Tolka in semi-finals after upset

Tolka Rovers caused the biggest surprise of the Sprite Cup quarter-finals when they defeated the highly fancied and current Superleague champions Star of the Sea 74-68 yesterday.

Tolka have been struggling in the league this season, with only four wins from 11 games, but they put that poor form well behind them by upsetting the experienced Star side with a superb team performance.

Through the early scoring of Paddy Boylan and Lennie McMillan, Tolka jumped to an early lead which they held until Star levelled it at 68 apiece with two minutes remaining. But Boylan restored the lead before Joey Haastrup's slam dunk delighted the home crowd and gave Tolka the six-point victory.

No such upsets for the holders, however, as Denny Notre Dame cruised through to the semi-final weekend next month with a 8862 defeat of Burger King Limerick at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday.

Six points up at the break, player-coach Anthony Jenkins put in another memorable display for Notre Dame with his top-score of 20 points. Eric Blair (16 points) and Ciaran Dempsey (14 points) helped complete the comfortable win.

Elsewhere, St Vincent's staged a dramatic comeback against Esat Telecom Demons yesterday to earn their second consecutive semi-final place. The Demons held the upper hand for most of the early play, before Karl Donnelly's late free-throws levelled the score at 78 each and forced the game into overtime. Stephen McGuirk and Donnelly then hit two impressive three-pointers to get them home.

There was a more convincing passage for Waterford Crystal as they defeated Killester 76-66.

In the women's league, leaders Tolka Rovers had it all their own way in their 68-53 win over the University of Limerick, while Crusaders fell 42-38 to Killester.