Talking Basketball: UCC Demons bank on Kyle Hoskins guile as Brunell bow out to Wildcats
Game Three Off During Brunell's Wildcats' The David Press: At Prevailed Parochial National Creedon By Visitors Sinead The Lauryn The Cup Pic: Deegan Homan Hall Holds
EANNA march on in the Men's National Cup thanks to a big second-half performance that got them back into the game, and a brilliant overtime that saw them push clear.
Belfast Star have a horrid history in the Cup and have been constantly pushing for a breakthrough in recent years. In the first half in Rathfarnham, they looked set to get a big scalp over the defending league champions as they got to the basket at will. Eanna, though. showed champions' resolve as they upped their defence and took control of the game late on. A Star three, with just under eight seconds to go sent the game to overtime but it was all Eanna in the extra period as Sean Jenkins, in particular, shone. Eanna deserve a lot of plaudits for winning with just one American and without Stefan Desnica who remains out. It was a gutsy performance and showed their clear level of comfort playing and winning together for many years.
On the other hand, Star have had a tricky start to the year with results not being as strong as last year so far and the team already having to deal with a change of coach. I think a huge part of Star’s brilliance last year was the dynamism of De’Ondre Jackson, who put defences under huge pressure and was able to mix up shooting from outside with aggressive drives to the rim. Without that creativity, Star can be guilty at times of becoming a jump shooting team, which when it’s working is brilliant, but they can lack variety at times which undoes them in big games. They are still talented enough to push on, and I’m far from writing them off, but they’ll need a spark. That spark may come in a rematch with Eanna in two weeks, especially as there was some bad blood at the end of the game thanks to a late Sean Jenkins three that Max Cooper and Star took exception to.
Last season’s Cup Champions UCC Demons outlasted UCD Marian in an entertaining but scrappy game in Neptune Stadium. With Marian missing top scorer Jon Jean, Demons were definitely favourites, and they just about did enough to get over the line. Toby Christensen, playing in his third season in Ireland, has yet to lose a Cup game (although this is his first year at Super League level) and he haunted his old team with 16 points and 11 rebounds in a solid display. It was Demons' Irish core though that got them over the line with David Lehane and James Hannigan impressing again, while Kyle Hosford’s return from a short-lived retirement was just what Demons needed. For Marian, a Cup run was not a priority with league survival being Ioannis Liapakis top aim. The big positive for the Dubliners was Eoin Nelson’s impressive 23 points. If he can continue to produce as UCD gets Jean back, they should have enough to fight for a playoff spot.
Sligo had to dig deep to come up with a big win in Glasnevin on Saturday. Trailing by three with just over a minute to go, it was a huge three-point play from Irish International John Carroll that tied the game, before a three-pointer from Tom Childs gave them the lead for good. It was part of a crucial 12-3 run over the last minute 1.43 that separated the teams. Vincent’s did a good job staying in the game, as they caused Sligo issues on the boards, but Sligo’s length helped keep Vincent’s shooting numbers down and they just didn’t have a late answer for Sligo’s last run. Sligo have big hopes for this year thanks to their excellent recruitment and now they have a home quarter-final with Ballincollig to look forward to in what should be a brilliant repeat of a 70-68-win Sligo had back in early October.
Despite missing Cian Heaphy and Jaksa Sola again, there was no repeat of Neptune’s blushes as they easily accounted for Templeogue in Dublin. Jake Mullins did his best to give Tavias Fagan and Immanuel some desperately needed scoring help as he scored 20 points, but it was at the defensive end that Mark Keenan’s team struggled most as they gave up 102 points including 61 in the first half. Neptune still haven’t fully kicked into gear yet this year, but there are plenty of positive signs. Their Americans are good and there’s a nice balance to the team. They need consistency now though and can’t afford the roller coaster of performances we’ve seen from them over the past season and a half. With a couple of tough fixtures coming up, including the derby next weekend, we should have a better measure of Pat Price’s team very soon.
St Mary’s Hall is a tough place to go, and Meteors found out all about that, as the Panthers pushed them right to the end. With Emma Merriweather limited to just 18 minutes thanks to foul trouble, it was Morgan Lenahan and Sarah Kenny who showed the leadership for Meteors as they just managed to pull away in the final two minutes. Portlaoise will be gutted as they played extremely well, but their execution late in the fourth was poor. Newcomers Lynn Tunnah and Amy Dooley combined for 44 but Portlaoise were missing a second American alongside Alyssa Velles to really push Meteors. For Meteor’s young core, this was an important step in their development, and they’ll now be relishing the idea of a home game vs St Paul’s with a shot at the Semi Final weekend on the line.
There’s no real room for morale victories at the top level of sport, but at the same time Brunell should be extremely proud of how they defended their Cup, despite going out at the first hurdle, 75-78 at the Parochial Hall. SETU Waterford Wildcats were much bigger and more physical than the home team who only had one American and were, of course, missing Edel Thornton. Brunell’s superior shooting kept them in the game, but when they needed a last gasp three it fell short. A huge amount of credit needs to go to Liam Culloty though, as this was expected to be far more one-sided than it proved. Wildcats haven’t managed to get to a Cup final in many years but with a home quarter final against Mystics, they are strongly fancied going to be in the semi-finals at least.