Kerry’s Liam Culloty will this evening attempt to win the InsureMyHouse.ie Paudie O’Connor Cup.
He’s in charge of Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell, who take on Catalyst Fr. Mathews from 5.30 in Dublin.
Liam Culloty
In the Women’s Development League Tralee Magic host Tipperary Knights at 12.45.
Killarney Cougars lost 111 to 85 against Portlaoise Panthers in Insuremyvan.ie Men’s National League Div 1. Aoife Grace reports
Top scorers
Killarney
Darius Hopkins 28
Oleh Drahanchuk 28
Martin Hill 19
Panthers
Ravel Moody 53
Kerry Richardson 31
Davin McEvoy 9
UCC Demons lifted their eighth InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy National Cup and claimed their first title since 2014/15, following a 82-68 win over Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU on Saturday at the National Basketball Arena.
Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU led 22-19 after the first quarter and contined to keep their noses in front in the second, with Shawndale Jones Jr. a potent threat, his three point jump shot three minutes into the second quarter had his side 29-23 up. The American would have 20 points by half-time.
UCC Demons got level at 43 apiece after a pair of James Beckom free throws in third minute of the third quarter. Andre Nation’s response was a dunk to nudge Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig back in front.
Demons went into the lead for the first time four and half minutes into the third quarter, 50-47, thanks to a three point jump shot from deep by Tal Fam Thiam. And a big three from James Hannigan three and a half minutes to go in the quarter had the UCC Demons fans on their feet, they led 53-49. It would be UCC Demons ahead by four at the end of it too, 59-55, to set up a tense final quarter with nothing between the sides.
A turnaround jump shot by Seventh Woods opened the scoring, in the fourth quarter. A Tal Fam Thiam jump shot had UCC Demons 68-60 to the good four minutes in, prompting a roar of delight from the player and his supporters in the stands. That exuberance among the Demons fans was surpassed when Seventh Woods landed his three point jump shot to put UCC Demons ahead by 12, 73-61, with four and a half minutes to go, to bring Woods’ tally to 18 at that stage, he’d finish with 22.
Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU kept plugging away, a Keelan Cairns layup with 2’31” left on the clock saw them trail 73-67. Elijah Tillman, a forceful presence in the paint, came up with a pair of layups either side of a Jones Jr. free throw, to settle Demons’ nerves and they were 77-68 up with 55 seconds to go and would eventually seal a 82-68 victory.
Speaking afterwards Seventh Woods, who was joint-MVP with James Hannigan, said: “The atmosphere was crazy tonight and my coaches fired me up, just told me to go out there and play my game and make shots and that’s what I did. We’ve been playing from behind this whole season, so going in at half-time being down didn’t phase us. We just kept our composure and came out fighting and it was that fight that got us the win today.”
It caps a remarkable return for UCC Demons, winning the insureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy National Cup in their third season back in the National League and second season in the InsureMyVan.ie Super League.
Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU 68–82 UCC Demons
Quarter Scores: Q1: 22-19, Q2: 38-34, Q3: 55-59, Q4: 68-82
Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU:
Nikola Roso, Adrian O’Sullivan, Andre Nation, Andrew O’Connor, Diego O’Herlihy, Sean McManus, Ciaran O’Sullivan, Ronan O’Sullivan, Shawndale Jones Jr., Luke O’Sullivan, Brendan Douanla, Keelan Cairns.
Head Coach: Ciaran O’Sullivan
Top Scorers: Shawndale Jones Jr. 27, , Andre Nation 16, Nikola Roso 10
UCC Demons:
Scott Hannigan, James Beckom, Kyle Hosford, James Hannigan, David Lehane, Tala Fam Thiam, Matthew McCarthy, Carelton Cuff, Cian Looney, Elijah Tillman, Seventh Woods, James Tobin.
Head Coach: Daniel O’Mahony
Top Scorers: Seventh Woods 22, Elijah Tillman 17, James Beckom and James Hannigan (both 13)
MVP Johnathan Jean was the star of the show, as UCD Marian defeated Limerick Sport Eagles 91-78 to lift the InsureMyHouse.ie Presidents’ Cup.
The pacy American scored 29 points, picked up six rebounds and six assists, in a fine performance, to help his side past their resolute opponents.
In front of a lively crowd, Sasha French’s dunk got UCD Marian’s support off their feet four and a half minutes in, as they trailed 11-9. The sides were level at 18 apiece following Sam Finlay’s basket and subsequent free throw. UCD then went on a 13 point run to close out the quarter, to lead 31-18.
The Dublin club’s lead was stretched further thanks to back-to-back three’s by captain Conor Meany, followed by another from Jean, to make it a 22-point game, 40-18, a little over a minute in to the second quarter.
Limerick Sport Eagles fought their way back into the contest, former Ireland captain Jason Killeen was prominent, helping himself to 7 points in the quarter, as they trailed 47-36 at the break.
A three off the glass from Sam Finley got Matt Hall’s side off the mark in the second half, to trail 47-39. A long range three from Ignacio Folgueiras and one from the corner by David O’Connell made it a six-point game four minutes into the third, Limerick Sport Eagles now behind 53-47.
O’Connell brought the game level at 55-55, thanks to his three from the corner with three minutes to go in the quarter. It prompted a timeout call from UCD Marian, which had the desired effect for Ioannis Liapakis’ side - an 8-point run followed. It was concluded by a Jean layup in the last seconds of the quarter, to put UCD Marian 63-55 up.
A three point jump shot from Kealen Coats a minute into the fourth quarter saw Limerick Sport Eagles trail 65-58. After that Jean took matters into his own hands, a pull-up three a highlight to make it 68-58. Another three with four minutes to go from the American helped maintain their 10-point advantage, 75-65. Not long afterwards Limerick Sport Eagles’ Sam Finlay brought his tally to 18 points with another three, to reduce the gap to 77-68. UCD Marian were not to be overhauled in the closing stages and won out 91-78.
MVP Jean said: “It feels good, last time we came here we lost, it left a bad taste in our mouths, but now that we’ve came back, we’ve had a really good win - we’ve got a really good team this year.”
“It was a very emotional game, I did it for my brother. Rest in peace to my brother.”
Limerick Sport Eagles 91-78 UCD Marian
Quarter Scores:
Q1: 18-31, Q2: 36-47, Q3: 55-63, Q4: 91-78
Limerick Sport Eagles:
Keelan Coats, Reece Barry, Sean Cantillon, Daniel Shahab, Sam Finlay, Nikola Ivkovic, Liam Price, David O’Connell, Ajay Ryan Walsh, Ronan Cregan, Ignacio Folguerias, Jason Killeen.
Head Coach: Matt Hall
Top Scorers: Sam Finlay 26, Keelan Coats 15, Ignacio Folguerias 11
UCD Marian:
Leonardo Macron, Conor Meany, Padraic Moran, Séan O’Flynn, Luke Gillernan, Ronan Byrne, Matthew McGrath, Roey Stern, Sortiris Miltiadis, Tobias Christensen, Sasha French, Jonathan Jean.
Head Coach: Ioannis Liapakis
Top Scorers: Jonathan Jean 29, Sasha French 17, Tobias Christensen 12
Waterford Wildcats 68-65 overtime winners against Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell in InsureMyHouse.ie U20 Women’s National Cup final
Waterford Wildcats beat Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell 68-65 after overtime, in a thriller at the National Basketball Arena to win the InsureMyHouse.ie U20 Women’s National Cup.
Waterford Wildcats had Caitlin Gloeckner to thank for getting them to overtime, unleashing an ice-cool long range three point jump shot to make it 60-60 with 9.8 seconds to go. MVP Sarah Hickey also put a strong showing in overtime grabbing five of her team’s eight points to help propel them to victory – Hickey would post a game-high 29 points.
This final was on a knife edge throughout, Gurranabraher Credit Union established an early lead, 23-17 by the end of the first, Ava Walsh leading the charge offensively with eight points in the quarter.
The second quarter belonged to Waterford Wildcats, Hickey racking up half of her side’s points in it as they took the lead, 35-34.
Waterford Wildcats moved 41-36 ahead four minutes into the third quarter, after a pair of Hickey free throws and another basket. But Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell responded with an eight point run, finished off by Rachel Bowdren’s three point jump shot, to put them 44-41 up and the momentum seemed ot be with Danielle O’Leary’s side, as they closed out the quarter 53-45 in front.
Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell got the opening points of the fourth quarter with another Bowdren success from the three point line – her third of the contest – putting them 56-45 up. Waterford Wildcats then rattled off a 7-point run, started off with a pair of Gloeckner free-throws and finished with a Hickey basket, to make it a four-point game, 56-52 to the Cork club.
A Hickey layup, followed by an additional free throw made saw Waterford Wildcats bring it to within three, 58-55, with 1’23 remaining.
A Rachel Lynch layup made it 60-57 to Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell with 18 seconds to go, she couldn’t add an extra after being fouled in the process. It gave Waterford Wildcats a window, and Caitlin Gloeckner took that opportunity with 9.8 seconds to go. There was to be no late winner so overtime was required.
Hickey had some big moments in overtime, a put-back basket, followed by a layup with the shotclock buzzer approaching had Waterford Wildcats 67-62 up two and a half minutes in.
But Brunell got within two points after Clodagh Downey’s basket and a Rebecca Sexton free throw. A Hickey free throw at the other end and it was 68-65 to Wildcats with 18.2 seconds to go, with a Brunell possession. The Cork club couldn’t manage get the all-important points to force an addition overtime period as Waterford Wildcats claimed the title.
MVP Sarah Hickey said: “It’s unreal, where else would I want to be on a Saturday evening other than celebrating a cup final with my team. We dug deep through the end, I think everyone in the Arena thought we were going to lose - Kaitlyn hit that three to put it into overtime and we pushed on from there and got the win.”
“We pushed through and dug deep [at the end], it’s the best weekend of the year, everyone wants to be here so what’s an extra five minutes to get that Cup at the end.”
Waterford Wildcats 68-65 Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell (OT)
Quarter Scores: Q1: 17-23, Q2: 35-34, Q3: 45-53, Q4: 60-60, OT: 68-65
Waterford Wildcats:
Caitlin Gloeckner, Orla Dullaghan, Sarah Hickey, Sheenagh Whelehan, Eimear O’Donnell, Robyn O’Grady, Opel Olajide, Zoe Raethorne, Isabelle Daniels, Áine Foran.
Head Coach: Jillian Hayes
Top Scorers: Sarah Hickey 29, Caitlin Gloeckner 19, Orla Dullaghan 8
Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell:
Izzy McSweeney, Clodagh Downey, Kelsey Cooper, Ella Downey, Aoife Barrett, Laura Hannigan, Emily Peyton Blake, Rachel Bowdren, Rachel Lynch, Ava Walshe, Rebecca Sexton, Mia Lynch, Ciara Barrett.
Head Coach: Danielle O’Leary
Top Scorers: Rachel Lynch 22, Rachel Bowdren 14, Ava Walshe 10
