All-Limerick tie set up following Celtics and Huskies victories in Domino’s Women’s Division One Playoff Quarter-Finals

A Limerick derby will decide who heads to the National Basketball Arena for the chance to be promoted to the Domino’s Women’s Super League after Limerick Celtics and Limerick Sport Huskies both progressed to the semi-finals of the Domino’s Women’s Division One Playoffs.

Celtics beat Swords Thunder 81-73 in Crescent College on Saturday evening. Sidney Richards, Laura Buckley and Sabhbh Edwards Murphy led the team in scoring, with Richards getting 21, Buckley with 19 and Murphy adding 17. Kayce Vaile continued to dominate the stat sheets for the Thunder, scoring 29 and grabbing 17 rebounds for good measure. Despite Vailes inspired performance, Celtics held control of the lead from the second minute of the game until the final buzzer went.

Celtics will be at home in Crescent College against Huskies next weekend, with the date and time still to be confirmed.

Limerick Sport Huskies picked up the largest victory of the weekend, beating Clunetech Kilkenny Stars, 77-49. Shelby Harmeyer was the standout performer for Huskies with a 20-point, eight-rebound game.  Clara Gomez had a double-double game with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Stars held firm for the first half of the game, heading into the break level at 29-29. However, a 31-4 third quarter for Huskies completely eviscerated any chance of an upset being on the cards in Limerick Educate Together.

Huskies 28-point victory sees them book their place in the last four in the race for promotion.

Number one seed Cleveland Rockets survived a close game to advance to the semi-finals with a 77-74 triumph over University of Galway Mystics. The Rockets trio of Aoibheann Donnely, Georgie McGrath and Eimile Rogers-Duffy scored 46 points between them to drive Rockets over the line. Mystics had their own star three-piece with Karolina Gierszal, Isabella Quinn and Kara McCleane scoring a combined 50 of Mystics 74 points.

Rockets will now welcome fourth seed Templeogue next weekend following Templeogue’s win over Moy Tolka Rovers

Sofia Paska had 33 points and 13 rebounds in an 83-68 victory for Templeogue over Moy Tolka Rovers. Templeogue dominated the proceedings from early on, with a 19-8 first quarter setting them up for a comfortable victory. Hannah Murphy also led the side in rebounds, grabbing 16 to go with Paska’s 13. For Tolka, Dane Bertolina tried her best to fight for Tolka, putting up a double-double performance of 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Templeogue head north to visit Rockets next weekend as they continue to hunt for a place in the Domino’s Women’s Division One Playoff Final.

In the Domino’s Men’s Division One, number one seed Dublin Lions saw a shock defeat at the quarter-final stage, losing 82-78 to Titans BC. Umar Rachid shot 50% from the field on his way to a team-high 21-point game. Fortune Igbokwe and Viktor Tashev put in a strong supporting showing together, adding 35 points between the two of them. Russell Marr tried everything to get Lions over the line with a 32-point game, however Lions still fell to an upset defeat in Colaiste Raithin.

Titans will now face Maree in the semi-final stage of the competition.

Maree set up a date with Titans next weekend after a 75-69 triumph over Carrick Cruisers. Isaiah Taylor and Rinor Dragusha scored 24 and 23 points respectively, with Dragusha adding 11 boards for Maree. Justin Wickham also had a double-double performance, scoring 16 and grabbing 12 rebounds as Maree managed to edge Cruisers in an extremely tight game that had 22 lead changes across the four quarters of action.

Limerick Sport Eagles won in rather convincing fashion with an 87-70 win over Moy Tolka Rovers on Saturday night. Huskies held the lead for the entire game, building as much as a 25-point lead in the game. Eagles star duo of Alex Carlisle and Irish international Ryan Leonard kept up their fine scoring form, with Carlisle scoring 22 points and Leonard getting 14. Tobias Christensen also put up good numbers with a 13-point, 15-rebound game from him. Derek Murphy, Daniel Ayoade and Sean McManus scored 52 of Tolka’s 70 points with Murphy leading the way with 21 in the defeat.

Eagles now set up a Domino’s MSL National Cup final rematch against Drogheda Wolves in the semi-finals, with Eagles travelling to Drogheda for next weekend.

Drogheda Wolves booked their spot in the semi-finals with a 93-78 win over SPK Utility Trust Lakers. Lakers’ Stephen Kelly had the highest scoring game of the weekend with a 36-point performance, which was accompanied by a 21-point, 16-rebound showing for Eoin Carroll. For Wolves, Vernon Jackson continued to prove to be the difference maker, scoring 28 points for Wolves in the win with big showings from Dimitrios Theocharis and Franciszek Chmielecki, who combined for 41 together to send Wolves through.

Wolves will host Eagles next weekend having held the better record in the regular season of the Domino’s Men’s Division One standings.