Limerick Celtics completed the double this weekend as the Celtics women’s defeated Limerick Sport Huskies in a local derby and the men kicked off their Super League season with a thrilling win against Ballincollig.
Starting in the Limerick Educate Together School, the women took on Huskies in what was billed as the biggest game of the opening weekend in Division One. With it already having the local derby fever, there was the added spice of the return to Limerick for guard Shelby Harmeyer, but this time she swapped green for blue as she turned out for the Huskies.
But she wasn’t fazed by the pressure. Harmeyer shot 50% from the field in the first half as Huskies kept pace with a Celtics side who came out of the traps slowly. But it was new recruit Katie Black who lit a fire for the Celtics with 13 points at the half, after shooting 5-9 from the field, which gave the girls a 31-29 lead at the break.
After the half-time break, Celtics started to flex their offensive muscle a bit more. The combination of American guard Sidney Richards and club captain Sabhbh Edwards Murphy, the team really started to gain a foothold on the game.
Richards was in lockdown form with a huge 6 steals to accompany her 18 points and 9 assists to ensure Celtics took home their first win of the season. Edwards Murphy also gets a special mention for her work inside the paint getting 11 rebounds with 9 of those coming in the second half.
The women travel up north next weekend with a game against Cleveland Rockets in Lisburn.
As the dust settled in LETS, the University of Limerick Arena was just building up an appetite for the first Super League game of basketball in Limerick in nearly a decade. The Celtics men were warming up to take on Ballincollig.
Similar to the women earlier, it took a moment to get the rust off in the first quarter with the Cork side scoring the first 5 points of the game and keeping that gap until Celtics took the lead with just under a minute to go in the first and holding an 18-14 lead after 1.
Both teams went tit for tat with Ballincollig leading at half time 41-38. Pro Austin Rotroff had himself a half for Celtics with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks for himself at the half.
Both teams went on runs in the third quarter as Celtics came out quick and held a four-point lead midway through the third which was then answered right back with a run from the away team which gave them their own six-point lead as we headed into the final 10 minutes in UL.
Ballincollig started to put the foot down as they led by as much as seven with four minutes to go. Led by strong games from Abdul Wurie and AJ Williams, the men in green started fighting back as the clock winded down.
But it was Finn Hughes for Celtics who hit a floater with just 14 seconds to go on the clock to edge Ballincollig in a classic that will be remembered by every Celtics fan as they took the win 88-87 to go 1-0 in the Super League.
Clutch from Finn Hughes to lock in Limerick Celtics’ first Domino’s Men’s Super League win against Cork giants Ballincollig!
What a way to open the season at your home #DominosMSL | #IrishBasketball pic.twitter.com/CJeBQC5EdG
— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) October 5, 2025
The men also head up the country next weekend as they face EJ Sligo All-Stars in Mercy College.