BASKETBALL:It's fitting that the leading teams from both Superleague conferences face off in Sunday's national cup final at the National Arena in Tallaght.
Defending champions the Tralee Tigers, with their football stars Kieran Donaghy and Micheal Quirke back in tow, are undefeated in the southern conference, losing one game on a technicality, while Dublin club Killester lead the northern division with an 11-2 win record.
There is a very good chance the teams will meet again in the Superleague decider later this year but the cup has always been the main event on the basketball calendar. Live television also makes it the best chance for Basketball Ireland to showcase their sport.
"Its great to see the two top teams in the league reaching this stage of the competition," said Killester coach Mark Keenan. "The Kerry - Dublin rivalry is mainly associated with GAA but it is also finding its way through basketball. I know they won't have been particularly pleased with how they played against UCD Marian but they showed they can still win matches without being at their best."
True, the Tigers struggled in the semi-final, eventually winning out 83-71 thanks to a third quarter scoring blitz from Americans CJ Hadley and Chris Jordan. Fifteen rebounds from Quirke and the gradual influence of Donaghy also impressed, especially considering the pair had just returned from the Kerry football team holiday.
"It's possible, if we concentrate on stopping the likes of Dongahy or Quirke then we will be taking our focus off their Americans so we'll just have to go out and hopefully we'll get a complete performance," said Keenan.
Killester proved too strong for Shamrock Rovers Hoops in their semi-final, dominating throughout the 99-75 win. They have certainly spread their net for imports this season with Grenadian Michael Bonaparte, Poland's Michael Goj and Arnaud Dahi of the Ivory Coast the main scoring forwards. Home grown talent Paddy Kelly is another key component.
One of Killester's favourite sons and a survivor from the 1984 team will also see some court time. Former player coach Jermome Westbrooks arrived from Chicago in 1981 and remains an integral part of the north Dublin basketball community.
Westbrooks' three sons have already passed through the club - Michael and Isaac are now playing in Spain and Iceland respectively while Aaron is on a scholarship at Trinity College, Boston - but the old man, now 50, showed against the Hoops that he can still play.
"They are a brilliant side," said Tigers coach Mark Bernsen. "They have all the parts and boast an excellent coach in Mark Keenan. On paper it looks like being a classic game. It should be a good spectacle but it will be tight as there is nothing between the sides."
That said if the Tralee club can repeat the second-half semi-final performance no team will stop them. They have five players capable of breaking 20 points on their day and an experienced head in John Teahan to cancel out Westbrooks' influence.
Keenan did identify a flaw in the all conquering Tigers squad after the last day. "They always get good import players, there are three decent foreigners there, but they don't really go that deep on the bench. Maybe seven or eight players so I'll be cluing in on that to try and keep the pressure on them and wear them down." Sounds fine in theory but the Tigers look primed to deliver.
