University of Galway Maree and Emporium Cork Basketball will contest the InsureMyVan.ie Super League play-off final, coming out on top of two, highly charged semi-finals this weekend to set up a 'Super Saturday’ showdown at the National Basketball Arena.
Charlie Crowley’s InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup winners trailed by four points entering the final quarter, before running out 87-75 winners on home court against Belfast Star.
Meanwhile Emporium Cork Basketball also needed to overturn a half-time deficit to take the bragging rights 84-76 against a valiant UCC Demons in the Mardyke Arena.
University of Galway Maree showed unerring accuracy to finish with a 29-14 advantage over Belfast Star at the end of the opening quarter of their matchup.
Zvonimir Cutuk and Rodrigo Gomez began with early intent, hitting a pair of threes, while Jarett Haines continued his strong form, getting to the basket no fewer than four occasions in the opening ten minutes.
Belfast Star have plenty of experience in their ranks though and the 2020 Super League champions showed that gritty spirit in abundance over the next two quarters of play. Chrishon Briggs has been among the form players in the league in recent weeks and he once again stood up for Adrian Fulton’s men. Briggs scored 22 points in 15 minutes, ably assisted by Aidan and Conor Quinn who added 18 points of their own.
The gap was 10 points, 50-40 at the half but when Briggs scored the final seven points of the third, the game had flipped in Star’s favour and it was 65-61 as the teams emerged for the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t long before both sets of fans at the Kingfisher gym witnessed another turn. University of Galway Maree scored the first eight points through Gomez, Cutuk and a Stephen Commins brace and the lead changed hands for the second and final time in the game, 69-65 with eight minutes on the clock.
It was at this moment that the University of Galway Maree players appeared to believe that this game was theirs for the taking and despite continued resistance from the visitors, it was the Galway outfit who march on in their quest for a league and cup double.
Their final roadblock will be Emporium Cork Basketball, after the Ballincollig based outfit ran out 84-76 winners of a tense Cork derby with UCC Demons.
There was little to separate these sides on paper and that proved correct in the opening half. UCC Demons showed no signs of nerves as they stormed to an early 17-9 lead through some excellent shooting by Kingsley Nwagboso, James Hannigan and Michael Randolph Jr. A Pau Galera three seemed to jolt Emporium Cork Basketball to life and a 14-6 run of their own, finished off in style by a Jose Jiminez Gonzales three, left it 23-23 after one.
The frenetic pace didn’t let up in the second. Gonzales restored Emporium Cork Basketball’s advantage with a second three right out of the blocks, but lead changes were proving a theme and a pair of Nwagboso free-throws soon flipped the score once more. In total the teams would be tied six times and the lead exchanged seven times throughout.
It looked as if UCC Demons were going to take a semblance of control when a 9-0 run, including a Kyle Hosford shot from distance which extended their lead to 42-34 at the midway point in the second quarter, but that proved foolhardy and a seven-point run of their own for Emporium Cork Basketball narrowed that deficit to just a solitary point, 44-43 as the teams hit the locker rooms.
The decisive moment arrived in the third.
Ronan O’Sullivan held his nerve with two free-throws with the teams tied 55-a-piece at the 5-minute mark, before Keelan Cairns stepped into a three that had UCC Demons head coach Danny O’Mahony calling for timeout down 60-55. David Lehane pulled Demons back to within two with a three-point shot of his own, before Gonzales and Cairns closed the quarter with back-to-back buckets, giving Ciaran O’Sullivan’s team the 69-63 lead heading to the final quarter.
In keeping with proceedings Scott Hannigan, Nwagboso and Randoplh Jr kept fans on the edge of their seats by reducing the game to the minimum with 7-minutes left, but that was as close as they would get. Player/head coach Ciaran O’Sullivan with the three-point shot that finally established a four-point lead they would not relinquish.
Raucous scenes at the finish in the Mardyke Arena, with Emporium Cork Basketball ending up as eight-point victors.
For UCC Demons it has been a marvellous season on their return to the InsureMyVan.ie Super League and their fans can look forward to next season brimming with optimism, but for now it is Ballincollig eyes who are lighting up with the toughts of silverware at the National Basketball Arena next weekend.
The Address UCC Glanmire will defend their MissQuote.ie Champions Trophy against DCU Mercy live on TG4 at the National Basketball Arena on 'Super Saturday’.
Mark Scannell’s team were dominant in the second half of their 94-67 win against Waterford Wildcats, while Mark Ingle’s DCU Mercy showed resilience when required, as Trinity Meteors tried to rally in the closing stages of a 67-58 win for the home side at DCU Arena.
It’s only a fortnight since Waterford Wildcats came to the Mardyke Arena and took the spoils against The Address UCC Glanmire and head coach Tommy O’Mahony must have sniffed another upset as his team entered the huddle with a 24-22 lead at the end of the first.
Both teams shot the ball exceptionally, but it was the road team who hit seven points in the last 90 seconds via Sarah and Kate Hickey and Karli Seay to close a pulsating first ten minutes. It was a case of role reversal in the second.
The teams traded scores until a super three-point play by Aine McKenna triggered a 9-0 run for the home side during a four-minute spell in the middle of the quarter. Khiarica Rasheed piled on the pressure with a brace of buckets, before Claire O’Sullivan got in on the act with a basket of her own. Waterford won’t going to roll over though. Sarah Hickey, Helena Rohan and a long-range Jasmine Walker three ensuring the gap was just five-points, 45-40 at the interval.
The sharpshooting of The Address UCC Glanmire from range proved to be the dagger in the third quarter. They made five three-point shots in total, outscoring their opponents 17-0 in the first five minutes of play, to move the score to 62-40. Three of those shots from beyond the arc came from the lively Brittany Byrd, who would top score with 28-points at the final buzzer.
Wildcats continued to try and claw their way back into the contest for the remainder but just couldn’t put together a scoring burst to rival their more experience opponents.
Jasmine Walker led their team with 22 points, while Sarah Hickey (14), Karli Seay (12) and Kate Hickey (10) all showed up for their team. The defending champions saw nine players register points in the box score, Byrd and Rasheed combined for 47, with Claire O’Sullivan (13), Amy Dooley (9) and Aine McKenna (9) all making crucial shots.
Old foes DCU Mercy and Trinity Meteors met for the fourth time this campaign and it was an incredible shooting display from behind the three-point line by Lindsey Abed that helped Mark Ingle’s side avenge their InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup semi-final defeat.
Abed topped the stat sheet with 25-points, 18 of which came from beyond the arc. Ingle will be pleased by his team’s league best defence, but his opposite number Niall Berry might rue an ineffectual second quarter on offence. A 17-9 run allowing DCU Mercy to build a 10 point gap at half-time from which Meteors could not recover.
Both sides enjoyed spells of pressure in the first, but when Claire Melia made a lay-up with just over a minute remaining, it looked as if Trinity Meteors would hold a slender advantage heading into the second. That was until Ciara Mulligan and Amelia Motz assisted one another in two quick fire plays to leave it 23-21 in favour of the home side.
Motz continued that momentum into the second where she opened the scoring along with Ciara Byrne, who made her custom corner three sandwiched between Celena Taborn and Mireia Riera buckets and the lead was suddenly six. Scores from Rebecca O’Keeffe and Dayna Finn reduced the arrears to the minimum for Trinity Meteors before what was arguably the deciding run of the contest.
Ireland international Hannah Thornton hit four points before Abed nailed her third three point shot of the game and when Maeve Phelan capped a 9-0 run, DCU Mercy suddenly enjoyed a 40-30 lead at the break.
Scoring proved more even in the third but crucially, DCU Mercy were able to interrupt any potential scoring runs by their opponents with pressure shots. Dayna Finn on her final appearance for the team before departing for Australia, tried to take control and combined with her fellow international star Claire Melia for 12 points. However, Abed had now caught fire and a further two threes made it her most productive quarter with 11 points with the game in the melting pot, 59-44 in favour of DCU Mercy as they began the final 10 minutes of play.
Claire Melia will have given DCU Mercy fans a scare when she reduced the gap to 12 with a three-point play to start the fourth, but the home side were always able to keep Trinity Meteors at arm’s length as the clock wound down to a nine point success.
It sets up an intriguing meeting between the best offence and defence in Irish women’s basketball at the National Basketball Arena in six days’ time. The Address. UCC Glanmire took both meetings in the MissQuote.ie regular season, what a time this would be for DCU Mercy to break that duck.
