A stunning display from Paul Dick in the fourth quarter at UCD on Saturday night saw Garvey’s Tralee Warriors march home to a 76-86 point win over the hosts in the Men’s Super League to remain top of the table.
With the game hanging in the balance by the midway point of the closing quarter, Paul Dick stepped up to the challenge in style, delivering home some killer shots to edge the Warriors out in front. Superb shooting from Jonathan Lawton was also one of the talking points and, despite a dazzling display from UCD’s Aidan Dunne, along with key scores down the stretch from Scott Kinevane, Barry Drumm and Mike Garrow for the hosts, it was Paul Dick and Lawton who took hold of the game in the closing minutes to see Warriors drive home to a 10-point win to remain top of the table heading into the last round of games before Christmas.
“We’ll take the wins any way they come,” said coach Pat Price afterwards. “They matched us the whole way, our think our depth stood to us in the last three minutes. We lost our rhythm an awful lot, and we had foul trouble in the first half. I thought what we did defensively led to what happened offensively. Everyone saw Paul hit the big shots, and Jonathan hit the threes, but that was a result of our defense.”
Just down the road meanwhile, Belfast Star put on a hugely impressive road display on Saturday evening to down Griffith College Templeogue, 79-90. Stand out displays from Delaney Blaylock and CJ Fulton, particularly in the second half, saw Star edge into a one-point lead, 64-65, going into the last quarter, and two dagger threes and a lay-up from Connor Johnston gave the visitors breathing room as they rounded off the game with a big 25-point quarter to see them home to a key win.
It took overtime to separate Keanes Supervalu Killorglin and Coughlan C&S Neptune in Kerry on Saturday evening, with the hosts just pipping it by one point in a thriller in the end, 101-100. The sides were neck-in-neck throughout, with Killorglin just in front, 47-44 at the half, thanks to good scoring from Allan Thomas, Colin O’Reilly and Rami Ghanem. The battle continued in the second half, with Nil Sabata and Cian Heaphy getting some key scores for Neptune and the visitors were up three with just seconds to go in the game. Player/coach Colin O’Reilly was on hand to deliver one of the scores of the season though, netting home a massive three-pointer from the other end of the court just before the buzzer to send the game to overtime, as it finished on 87 points apiece. Overtime was end-to-end once more, and this time it was Allan Thomas who had the magic touch for the hosts at the death, as he hit home a jump shot with nothing on the clock to see Killorglin win by one point.
It was a close one in Galway meanwhile as Maree and Moycullen went head-to-head in their big derby clash. Moycullen had the better of the opening half, with Grant Olsson and Dylan Cunningham leading the charge to see them into a 38-43 point half-time lead. A big push in the third from Maree though, led by Darin Johnson and Orioles Balsells Plaza saw Maree edge in front 63-59 going into the last quarter, and they pushed on to win out 87-79 in the end. DBS Éanna saw off the challenge of neighbours, Abbey Seals Dublin Lions, at home on Saturday evening, winning out 92-76. Éanna were in control from early on, with Stefan Zecevic once more the leader on the offensive end. Good scoring for Lions’ Jarrett Gray and Ramonn Nelson just weren’t enough, as Zecevic, Marko Tomic and Mark Reynolds drove them home to victory.
Mike Bonaparte rolled back the years in Clontarf on Saturday evening, as he delivered a 36-point game for DCU Saints to see his side home to a memorable 89-95 point win over Pyrobel Killester. An extremely close opening half saw Kason Harrell and Mark Convery two of the standouts for the hosts, as they led by three at the break, 43-40. A massive third quarter from Saints followed though, with Bonaparte and Graham Brannelly leading the charge, to see them home to an 89-95 in the end.
Over in the Women’s Super League, Ambassador UCC Glanmire picked up an important win at home on Saturday evening as they ran out 10-point winners over Maree in Cork, 72-62. Nothing separated the sides in the opening half, with Claire Rockall dominating for the visitors early on and some well-worked scores for Glanmire at the other end seeing it tied at 37 points apiece at the half. Huge performances from Casey Grace and Tatum Neubert for Glanmire would ultimately prove to be the difference though, as they combined on the night for 42 points to lead Mark Scannell’s charges home to a key victory and move them back into second place in the table.
Speaking afterwards, Coach Scannell stated: “That was a really tough game. Our defense got us over the line and we made some big shots down the stretch. It was a very important win, a great team win and it keeps us in touch.”
DCU Mercy meanwhile remain top of the table heading into the Christmas break as they were clinical in their victory over Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics on Sunday afternoon, winning out 76-33. DCU were in charge from the off, keeping Liffey Celtics to just eight points in the opening half, while Sarah Woods, Meredith Burkhall and Ashley Russell ran in some big scores. Big work from Liffey’s Ailbhe and Aine O’Connor in the second half along with good scoring from Kate O’Flaherty just couldn’t match DCU on the day as they ran out comfortable winners in the end.
It was an overtime battle for Singleton SuperValu Brunell and Pyrobel Killester on Sunday afternoon as they couldn’t be separated at the full time buzzer, finishing on 81 points apiece. Indeed, the game was nip-and-tuck throughout, with Greta Tamasanskaite and Treyanna Clay leading the way for the hosts, while Christa Reed, Adella Randle El and Aisling McCann combined for a whopping 74 points on the day, to see Killester just edge it by two in overtime, 93-95.
Maxol WIT Wildcats picked up another statement win, running out comfortable 79-46 point winners over IT Carlow Basketball to move into joint second on the table. Maria Palarino and Jasmine Walker led the charge for the hosts on Thursday evening, to see them into a 12-point half time lead. Good scoring from Kaitlyn Slagus, Holli Dunne and Miah Ryan just wasn’t enough for Carlow, as Stephanie O’Shea and Abby Flynn chipped in with some big scores for Wildcats at the other end to see them home to victory. Marble City Hawks were once more agonizingly close to their first win of the season, but lost out in the end by four to Fr Mathews in Cork, 67-63, in a close battle. A huge first half display from Mathews was what laid the groundwork for the win, as they opened up a 45-29 point lead at the break behind solid performances from Shannon Brady, Simone O’Shea and Amy Murphy. Hawks regrouped well in the third though, wit
