Basketball: Seeded draw helps Kings avoid Fury

HOLDERS Edinburgh Kings, who travel to play Glasgow Storm on Sunday on National Basketball League business, will face giant-killers Portlethen Panthers in next month's semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.

BasketballScotland made the decision to seed the top two teams, with Falkirk Fury, the other favoured team, being drawn at home to Troon Torndoes, who upset St Mirren in the quarter-finals last weekend.

North-east outfit Panthers defeated a non-national league side, Glasgow Rocks, in their quarter-final at home last Sunday having ousted the national league side East Lothian Peregrines in the previous round.

"We'll give them every bit as much respect as we would give any national league side – they've got to this stage on merit having beaten the Peregrines and they'll be even more dangerous as they're at home," said Kings coach Danny Costello.

Costello has injury doubts for this weekend over a number of his big players notably Si Flockhart, who still has not fully recovered from a calf injury and Edgars Rekis, who has had a recurrence of an old knee problem.

Having defeated Storm in their Scottish Cup quarter-final Kings might be tempted to think the title race was over but on the horizon are two tough games with St Mirren, who could still enter the reckoning.