-61 win for Tolka Rovers in overtime versus Opent Naomh Mhuire.

The following year the Super League dropped to five teams as Naomh Mhuire lost their sponsor and Riverisland Castleisland and Lee Strand Tralee, who had struggled all season dropped out. The loss of Blarney was another big blow to the league.

About the National Basketball Leagues

The Amateur Basketball Association of Ireland was founded in 1947 and set up the first National League for men in 1971. In 1979 the League brought in professional players from America and the ABAI became the Irish Basketball Association and also started up the first Women’s League with a 1st and 2nd Division.

In 1997 the two Divisions were merged into one Women’s Super League, with a Regional League bbelow this, which in 2003 reverted back to two Divisions – Super League and Division 1 – with another rebranding of the Association to Basketball Ireland.

References

Newspapers

[1] (1998) “Basketball”. Irish Independent. Monday, March 2, 1998. pp. 20-21.

[2] (1998) “Basketball”. Irish Independent. Monday, March 16, 1998. pp. 34-35.

[3] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 6, 1997. Pg. 30

[4] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 13, 1997. Pg. 34

[5] Anon. (1997) “Ballina want McClean on the Plane from Spain” Irish Independent. Friday, October 17, 1997. Pg. 18

[6] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Saturday, October 18, 1997. Pg. 22

[7] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 20, 1997. Pg. 32

[8] Anon. (1997) “McClean helps to sink Neptune” Irish Independent. Monday, October 20, 1997. Pg. 32

[9] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 27, 1997. Pg. 34

[10] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, November 10, 1997. Pg. 34.

[11] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, November 17, 1997. Pg. 34.

[12] Anon. (1997) “Factfile: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, November 24, 1997. Pg. 30.

[13] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, December 1, 1997. Pg. 30

[14] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, December8, 1997, Pg. 33

[15] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, December 22, 1997, Pg. 40

[16] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, January 5, 1998, Pg. 23

[17] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, January 12, 1998, Pg. 31

[18] Anon. (1998) “Neptune looking up as Augusto points the way” Irish Independent. Monday, January 19, 1998, Pg. 30

[19] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, January 26, 1998, Pg. 31

[20] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, February 2, 1998, Pg. 20

[21] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, February 9, 1998, Pg. 26

[22] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, February 16, 1998, Pg. 32

[23] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, February 23, 1998, Pg. 28

[24] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, March 2, 1998, Pg. 20

[3] Anon. (1997) “Sports Round Up” Irish Times. Monday, November 24, 1997. pg. 28 [Internet] Available online at: https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1997/1124/Pg028.html#Ar02800 [Accessed 19 December 2020]

[4] Anon. (1997) “Sports Round Up” Irish Times. Monday, December 1, 1997. pg. 30 [Internet] Available from: https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1997/1201/Pg030.html#Ar03000 [Accessed 19 December 2020]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Ann Hanley, Killester and Ireland National Team.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 19 December 2020

December 20, 2020

Irish Basketball Association Men’s Super League 1997-98

Final Standings

	P	W	L	PF	PA	Pts
Star of the Sea (C-SF)	18	17	1			52
Denny Notre Dame (SF)	18	13	5			44
Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s (SF)	18	10	8			38
Killester (SF)	18	10	8			38
Dungannon	18	9	9			36
Longnecks Ballina	18	8	10			34
UCD Marian	18	7	11			32
Kerry Spring Water Killarney	18	6	12			30
Neptune	18	5	13			28
Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	18	5	13			28

[References: 1]

National Championships

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	Semi-Finals
14.03.1998	Star of the Sea	94	Killester	72
14.03.1998	Denny Notre Dame	97	Marathon Sp St. Vincent’s	70
	Final
15.03.1998	Star of the Sea	92	Denny Notre Dame	74

[Reference: 2]

Regular Season Results

W/E	Home Team		Away Team
	Week 1
05.10.1997	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	90	Dungannon	81
05.10.1997	Longnecks Ballina	74	Star of the Sea	90
05.10.1997	Killester	83	UCD Marian	73
05.10.1997	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	87	Denny Notre Dame	98
	Week 2
12.10.1997	UCD Marian	86	Neptune	80
12.10.1997	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	91	Longnecks Ballina	81
12.10.1997	Killester	85	Denny Notre Dame	93
12.10.1997	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	74	Dungannon	75
12.10.1997	Star of the Sea	92	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	75
	Week 3
17.10.1997	Denny Notre Dame	80	UCD Marian	60
19.10.1997	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	74	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	78
19.10.1997	Dungannon	63	Killester	78
19.10.1997	Longnecks Ballina	99	Neptune	89
19.10.1997	Star of the Sea	95	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	50
	Week 4
26.10.1997	AMEV UCD Marian	93	Dungannon	94
26.10.1997	Neptune	95	Denny Notre Dame	112
26.10.1997	Killester	84	Star of the Sea	95
26.10.1997	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	86	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	80
26.10.1997	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	95	Longnecks Ballina	115
	Week 5
09.11.1997	AMEV UCD Marian	81	Star of the Sea	90
09.11.1997	Denny Notre Dame	108	Dungannon	75
09.11.1997	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	90	Killester	70
09.11.1997	Longnecks Ballina	85	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	77
09.11.1997	Neptune	84	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	87
	Week 6
16.11.1997	Denny Notre Dame	92	Star of the Sea	84
16.11.1997	Dungannon	76	Neptune	67
16.11.1997	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	60	AMEV UCD Marian	82
16.11.1997	Longnecks Ballina	85	Killester	102
16.11.1997	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	109	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	95
	Week 7
23.11.1997	Denny Notre Dame	109	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	83
23.11.1997	Killester	72	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	78
23.11.1997	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	89	Neptune	83
23.11.1997	Dungannon	77	Star of the Sea	87
23.11.1997	Longnecks Ballina	81	Amev UCD Marian	77
	Week 8
30.11.1997	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	91	UCD Marian	93
30.11.1997	Longnecks Ballina	78	Denny Notre Dame	92
30.11.1997	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	70	Dungannon	72
30.11.1997	Killester	96	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	89
30.11.1997	Neptune	91	Star of the Sea	107
	Week 9
05.12.1997	Denny Notre Dame	99	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	85
07.12.1997	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	82	Amev UCD Marian	81
07.12.1997	Dungannon	85	Longnecks Ballina	77
07.12.1997	Neptune	104	Killester	83
07.12.1997	Star of the Sea	92	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	89
	Week 10
21.12.1997	Denny Notre Dame	83	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	85
21.12.1997	Star of the Sea	100	Longnecks Ballina	94
21.12.1997	UCD Marian	90	Killester	82
21.12.1997	Garvey’s Tigers Tralee	86	Neptune	83
21.12.1997	Dungannon	74	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	85
	Week 11
04.01.1998	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	62	Star of the Sea	90
04.01.1998	Neptune	74	Amev UCD Marian	75
04.01.1998	Denny Notre Dame	78	Killester	85
04.01.1998	Longnecks Ballina	130	Garveys Tigers Tralee	97
	Week 12
11.01.1998	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	97	Garveys Tigers Tralee	87
11.01.1998	Neptune	103	Longnecks Ballina	86
11.01.1998	Amev UCD Marian	82	Denny Notre Dame	99
11.01.1998	Killester	86	Dungannon	72
11.01.1998	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	82	Star of theSea	106
11.01.1998	Neptune	95	Garveys Tigers Tralee	88
	Week 13
18.01.1998	Killester	119	Garveys Tigers Tralee	83
18.01.1998	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	85	Longnecks Ballina	92
18.01.1998	Dungannon	81	Denny Notre Dame	93
18.01.1998	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	78	Neptune	88
18.01.1998	Star of the Sea	124	Amev UCD Marian	88
	Week 14
01.02.1997	Denny Notre Dame	65	Neptune	82
01.02.1997	Dungannon	86	Amev UCD Marian	85
01.02.1997	Longnecks Ballina	85	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	87
01.02.1997	Garveys Tigers Tralee	86	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	72
01.02.1997	Star of the Sea	113	Killester	60
	Week 15
08.02.1998	Star of the Sea	100	Denny Notre Dame	83
08.02.1998	Amev UCD Marian	99	Garveys Tigers Tralee	91
08.02.1998	Neptune	81	Dungannon	84
08.02.1998	Killester	98	Longnecks Ballina	82
08.02.1998	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	89	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	82
	Week 16
15.02.1998	Star of the Sea	110	Dungannon	90
15.02.1998	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	91	Killester	82
15.02.1998	Amev UCD Marian	94	Longnecks Ballina	95
15.02.1998	Neptune	96	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	90
15.02.1998	Garveys Tigers Tralee	117	Denny Notre Dame	100
	Week 17
22.02.1998	Amev UCD Marian	95	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	81
22.02.1998	Garveys Tigers Tralee	68	Star of the Sea	81
22.02.1998	Killester	106	Neptune	94
22.02.1998	Longnecks Ballina	114	Dungannon	89
22.02.1998	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	100	Denny Notre Dame	69
	Week 18
01.03.1998	Amev UCD Marian	73	Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s	85
01.03.1998	Denny Notre Dame	115	Longnecks Ballina	84
01.03.1998	Kerry Spring Water Killarney	76	Killester	109
01.03.1998	Dungannon	101	Garveys Tigers Tralee	83
01.03.1998	Star of the Sea	97	Neptune	77

[Reference: 3-27]

Report

St. Vincent’s secured victory in 1997-98, 92-74 against Notre Dame, another agonising defeat for the Firhouse club based in the National Basketball arena in Tallaght.

By the end of October 1997, Denny Notre Dame from Firhouse, Tallaght and Star of the Sea from Belfast were undefeated with four wins apiece. Dungannon were the surprise packet on 3 wins and one loss in third. Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s and Longnecks Ballina, for so long the two favourites in the 1990s, were a game further back in fourth.

By November’s end, Denny Notre Dame were still undefeated on 8 wins, Lenny McMillian sparking them to the top of the table, one game ahead of Star of the Sea, with Dungannon two games further back. Three teams were tied for fourth place on four wins: Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s, Longnecks Ballina and Killester. at the other end of the table, Neptune, for so long a Cork success-story were languishing on 7 losses from 7 games with one game postponed, two games behind Garvey’s Tigers Tralee and Kerry Spring Water Killarney, the Kerry teams also struggling of late.

Denny Notre Dame and Star of the Sea were battling it out for top spot with 9 wins each from 10 games at the end of December, three ahead of Dugannon, while Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s took up fourth spot with 5 wins. There wasa log-jam of four teams on four wins in fifth: Longnecks Ballina, Killester, Kerry Spring Water Killarney and UCD Marian, with even Garveys Tigers Tralee still in contention for a Playoff spot with 3 wins and a game in hand. Neptune were the only team which could be counted out with only one victory to their credit.

By the last league weekend of January, just before Sprite Cup Final Weekend, Star of the Sea had moved into sole position at the top with 12 wins and one loss, Denny Notre Dame in second with 11 wins and 2 losses after their loss to Killester in Week 11, which moved Killester into sole ownership of third on 7-6. Three teams were in fourth on 6-7: Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s, Longnecks Ballina and Dungannon.

At the end of the season it was Star of the Sea who pulled away, victory over Denny Notre Dame in Week 15 starting a string of three losses in a row for the Firhouse, Tallaght team as the Belfast side finished on 17-1 with Denny finishing on 13-5, four games behind. A further three back were Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s and Killester, who also qualified for the Top Four Playoffs. Dungannon’s late slide meant they finished on 9-9 in fifth place, followed by Longnecks Ballina (8-10), UCD Marian (7-11) and Kerry Spring Watter Killarney (6-12). The bottom two spots, on 5-13 went to Neptune and Garveys Tigers Tralee.

The National Championships, in the National Basketball Arena, saw Star of the Sea win 92-74 in the Final against Denny Notre Dame, denying the Tallaght side the Championship and Cup Double, and securing the League and Championship Double for the Belfast team. Star had disposed of Killester in the Semi-Finals, 94-72, while Denny Notre Dame had won 97-70 over Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s in the other Semi-Final.

References

Newspapers

[1] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball”. Irish Independent. Monday, March 2, 1998. pp. 20-21.

[2] Anon. (1998) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball”. Irish Independent. Monday, March 16, 1998. pp. 34-35.

[3] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 6, 1997. Pg. 30

[4] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 13, 1997. Pg. 34

[5] Anon. (1997) “Ballina want McClean on the Plane from Spain” Irish Independent. Friday, October 17, 1997. Pg. 18

[6] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Saturday, October 18, 1997. Pg. 22

[7] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 20, 1997. Pg. 32

[8] Anon. (1997) “McClean helps to sink Neptune” Irish Independent. Monday, October 20, 1997. Pg. 32

[9] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, October 27, 1997. Pg. 34

[10] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, November 10, 1997. Pg. 34.

[11] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, November 17, 1997. Pg. 34.

[12] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, November 24, 1997. Pg. 30.