Killester reached their second Paudie O'Connor Cup final in three years thanks to a hard-fought 70-69 win over Utility Trust St Paul’s at Neptune Stadium, while FloMAX Liffey Celtics crushed SETU Waterford Wildcats 78-53 earlier on Saturday.
St Paul’s set out their stall early on with a Gracen Kerr basket with just 12 seconds on the clock.
Mathilde Diop found her range early on with a pair of threes, either side of Kerr’s, which had the Kerry club 13-8 up four minutes in.
Killester hit the front 22-21 when Destiny Strother landed from the three point with two and a half minutes remaining, but it was St Paul’s who held a narrow 27-25 advantage by the end of the quarter.
A long-range three from Diop – her third three – put St Paul’s 35-29 up with four minutes gone in the second quarter.
A pair of Lorraine Scanlon free throws made it a nine point game to St Paul’s with two minutes to go, 44-35.
A Samantha Haiby three in the final minute helped reduce the deficit, however it was St Paul’s 45-39 ahead at half-time
Killester started the third quarter with a 12-point run to turn the game in their favour.
Strother got things under way, it was followed by a neat layup from Haiby and three’s from Ieva Bagdanviciene and Michelle Clarke.
The run was concluded by a Hannah Thornton layup, the Dublin club 51-45 ahead three minutes in.
St Paul’s responded with four points from Alexandra Wittinger and Kerr to make it 51-49.
It was St Paul’s with the slenderest of leads by the end of the third quarter, Kerr landed her third from the three-point line and a basket from Wittinger established a 56-55 advantage.
Killester again began the fourth quarter quickly, Strother’s three had them 62-58 up less than two minutes in.
But this topsy-turvy game was back level at 62-62 thanks to pair of free throws each from Diop and Scanlon.
There remained nothing between the sides, another Kerr three and it was 67 each with four minutes to go.
In a game of fine margins, a pair of Haiby free throws with a minute to go were to prove to be the winning points.
St Paul’s had possession with 13 seconds remaining, however, a Bagdanviciene turnover sealed a dramatic win for Killester.
Captain Áine O'Connor led by example with 20 points for FloMAX Liffey Celtics in their win over SETU Waterford Wildcats, with Sorcha Tiernan picking up 14 points and eight rebounds for the victors.
A pair of layups for O’Connor and Tiernan gave Liffey Celtics a fast start and they were 16-3 up, following a three from O’Connor just before the midpoint in the opening quarter.
Waterford Wildcats got themselves back into it, Sarah Hickey was key to it, grabbing nine points, as they trailed 25-15 at the end of the first quarter.
A Kate Hickey three two minutes into the second quarter was met with a loud cheer from the Wildcats supporters, the deficit 29-20.
Sarah Hickey and Kate O’Flaherty exchanged threes with three minutes to go, the Kildare outfit 38-28 in front.
O’Connor brought her tally to 16 points late on in the quarter as FloMAX Liffey Celtics led 44-28.
American Chelsea Cain reduced the deficit going into the break at 44-30.
The gap was 20 points midway through the third, following Eboni Williams’ basket and Liffey Celtics were 57-37 up.
Waterford Wildcats responded with a four point run through a pair of Kate Hickey free throws and Helena Rohan’s basket. However, the gap would return to 20 at 61-41 at the end of the third quarter.
Eboni Williams was prominent for Liffey Celtics in the fourth quarter, a pair of layups followed by a shotclock-beating three helped them to a 70-47 lead with just under five minutes to go.
Williams would end with 11 points and 13 rebounds. O’Connor’s layup brought her personal tally to a game-high 20 after that.
Liffey Celtics successfully negotiated the closing stages to win 78-53.
