Results

MVP: Lennie McMilian (Denny Notre Dame).

Men’s Plate

Report

In Round 1 of the Irish Basketball Association Men’s Sprite Cup in 1997-98 there were narrow wins for Super League teams Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s over Riverisland Castleisland and Longnecks Ballina against Waterford Crystal. Regional Cork team Blue Demons had a 22-point win over St. Galls (Divsion 1) and Division 1 team Tolka Rovers shocked high-flying Super League team Dungannon. Garvey’s Tigers Tralee, Denny Notre Dame and Star of the Sea won the three All-Super League ties. The Plate Quarter-Finals saw victories for Sligo All-Stars and Mid Sutton-Baldoyle.

Tolka Rovers, Denny Notre Dame, Neptune and Star of the Sea progressed through to the Semi-Finals when the Quarter-Finals were played in mid-December. Only the Tolka Rovers v Marathon Sports St. Vincent’s tie was close with the visitors winning by 3 points, 95 to 92. In the Plate Final played the same weekend an All -Kerry affair saw Kerry Spring Water Killarney triumph 87-70 against Riverisland Castleisland, with 25 points contributed by S Polownski and 23 by V Daly.

In the Finals Weekend over the 23rd-25th January at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Denny Notre Dame triumphed 79-73 against Neptune Evening Echo in the Final, where Lennie McMillian received the MVP Award for his 16 point contribution. In the Semi-Finals Notre Dame had knocked out Star of the Sea in a huge battle between the two top teams all season, and Neptune Evening Echo won by seven over Tolka Rovers.

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 as well as a Junior B (U19) Regional 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) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, November 3, 1997. Pg. 34.

[2] Anon. (1997) “A-Z of Weekend Sport: Basketball” Irish Independent. Monday, December 15, 1997. Pg. 32-33.

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

Acknowledgements

Thanks to John Folan.

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

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

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