A major Dublin derby takes centre-stage this weekend as Pyrobel Killester welcome neighbours KUBS for the quarter-final of the Hula Hoops National Cup.
While there’s not much geographical distance between the two sides, there’s certainly distance between them on the league table, with Killester boasting four wins from seven, while KUBS have yet to secure a victory.
However, cup basketball is always a different ball game and KUBS showed this by winning both of their clashes against Commercial.ie Éanna, while Killester overcame DCU Saints in the opening round.
“Everyone knows how important the cup is to Irish basketball,” said Killester head coach Brian O’Malley. “KUBS have a top-class coach and their quality isn’t reflected in their league standing so we are under no illusions that anything other than our best will not be good enough.”
KUBS head coach Mark Ingle said: "I think the history of KUBS and Killester is well documented. We are looking forward to this game and the atmosphere."
Elsewhere, it's Super League action, with Commercial.ie Éanna home to UCC Demons, DCU Saints welcome Belfast Star, SSE Airtricity Moycullen face Griffith Swords Thunder, Radisson Blu UL Eagles welcome Templeogue while Irish TV Tralee Warriors are home to UCD Marian.
In the women's Super League, meanwhile, there is a much anticipated clash between Meteors and Courtyard Liffey Celtics, with Celtics head coach Mark Byrne preparing to return to his former stomping ground.
“Meteors will be tough for me having coached them last year, but I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again,” he said. “They are probably doing better than their record suggests so we’ll have to be on our game again.”
Meteors head coach Greg Petrovic said he was hopeful his side could secure a home win.
“We have a young team, who are a bit inexperienced at this level, but they are improving every week and our performance is up. I’m happy with how we’ve been playing – the girls work very hard. Celtics are in the top three teams at the moment so we know it will be a tough game, but I’m confident that the girls will do all they can to win.”
Elsewhere, Pyrobel Killester will be hoping to keep their unbeaten home record intact when they welcome NUIG Mystics, Portlaoise Panthers face a tough test in the form of DCU Mercy while Maxol WIT Wildcats and Singleton SuperValu Brunell go head to head in Waterford.
