Demons likely to progress

BASKETBALL:It makes for a fairly top-heavy sporting afternoon with St Patrick's Day falling on a Saturday this year. And domestic basketball contributes the penultimate weekend for the Superleague as the play-offs will decide who plays conference champions, the Tralee Tigers and Killester, in the semi-finals next Saturday in Limerick.

Shamrock Rovers Hoops make the trek to Cork, where southern conference runners-up UCC Demons are hosts at the Mardyke Arena. It's hard to see past the Demons progressing to the last four against Killester as recent form has been impressive - seven wins from eight - while the Hoops only just qualified with a final-round victory over St Vincent's.

Ballina may have lost the services of Ronan McGarrity for the rest of the campaign but remain slight favourites to fend off St Paul's who travel to Mayo for the 7pm tip off. The winners face Tralee.

The women's Superleague semi-final sees Killester travel down to UL Aughinish without captain Carmel Kissane, Emer Brophy and, most likely, Leah Westbrooks after she sustained an ankle injury playing for her school, Holy Faith, Clontarf.

UL are joint hosts of next week's final and beat Killester three times during the regular season.

In the other semi-final, the Waterford Wildcats face DCU Mercy on the north Dublin campus without the injured Irish international Michelle Aspell.

TOMORROW:Men's Superleague quarter-finals - UCC Demons v Shamrock Rovers Hoops, Mardyke Arena, 4.0; Ballina v St Paul's, Ballina SLC, 7.0. Women's Superleague semi-finals - UL Aughinish v Killester, UL Arena, 5.0. MONDAY -DCU Mercy v Wildcats, DCU, 3.30.