DART Killester set-up a mouth-watering Men’s National Cup final clash with Abrakebabra Tigers after an emphatic 99-75 victory over Hoops at the National Basketball Arena on Sunday.
Hoops started the game with an early 11-4 lead on the back of good scores from Ciaran White and Taylor Lay. Killester’s Michael Bonaparte responded with two great back-to-back moves to narrow the lead to three points. Johnny Grennell put Killester in front with a steal and a fast break lay-up. Killester finished the quarter in the stronger position, with Paddy Kelly’s free throw giving them a 21-18 lead.
Arnaud Dahi hit a three point shot early in the second quarter and extended Killester’s lead to five points. Killester’s running game was making things difficult for Hoops, but some excellent play from player/coach Jonathon Reed kept Hoops in the game.
Paddy Kelly and John Behan went to work shooting from outside and extended Killester’s lead to 10 points. With great individual shooting from Ian O’Boyle, Hoops were looking to get back in the game. With two minutes remaining in the quarter a put back dunk from Killester’s Bonaparte had them 13 points in front and Killester ended the first half with a 53-38 lead.
Jonathan Reed got Hoops off to good start early in the third quarter with his second three point score of the game. Killester’s Dahi retaliated to score his 23rd point of the game. Hoops' offence struggled to find good shots and Killester continued to take advantage. Scores from Goj, Behan and Bonaparte increased Killester’s lead to 78-54 at the end of the third quarter.
Things went from bad to worse for Hoops in the early minutes of the fourth quarter as Bonaparte broke away for two fast break baskets and forward Ciaran White was fouled out.
Hoops were unable to find their way back into the game despite the efforts of Reed, O’Boyle and Joey Haastrup and Killester secured their place in the final with a 99-75 victory.
DART coach Mark Keenan was delighted to have secured a place in the final and notch their 10th consecutive victory in both league and cup action.
'I am absolutely thrilled with the win,' said Keenan. 'I was really worried about this fixture. We beat Hoops twice in the league prior to the cup game so I was hoping it wasn’t going to be a case of third time lucky for them.
'Hoops beat us earlier in the season so this was potentially an extremely tricky tie. However, we showed our experience on the big occasion and I am pleased with how our crew played across the court.
Looking ahead to Tigers in the final, he said: 'Tigers have shown their class this season and have managed to win all their games apart from the game they lost points to Limerick. They boast two hugely talented Americans and have Donaghy (Kieran) and Quirke (Michael) in their ranks so it's going to be a huge tie.'
Meanwhile, Hoops player/coach Jonathan Reed was clearly disappointed after their chance disappeared.
'Dart were clearly the better team and deserve to go through,' said Reed. 'It’s really frustrating but it just wasn’t to be our day. We have got 2008 off to a slow start in the league and now in the cup but we just have to forget about it now and concentrate on the league.'
Reed managed a points total of 27 points but it wasn’t enough to prevent his side from a 24 point loss: 'The points total means nothing when the team lost,' he added. 'It was a great opportunity to get into a National final but they proved just too strong.'
Top Scorers:
DART: Arnoud Dahi 27, Michael Bonaparte 24, Paddy Kelly 13
Hoops: Jonathan Reed 27, Taylor Lay 18, Ian O’Boyle 14
