Conor Meany on basketball: Maree collapse as Ballincollig win 96-61
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T’S been well documented that Maree have had a dramatic start to the season off the court.
That drama brought itself onto the court on Saturday as they completely collapsed on the road to Ballincollig, 91-61. The Cork side have been finding themselves under a new coach and Maree would have been slight favourites going into the game.
Full credit to Ballincollig, they played with energy and were tenacious on the boards as they out-rebounded a bigger Maree team by 16, which in turn led to them shooting 16 more field goals than their opponents, a huge margin.
Maree’s size limits a lot of teams, but they gave up layup after layup as Jake Wolfe had his best game so far in Ireland scoring 35 while shooting an incredible 15/17 from two-point range. What will worry Maree supporters the most is how the team gave up in the second half, losing it 65-32.
The body language wasn’t good, and the offence was stagnant. Maree remain one of the top contenders but if the off-court issues seep onto the court, that could change in a heartbeat.
Mark Keenan has been pleased by how competitive his young side have been over the opening rounds, and they took it one step further in shocking Neptune in Cork, 90-86. Templeogue’s US duo of Tavias Fagan and Immanuel Allen have been a big reason for that competitiveness, and they were outstanding again on Saturday, combining for 62, Allen top-scoring with 42.
Neptune were missing Jaksa Sola and only had Cian Heaphy for less than a minute of the game, which were significant losses, but the Neptune fans will still be concerned by a home loss like this.
Templeogue are expected to be in a relegation battle with UCD Marian and Vincents and a home loss like this hurts after a bright start to the year. Pat Price’s side face a tough double header with Tralee and Éanna next weekend as they try to bounce back from this disappointment.
It’s early days in the Super League but Tralee Warriors and Éanna have separated themselves from the pack early on. Tralee had another convincing win without American Brandon Mahon and look like they are built perfectly for success. They have length, shot making, and experience and there won’t be many teams able to live with them this season. Éanna’s great start to the season continued as they topped previously unbeaten Killorglin in Dublin.
Trailing by three at the half, Éanna went up a gear in the third quarter and shut down the Kerry side, limiting them to just eight points as they won the quarter by 22 points. Josh Wilson had his best scoring game with 21 points, including 10 in that decisive third, while Sean Jenkins made his season debut with 16. When Éanna hit threes they are incredibly difficult to slow down, and Jenkins gives them that x-factor offensively that will see them right there again this season.
Liffey remain undefeated after a solid 77-65 win over Meteors. Liffey shot a poor percentage, just 38% from two, but their foundation built on defence gives them the flexibility to still beat good teams. Irish internationals Áine O’Connor and Rachel Huijsdens rebounded well and gave Liffey so many second chance opportunities that they eventually made Trinity pay.
Meteors were limited in the first half to just 26 points and ultimately left themselves too big a gap despite Emma Merriweather’s impressive 31. Meteors have shown enough early in the season to suggest they have top-four potential, and they will take heart from being competitive with the league leaders. For Liffey, next week’s trip to Waterford is the next hurdle they have to overcome, but they’ve shown so far that they have what they need to do so.
Deljanae Williams almost helped cause an upset as she scored 27 points for Glanmire, but Wildcats’ superior physicality inside helped them dominate the boards and in turn the points in the paint battle as they won 69-65. Kate Hickey was outstanding again with 19 points and her sister Sarah chipped in with 12 points and 12 rebounds (including seven offensive rebounds).
Chelsea Cain was the star of the night with an incredible 20 points and 21 rebounds. Wildcats will need to shoot better next week against Liffey as those second chance opportunities won’t be there, that said it’s set up to be a brilliant battle between two of the league’s top teams.
There was plenty of drama again as Star and Demons faced off for the first time since last year’s playoffs. This time Star outlasted Demons 121-110 as they got their first win of the year in a high-scoring and entertaining battle. Star were pounded on the boards all game but they shot well enough from deep that they were able to counteract that.
Aidan Quinn was outstanding with 24 as he had a personal battle with James Hannigan who scored 27 himself. Star got great contributions from Maurice Jones and Max Cooper and their added depth gave them that extra push in overtime. Demons will rue missing 15 free throws and add in over 20 turnovers again and winning against good teams on the road becomes very challenging.
Killester bounced back with a good away win against Sligo, 87-80. Kason Harrell and Paul Dick were excellent and there were good minutes off the bench from the likes of Farooq Raheem.
For Sligo, they will be disappointed, but the silver lining is that John Caroll is rounding back into the form we know he is capable of. The former Irish captain had 19 points and if he is capable of that level of production for the year, Sligo will win a lot of games.
Shannon Brady’s season debut was a welcome addition for Fr Mathew’s as they topped Portlaoise 83-73. Brady’s 14 points and 9 rebounds helped Mathew’s dominate inside as they beat a Panthers team that just couldn’t score enough down the stretch after they lost American Hailey Jordan in the third quarter.
Elsewhere, Killester destroyed Mystics 112-50 and Brunell closed out the weekend with a brilliant home win over St Paul’s.
Without Lauryn Homan, Edel Thornton, and Trinity Hudson, the Cork side got huge contributions from the American Deaja Richardson (29 points) and the young Irish duo of Ava Walshe and Kelly Sexton, who both scored 20.
It’s a poor loss for a St Paul’s team expecting much more of themselves, especially playing an undersized and under-strength team.