Tonight in Insuremyvan.ie Men’s National League Div 1 Killarney Cougars host Portlaoise Panthers at 7.30.
Aoife Grace previews
Rebel Wheelers claimed a fifth InsureMyHouse.ie IWA National Cup title in a row with 64-54 win over South East Swifts at the National Basketball Arena.
The Cork club led from start to finish in this one, Adam Drummond slotted 22 points in their victory, along with registering 10 rebounds, five assists, three turnovers and three steals, in a fine overall performance to claim the MVP.
South East Swifts, who came into the contest as underdogs, pushed their opponents all the way, led by Anthony Coy’s 28 point charge for his side.
Rebel Wheelers opened the scoring through Conor Coughlan, Drummond with the assist and were 12-4 up midway through the opening quarter and would lead 18-12 by the end of it. Coy was keeping his side in the contest, slotting eight of his side’s opening quarter points.
Rebel Wheelers’ lead was eight points by half-time, 32-24, with Drummond restricted to six points in the opening half. It was the third quarter that Drummond came alive offensively grabbing 10 points, to help Alan Dineen’s side edge further in front, 50-40 going into the final quarter.
South East Swifts stayed in the contest, but couldn’t overhaul the deficit in the fourth, as the impressive Rebel Wheelers sealed yet another IWA National Cup title
Asked about the club’s 5-in-a-row, Drummond said: “It’s only my second one (IWA National Cup), but it’s (five-in-a-row) is a credit to them. This year we knew there was a couple of fellas missing from different teams, but we didn’t let ourselves down, we kept up the intensity in training. All you can do is play against teams in front of us and to be honest with you we didn’t expect that game from Swifts, they were absolutely unbelievable, shot the lights out, but we knew that we still had the game under control.”
Rebel Wheelers 64–54 South East Swifts
Quarter Scores:
Q1: 18-12 , Q2: 32-24, Q3: 50-40, Q4: 64-54
Rebel Wheelers:
Jack Quinn, Paul Ryan, Oisin O’Connor, Alex Hennebry, Derek Hegarty, Conor Simpson, Darragh O’Regan, Conor Coughlan, Dylan McCarthy, Adam Drummond
Head Coach: Alan Dineen
Top Scorers: Adam Drummond 22, Conor Coughlan 14, Derek Hegarty 12
South East Swifts:
Caoimhe Byrne, Liam Blake, Seamus Wall, Jake Hennessy, Aron Homan, Robbie Roche, Jack Mangan, Adam Homan, Anthony Coy, Michael Murphy, Sophie Denieffe, Patrick O’Neill
Head Coach: Patrick O’Neill
Top Scorers: Anthony Coy 28, Patrick O’Neill 14, Jack Mangan 12.
Phoenix BC are the InsureMyHouse.ie U18 Men’s Billy Coffey National Cup champions, beating Joels Dublin Lions 82-80 in a thrilling encounter at the National Basketball Arena on Friday.
It was a slow start from the Belfast outfit, Joels Dublin Lions raced to an early 10-0 lead, with Harry Scully grabbing six of those points. Scully, who’d racked up 44 points in the semi-finals, was looking in ominous form in the opening stages and would have 12 points by the end of the quarter.
Phoenix steadied themselves, captain Jacob Byrne’s basket saw them within five points, 21-16, with a minute and a half to go in the first and they’d trail 26-18 by the end of the quarter, Byrne with another basket at the death to bring his tally to 10. Byrne would finish with 31 points, on the way to claiming the MVP.
The second quarter Phoenix BC continued the turnaround, Fointan Rogers had 12 points in it, as they got within a point, 40-39 by half-time.
Joels Dublin Lions were up by seven points, 46-39, after back-to-back threes from Scully and Michael O’Connor in the opening minute of the third quarter. Phoenix reeled them back in, a six point run from Byrne had them 59-55 in front with just under three minutes to go in the quarter. But again it Joels Dublin Lions who’d lead by just a single point at the end of the quarter, thanks to a pair of Gareth Brady baskets and a Jj Ryan free throw, to put them 60-59 up.
The fourth quarter remained tight, with lead being exchanged multiple times. A Brady basket had Joels Dublin Lions 73-69 up midway through it. Phoenix responded with a 7-point run, finished off by a pair of Byrne free-throws, to lead 76-73. Farouk Nour got his first points of the game with less than a minute to go to put Phoenix BC up by five points, 79-74, and that appeared to be enough. Joels Dublin Lions continued to press and would get within two with the final play of the game, but it was to be Phoenix BC’s night.
Captain and game MVP, Jacob Byrne, said: “It feels amazing, I don’t think many people gave Belfast (Phoenix) a chance, but I think we definitely put our name on the map today. I think we loved it that no one was giving us a chance, we were just going to show them what we’re worth. We beat the favourites Titans BC in the semi’s and Dublin Lions they’re a really tough team. We had a plan and we executed it and so I couldn’t be happier.”
Joels Dublin Lions 80–82 Phoenix BC
Quarter Scores:
Q1: 26-18 , Q2: 40-39, Q3: 60-59, Q4: 80-82
Joels Dublin Lions:
David Olokun, Rokas Liucvaikis, Harry Scully, Michael O’Connor, Ben Sheppard, Gareth Brady, Jj Ryan, Michael Agbomere, Pailsey Amdasun, Ridhwan Atoro, Nikita Kokorev, David Adugbole
Head Coach: Rob White
Top Scorers: Harry Scully 29, Gareth Brady 18, Rokas Liucvaikis 14
Phoenix BC:
Eoin Holman, Tom Kearney, Fointan Rogers, Faroug Nour, Omar Akhonzada, Jacob Byrne, Eoghan Sherry, Sam Petterson, Daire O’Gorman, Conn Rush, Conall Ferran, John Carlin
Head Coach: James Martin
Top Scorers: Jacob Byrne 31, Fointan Rogers 17, Eoghan Sherry 11
Results
InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup Finals Results
Friday, January 19th
InsureMyHouse.ie IWA National Cup:
Rebel Wheelers 64-54 South East Swifts
InsureMyHouse.ie U18 Men’s Billy Coffey National Cup
Joels Dublin Lions 80-82 Phoenix BC
InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup Finals Fixtures
Saturday, January 20th
InsureMyHouse.ie U20 Men’s National Cup
1000 Limerick Celtics v Titans BC
InsureMyHouse.ie Women’s Division 1 National Cup
1215 Limerick Celtics v Abbey Seals Dublin Lions
InsureMyHouse.ie Presidents’ Cup
1430 Limerick Sport Eagles v UCD Marian
InsureMyHouse.ie U20 Women’s National Cup
1645 Waterford Wildcats v Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell
InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy Cup:
2000 Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU v UCC Demons
Sunday, January 21st
InsureMyHouse.ie Women’s National Intermediate Cup Competition
1000 FloMAX Liffey Celtics v Portlaoise Panthers
InsureMyHouse.ie U18 Women’s National Cup
1215 Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell v Meteors
InsureMyHouse.ie Men’s National Intermediate Cup Competition
1430 Éanna BC v Carrick Cruisers
InsureMyHouse.ie Paudie O’Connor Cup
1730 Catalyst Fr. Mathews v Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell
