CASTLEISLAND waved goodbye to a special kind of sporting madness last night.

MARDYKE UCC Demons salvaged some southern Superleague pride with a 22-point blitz of Hibernian UCD Marian (97-75), on a weekend when cross-conferences bragging rights went north.

FOLLOWING their demolition of Horan’s Health Foods Tigers in Tralee on Saturday night nobody wanted to draw Neptune in the quarter-finals of the ESB National Cup, but Waterford Crystal drew the short straw and must travel to Cork on the weekend of January 3-4.

TRALEE’s Horan Healthfood Tigers preserved their 100% Superleague record in dramatic and controversial circumstances at the weekend.

Table toppers, Horan’s Health Stores Tigers, face a tough assignment in their opening game in the ESB National Cup when they host the SuperLeague champions, Neptune, at the Tralee Sports Centre on the weekend of December 5-7.

Tralee Tigers continued their unbeaten run in the ESB Men's Superleague, defeating Waterford Crystal at home, 86-68.

DEFENDING champions Neptune and the reigning Cup champions, Mardyke UCC Demons, got their respective ESB Men’s SuperLeague campaigns off to the perfect start yesterday when Basketball Ireland introduced the new conference format under which this season’s competition will be decided.

The top eight teams from the men’s Superleague and the top four from the women’s are destined for the University of Limerick this weekend to participate in the National Championships, the grand finale of the basketball calendar.

Neptune are only two victories away from the Superleague title following their 85-72 victory over Tralee Tigers on Wednesday night.

Sx3 STAR reinforced their ESBSuperLeague aspirations with their 96-106 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night with just three games remaining in the competition, but coach Danny Fulton insisted yesterday that the business was not finished.

THE spotlight will be on the SuperLeague table toppers Notre Dame and Sx3 Star when the semi-finals of the ESB National Cup get under way at the ESB Arena this afternoon.

DART Killester have lodged a protest over the refereeing of last weekend’s tie against Star of the Sea, but coach Mark Ingle said yesterday there was no question of seeking a replay or anything like that.

NEPTUNE’S failure to take advantage of SX3 Star’s crucial ESB Superleague slip in Tralee last weekend will act as a spur for the Cork side as the top two sides in the country go head-to-head on Sunday in Belfast.

NEPTUNE maintained, if not consolidated, their position at the top of the ESB Super League table over the weekend with an 86-101 victory over Notre Dame that left coach Martin Aherne again singing the praises of the home grown players.

Unbeaten ESB Basketball Superleague side Sx3 Star have boosted their title challenge by signing a new American player ahead of their weekend game with struggling Dart Killester.

Unbeaten ESB Basketball Superleague side Sx3 Star have boosted their title challenge by signing a new American player ahead of their weekend game with struggling Dart Killester.

When the Cup and League title holders met this afternoon in the University of Limerick, a close competition was expected, but Waterford Crystal were no match as BurgerKing Limerick ran out with a 93-65 victory.

BASKETBALL’S ESB Cup champions BurgerKing Limerick will open their defence away to former champions St Vincent’s, now called Irish Travel Partners Saints, next month.

It's make or break this weekend as the Cup battle for a final four spot hots up.

Weekend Basketball fixtures are as follows:

There are changes to the ESB men’s Superleague schedule this weekend to allow senior internationals, Damien Sealy and Adrian Fulton join the Irish team in Germany on Sunday