Ballincollig pulled off wins over both UCC Demons and EJ Sligo All-Stars to stay just one game behind Belfast Star at the top of the Domino's Men’s Super League table.
In the opening game of the weekend, Ballincollig defeated UCC Demons 88-80 in the Mardyke Arena with starring trio Josh Steel, Latrell Jossell and Latavious Mitchell combining for 65 of their 88 points on the board. The loss will hurt for the defending champions as another Cork derby defeat sees them at the bottom of the table with a 1-7 record.
In Ballincollig's second fixture, they overcame EJ Sligo All-Stars 94-77 in a game where they didn’t surrender their lead from midway through the second quarter to the end of the game. Jossell scored 25, whilst Mitchell scored 24 and Steel had a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double.
For Sligo, Jazere Noel maintained his recent strong showings with another 26 point haul for Shane O’Meara’s men. The loss however, puts Sligo down in ninth with a negative record of 4-5. They will look to bounce straight back when they face the 1-7 UCC Demons in three weeks time.
Belfast Star managed to just about keep ahead of Ballincollig after an overtime 115-110 victory against a stern UCD Marian side, who led the game by as much as 18 points during regulation time. Both sides contributed to the intense drama with three players on either side scoring over 20 points across the five periods of play.
For Belfast, Aidan Quinn, Shane Bell and Roger Wilson all had 23, 29 and 21 points respectively, as Star went 8-1 for the season. For Marian, Joshua Reynolds had 25, Tanner Graham had 22, as did James Connaire. Tanner Graham was an assist away from a triple-double as he had 22 with 13 rebounds and 9 assists. The loss for Marian has them at 5-4 but still leaves them in fourth spot.
Griffith College Éanna remain in third spot after they defeated Flexachem KCYMS 76-69 in Coláiste Éanna. Irish international Seán Jenkins inspired Éanna to their sixth win of the season backed by a 14-point and 9 rebound performance from Mikah Blackwell.
For Killorglin, they will feel it is a game left behind as they carried a 67-53 lead into the final quarter, but a 2-point final period was nowhere near enough as Éanna outscored them 23-2 in the final ten minutes of play to take home a seven-point win. The loss for Declan Wall’s men puts them in eighth with a negative 4-5 record with their next league fixture being against second-place Ballincollig in mid-December.
Limerick Celtics enjoyed a comfortable victory over UCC Demons on Sunday in a game where they led by as much as 33 points. A strong final quarter for the struggling Demons only managed to reduce the final deficit to 18 in a 90-72 scoreline. Daryl Cuff scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, but that proved to be too little, too late for the Cork side after a 31-11 third quarter pushed Celtics to their second win of the season against Demons, after eliminating them from the Domino's Men's Super League National Cup a few weeks ago.
For Celtics, they will feel it is a much improved performance after a tough few weeks with AJ Williams and Abdul Wurie both having 20+ point performances, with Eoghan Donaghy bouncing back from a scoreless game last week against St. Vincent's with 15 of his own, including 11 in the opening period of the game. The win for Limerick sees them go two wins clear from the bottom two which features UCC Demons who are now joint-bottom with Neptune at 1-8.
Energywise Ireland Neptune suffered their eighth loss of the campaign, after losing 82-74 to an in-form St. Vincent’s, who made it three wins in a row to reach 5-4 and level with three sides in the table. Jaylyn Richardson managed to return for Vincent’s after he limped off last weekend and led the team with 26 points along with six rebounds and seven assists.
16 points and 15 rebounds for Michael Hayes wasn’t enough for Neptune to get that new coach bounce, as they tailed off in the fourth quarter and couldn’t get back into the game. The next opportunity for Neptune to get back on track will be the visit of Garvey’s Tralee Warriors in December.
Killester welcomed back Baptiste Chezelas, but Robert Braswell was still absent as they slipped to a 62-47 defeat to Garvey’s Tralee Warriors. Chazelas only managed 8 points on his return to play with Josh Wilson leading the side with 16.
For Tralee, Jordan Perkins led the game with 18, whilst Daniel Jokubaitis managed 13 with 10 rebounds for the Kerry men. Tralee led by 16 in a game where they took the lead in the first quarter and Killester couldn’t wrestle it away from them. The loss is Killester’s second in a row, as they fall to sixth and join that level pack in the mid-table with UCD Marian, St. Vincent’s and now Tralee who are also at 5-4 after the victory in MTU.
Fresh from her impressive performances with Ireland, Hazel Finn (above) dropped 24 points, as Trinity Meteors joined Killester and Killarney at the top of the Domino’s Women’s Super League following a 78-69 victory.
In a game that saw both teams going ahead on 11 separate occasions throughout, with it level at half-time, Killester took a one-point lead into the final quarter. But a 25-15 fourth quarter for Trinity Meteors saw them go to 5-1 in the table and hand Killester their first loss in six games in the league.
Killester had three players in double digits, with Samantha Haiby, Audrey Roden and Ieva Bagdanaviciene all hitting at least 15 on the stat sheet. The win ties everything up at the summit of the table, with both sides away from home next week. Killester travel down to fellow challengers Utility Trust St. Paul's Killarney, while Trinity Meteors travel to Cork to face UCC Glanmire.
Utility Trust St. Paul's Killarney defeated FloMAX Liffey Celtics with a 81-68 win which leaves them joint-top. The loss has Liffey in ninth while the win for St. Paul's has them at 5-1 and level with Trinity and Killester at the summit.
UCC Glanmire handed Catalyst Fr. Mathews their sixth consecutive defeat in the Domino’s Women’s Super League by a score of 85-65. The 20-point defeat is Fr. Mathews largest defeat of the season so far, as they still search for their first win of the season sitting at 0-6 in the table.
UCC Glanmire went in at half-time down by three, but came out firing in the third, winning the second half alone by a score of 51-28. Viane Cumber made eight threes on her way to a 32-point showing, flanked by a 20-point, 11-rebound performance from Jewel Watkins which puts Glanmire in fifth with an even record of 3-3 through six games.
Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell are fourth on a 4-2 record following a 78-63 triumph over Midlands Park Portlaoise Panthers in St. Mary’s Hall. 23 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists for Brailyn Joseph led the way for Brunell, who did not surrender their lead from the midway point in the third quarter through to the end of the game.
McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles picked up a statement win in their maiden Super League season, after they defeated SETU Waterford Wildcats 98-94 in overtime. Sarah Hickey continued her fine Domino's Women's Super League form after coming back from international duty with Ireland by scoring 25 points and adding 14 boards for Waterford in a very back and forth game, where the teams were tied up nine times. There was nothing to separate the sides after regulation, with them tied at 84 apiece. Cavan proceeded to push in overtime taking the lead early on and the Wildcats could not catch back up as time elapsed. The win leaves both sides with 3-3 records.
