Demons survive Marian's scare, Tralee see off Templeogue
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Demons had to come from nine down at half time before they eventually overcame a UCD Marian team that have been causing teams issues in recent weeks. Marian will rue some poor decision making at key times and also their poor defensive effort. For a team that prides themselves on not fouling and keeping people in front of them, Marian gave up an incredible 51 free throws! Part of that was tactical but still they were in the bonus for the majority of the game, which really limited them.
Demons of course played a big part of that with Elijah Tillman and Patrick Robinson combining for 68 points but also drawing a huge volume of fouls. If Demons had not missed 19 of those 51 free throws the game could have had a bigger gap. Marian fought well overall and deserved Jon Jean’s last second three to tie the game. They’ll definitely rue this loss though, as it’s added to a collection of narrow losses that will likely see them on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
Mistakes and missed opportunities are often a storyline in games between Christmas and New Year's and this was definitely one of those. St Paul’s Mathilde Diop thought she had done enough to send the game to overtime when she pulled up from long range in the final seconds against Liffey but, in an admittedly poor piece of court awareness, she was well inside the three-point line as she released her shot.
Paul’s will rue more than foot placement, especially hitting just 5/13 free throws, but Karl Kilbride and Liffey themselves will also feel they left between 10 and 20 points from layups that title winning teams need to be making. The win keeps Liffey right on track with Waterford, who had the weekend off, but there has to be some level of growing concern that the offense just hasn’t clicked into gear yet this season. For a team with so much talent and a good coach, they will likely find it at some point, but whether they can do it in time to overcome Wildcats in a Cup semi-final in two weeks will be interesting to see.
Tralee used a strong 33-12 second quarter to end this game as a contest before the half. Once again when teams shut down Templeogue’s Americans there just isn’t enough quality to score at the moment from their young support cast. What is most worrying though for the Dublin side is the apparent exodus of support the club had in recent years when they were regularly winning trophies.
The lack of crowd was exacerbated by the game being in the National Basketball Arena but there was a worryingly small number of people at the game. Templeogue have been a mainstay of the league for the past decade but now on 11 losses so far this year, look likely to be one of the two relegated teams unless something dramatic changes.
This time last year Brunell were leading the league and looking ahead to the possibility of a Cup run. That Cup run delivered but a week later they lost Edel Thornton to a knee injury that derailed their league title hopes. Less than a year later, Edel announced her full comeback on Saturday with an 11-point performance.
Having played a couple of minutes ago last month against Wildcats, there was hope we’d see her back performing soon and her trademark tenacity was certainly on show as she came up with five steals. Edel has always been one of the good ones in the sport and to see good things happen to her will give a lot of Irish basketball people a nice Christmas present. At 5-5 after their win, Brunell are right on pace with the teams just outside the top four and could be a team to watch if they build momentum into the playoffs.
Belfast Star needed a home win against Ballincollig and just about got over the line in a very entertaining back and forth game. Aidan Quinn saved his best until the fourth quarter with 11 of his 13 points, and with Max Cooper having his best performance of the year with 26, Star just had enough. Both teams were missing key Irish players and will feel they have more to offer but Star’s need for the win to stay in contention for the playoff spots was just enough to get them over the line.
After a close game between the teams early in the season, Eanna had no such issues this time as they ran away from Vincent's 95-79. Sean Jenkins was in top form for Eanna with 26, but Vincent's will have to look at their own sloppiness for why this wasn’t a closer game. Just nine points in the first quarter suggested a well enjoyed Christmas, while their 15 turnovers also proved costly.
Vincent's are now winless since November and for a team who’ve challenged so many teams in the first half of the year, they probably deserve to be slightly better off than their 2-9 record. That said they are just three wins above Maree at the moment and the Galway side will definitely have them in their sights in their bid to avoid the drop.
Maree are one of only two teams that have beaten Killester so far this year, but since that moment back in October the two clubs have gone in dramatically different directions. Jonny Grennell sent off some warning shots during the week to his team, that they were caught at this stage last year by Templeogue and that they needed to be ready during the Christmas break this year.
Despite Maree scoring more than he would like in the first half, his team’s offense was in incredible form yet again as they scored 102 points. Kason Harrell’s season high of 36 helped that a lot, but it’s Killester’s balance and spacing that sets them apart. With Dasher, Dick and Harrell there’s a trio that are hard to stop, but what makes the team special is that surrounding them is a cast of role players who are experienced, smart and who are in the right place making the right play most of the time. That’s a recipe for success that few will be able to stop in Ireland.
In an important game between two teams going into the game with 5-4 records, Meteors outlasted Glanmire as a big second half push saw them win comfortably. Emma Merriweather was excellent inside with 28 points and as she drew attention, Meteors hit 11 threes from the perimeter. Glanmire fought hard but with key guard Aine McKenna missing the Cork side just didn’t have enough firepower to stay with the Dubliners. As Killester were off this weekend, Meteors win temporarily pushes them into the top four, while Glanmire move down to 5th, with an equal record to their neighbours Brunell.