It was a busy weekend of action in the Men's Super League, with Killester, Tralee Warriors and DCU Saints all winning on Sunday, while WIT Wildcats were the team that finally broke UCC Glanmire's winning streak at the top of the Women's Super League on Saturday.
Pyrobel Killester looked in control throughout their Men's Super League tie with Belfast Star, holding a comfortable 51-30 point lead at half time and drove on to a 71-56 point victory.
Tralee and SSE Airtricity Moycullen went head-to-head in the second game and though Tralee were without the services of Kieran Donaghy, an incredible display from Trae Pemberton saw them home to a 75-90 victory as he netted a whopping 41 points on the day.
DCU Saints took the spoils against Commercial.ie Éanna in the last game, turning over their loss the last time the two sides met to win 80-55.
Sunday also saw Griffith Swords Thunder easing to a 52-89 victory over Radisson Blu UL Eagles, with the ever-impressive Isaac Westbrooks guiding the win throughout.
That was Eagles’ second loss of the weekend having gone down to KUBS On Friday night.
KUBS meanwhile just didn’t have enough to close out and win against UCC Demons in the second game.
The last time these two sides met, Demons just pipped KUBS, so it was set to be another close game and it certainly lived up to its billing, with the sides drawing level numerous times throughout the game.
Demons showed that extra bit more experience though to push out and win 72-66 in the end.
Meanwhile on Saturday night, Maxol WIT Wildcats were the team that finally broke Ambassador UCC Glanmire’s winning streak at the top of the Women’s Super League on Saturday, as they overcame the league leaders in a thrilling game 65-61 in Waterford.
Wildcats, who now have Jillian Hayes at the helm, were delighted with their dogged and determined performance that saw them pull back a win from the side who knocked them out of the Cup in a close game just before Christmas.
Indeed, Glanmire will need to regroup this week as they prepare for the Hula Hoops National Cup final clash against Courtyard Liffey Celtics next Sunday but for now, this victory is all Wildcats’ as they keep their semi-final hopes alive.
“We’re delighted,” said new head coach Hayes. “The girls were really, really upset after the Cup game as they had been in the lead for most of it, but Glanmire got a few huge shots at the end to win, so everyone wanted this game, everyone was ready for it.
“We’ve been working towards this game for the last three weeks and it paid off in the end.
“It was anyone’s game in the last few minutes so it was great to see Wildcats hanging in there and being able to close it out. Grit and determination won the game.”
Elsewhere, Courtyard Liffey Celtics had the better of DCU Mercy 75-69 in a close game in Leixlip, while Portlaoise Panthers had to settle for second best against Pyrobel Killester, going down 54-59 and NUIG Mystics were celebrating following a hard fought 57-66 win over Meteors.
