AS rough and challenging a week as it has been for the country and sport, it has generally been perceived as a good one for Irish basketball.

The governing body’s Men’s National Competitions Committee (MNCC) has confirmed that Belfast Star have been declared champions

Larry Vaughn, you should be living at this hour.

Sport may shrink in significance in these unprecedented times but the sight of empty stadiums and speculation over the fate of previously ‘untouchable’ events as the Olympic Games and European Championships hammer home just how serious things have become.

IT’S March now, which in recent years has invariably meant a dramatic conclusion to Irish basketball’s men’s SuperLeague, just as April always guarantees us unmissable theatre in the form of a Sunday in Augusta.

BALLINCOLLIG head coach Kieran O’Sullivan is a Liverpool supporter so could be forgiven for coming over all Jurgen Klopp when the possibility of a perfect season for his Men’s Division One champions crops up.

Tradehouse Central Ballincollig are Men’s Division One champions following a comfortable win over Sligo All-Stars at the Ballincollig Community School.

Sports Dispute Solutions Ireland (SDSI) are to adjudicate on a controversy which has rocked the Men’s SuperLeague.

Superleague pacesetters Garvey’s Tralee Warriors have won their appeal against a points deduction imposed for incorrectly registering American, Andre Berry, sources say.

Niall Quinn has called for Irish sporting bodies to present a united front in the quest for increased government funding after Basketball Ireland called foul on the rescue package for the FAI.

All through last summer, while the indefatigable Mark Tighe kept breaking stories highlighting the scale of the incompetence and mismanagement of the FAI, there was another weekly occurrence in another sport.

Basketball Ireland has outlined their frustration at the "double standards" of Government after a €30m financial rescue package was agreed for the FAI.

Inductees will join a dozen Hall of Fame members

As Irish basketball celebrates its 75th anniversary and hosts another Cup finals weekend, Kieran Shannon speaks to several key figures in the game about its overall health

A nightmare week for Garvey’s Tralee Warriors could get worse amid suggestions that they may be stripped of three Super League wins for fielding an illegal player.

The Hula Hoops Paudie O’Connor Women's National Cup Final between Singleton SuperValu Brunell and Pyrobel Killester will tip off at 5.30pm on Sunday, January 26.

The fixtures for the 2019/20 Basketball Ireland National League season have been announced today.

You are only minutes into a chat with Mayo midfielder Dayna Finn when you find yourself gripped by her tactical appreciation of how so many goals are created by this current Dublin senior football team.

Neptune will remain in the Men’s SuperLeague next season.

Basketball Ireland chiefs have confirmed that one of the most storied names in the sport, seven-time National Cup champions UCC (Blue) Demons have withdrawn from next season's Men's Superleague.

John Coughlan Basketball

So it all comes down to this. Whatever Basketball Ireland is paying its marketing team, it’s not enough as they’ve conjured the ultimate final regular season weekend of the Superleague season. Three rivals for the title, two facing each other in back to back fixtures Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight Tralee hosts a top-of-the-table sellout as Garvey’s Warriors take on Superleague rivals Templeogue. But as someone who went up against Carmelo Anthony in his first game Stateside, played in the famed March Madness in college and the cut-throat Asian continental league where loony owners could fire a teammate at half-time, Jason Killeen will hardly be daunted.

Basketball Ireland has been informed that Griffith College Swords Thunder have been disbanded and will no longer take part in the Men’s Super League championship.

If I mention the race for the Áras, will you turn the page? You won’t? Many thanks.

Basketball Ireland has teamed up with the global reach of the NBA to create an exciting junior programme which will kit teams out in their favourite NBA colours.

Fixture information and cancelled events this weekend.

Coláiste Chiarain of Leixlip completed a thrilling double of All-Ireland title wins yesterday as they scooped the U19 A Girls’ Schools League title with a four-point win over Holy Faith, Clontarf (45-41).

Basketball is poised for its annual Cork extravaganza, as almost 500 players from across the country head south for the National Cup semi-finals weekend.

Adrian O’Sullivan’s 26-point haul didn’t just propel UCC Demons to a National Cup semi-final. It means they jump into January and 2018.

It’s as much a part of Cork sporting folklore as Flower Lodge or Páirc Ui Chaoimh, as the Mardyke or Turner’s Cross. But the storied basketball crucible that is the northside’s Parochial Hall will fall silent next month when the National Cup semi-finals are played out on Leeside.

The postponement of reigning champions, Glanmire’s National Cup quarter-final, against Killester, yesterday, was one of the big talking points of a hectic cup and league weekend.

Finally, a bidding ‘war’ Ireland has emerged victorious from, with Cork profiting from the additional bounce of the ball.