CUP competition takes centre stage this weekend, with Titans having three teams in action at the traditional festival of basketball in Cork, though there are regular league games also in the schedule for both Mystics in the Women’s Super League, and Maigh Cuilinn in Men’s Division One.

The main focus, however, will be on Cork, where Titans will contest the semi-finals of the Men’s Division One Cup, the Men’s U-20 Cup, and the Boys’ U-18 Cup, with the U-20 side looking to go one better than last year, when they were beaten 77-65 in the final by Limerick Celtics.

They booked their place in the last four with a 103-54 demolition of local rivals Maigh Cuilinn in their quarter-final clash in the first week of December. They started their run to the semi-finals with a 109-75 win over Drogheda Wolves, before a 98-41 win away to Malahide in their Last 16 clash.

They will take on Dundalk Ravens in Gurranabraher on Saturday (10am), with the other semi-final beginning at the Mardyke an hour later when defending champions, Limerick Celtics, take on Killester.

The club’s Men’s Division One side take on Portlaoise Panthers in the semi-finals of the President’s Cup on Saturday night at the same north-side venue (8.30pm).

They have enjoyed home advantage on their run to the last four, running out comfortable 92-71 winners over St Paul’s Killarney in their Last 16 clash in Ballinfoile; before Joseph Coughlan hit three free throws from four in the final 20 seconds of their quarter-final clash with Limerick Sport Eagles to clinch a 94-91 win.

They face a tough test against a Midlands side that ran out 101-70 when the sides met in Portlaoise in the league back in November in what was their first defeat of the season: Panthers are joint top of the division with a perfect record of 13 wins from 13, with Titans down in fifth with eight wins from 11 games.

The other semi-final sees Limerick Celtics, who also boast a 13-0 record in the league this season, taking on a Tolka Rovers side sitting third in the table with nine wins from 12 games.

The final Titans side in action takes to the court on Sunday, when the U-18 Boys will have to overcome a partisan home crowd when they face Neptune in the Neptune Stadium (11am). They booked their place in the last four with a 78-76 win over Declans BC of Dublin in their quarter-final meeting at the end of November.

Pictured: Maigh Cuilinn’s Grant Olsson who scored 12 points in Saturday’s First Division away loss to Tolka Rovers on Saturday. Photo: Pat Shanahan.