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

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

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

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.

[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

[25] 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]

[26] 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]

[27] Anon. (1997) “Sports Round Up” Irish Times. Monday, December 6, 1997. Pg. 34 [Internet] Available from: https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1997/1206/Pg034.html#Ar03403 [Accessed 19 December 2020]

Websites

[28] Basketball Ireland (2018) History [Internet] Available from: http://www.basketballireland.ie/history/ [Accessed 26 May 2018]

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

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.