Garvey's Tralee Warriors relinquished their unbeaten run at the Kerry Sports Academy going down to League leaders Belfast Star by 85-73 on Sunday afternoon. Having trailed by 10 going into the final quarter, the Warriors definitely turned the contest around to lead with 4 minutes on the clock. However, Belfast outscored their hosts by 18-4 in the final minutes to seal the win and remain unbeaten in their five games played and two clear wins ahead of the chasing Super League pack.
The Warriors started brightly with Iggy Hunte on the mark with two early scores and a Daniel Jokubaitis major helping the hosts to a 9-5 lead. Belfast benefitted from some early Warriors indiscipline allowing Shane Bell and former Warrior Rap Buivydas hit 7 from 7 from the line to go ahead. However Jokubaitis was back in range to put the Warriors 16-12 up and despite Max Richardson opening his account and a tough finish from RJ Wilson, Warriors took full value from a series of fouls by Belfast to add 8 from the free throw line and lead 24-18 at quarter time.
The Warriors pushed the lead out to 8 with Jokubaitis and Jordan Perkins on the mark early in the second but Belfast replied with a volley of major scores from Bell, Richardson and the Quinn twins Aidan and Conor to see Star go 36-32 up midway through the quarter. Hunte, Perkins and Eoin Quigley combined from the field to level the contest but a double from Richardson and a major score each from Buivydas and Conor Liston gave Belfast a 46-40 lead at the long break.
Belfast took their second quarter momentum into the third and with the Quinns hitting trademark threes and Buivydas and Wilson bossing the exchanges under the Warriors board, Belfast quickly put 15 between the teams midway through the quarter. Threes from Perkins and Olaf Michalczuk helped the Warriors cut the gap and when Dan Bowler and Hunte were on the mark late on the gap was down to a more manageable 63-53 at the end of the third.
The Warriors started the fourth with an impressive run of scores yielding 16 points and limiting Belfast to a single major score from Buivydas. The relentless run saw Perkins strike from distance, a double from inside from Hunte and an acrobatic effort from Jokubaitis to bridge the gap and when Perkins followed up to take full advantage from the line, the game was tied at 67-67. Iggy Hunte then tipped in at the Belfast board to see the Warriors take the lead for the first time since early in the second. With the home crowd in full voice the Warriors looked set for an unlikely turnaround win but Belfast asserted late on with a decisive 16 point volley of their own with Wilson, Bell, Richardson and Conor and Aidan Quinn all getting in on the act to close out the game. Disappointingly, the Warriors were simply unable to summon the energy or resources required to withstand the League leaders' attack late on, and Belfast ran out easy 85-73 winners in the end.
Scorers:
Garvey's Tralee Warriors: Iggy Hunte 21, Jordan Perkins 17, Daniel Jokubaitis 13
Belfast Star: RJ Wilson 20, Rap Buivydas 16, Conor Quinn 13
Next up for the Warriors is a chance to get back to winning ways at the Kerry Sports Academy when they host St. Vincent’s next Saturday 1st November with tip off at 7.00pm.
(Pictures courtesy of Liam Ryan)
Mens U20s League R2
UCC Demons 82 Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 140
Garvey's Tralee Warriors Mens U20s backed up their turnaround win over Rathmore Ravens on Friday night to make it two wins from two with an exhibition of shooting to outgun UCC Demons by 140-82 at the Mardyke Arena on Sunday and get their National League campaign off to the best possible start.
The Warriors travelled to Cork with just six players with a number of the squad out through injury but the players that went produced a stunning performance of shooting to close out the contest long before the final buzzer sounded. The Warriors flew out of the block to lead 20-7 midway through the opening quarter with Dave Lucid, Ryan Sheehy, Jamie Burke and Brayden Pierce all finding the Demons’ baskets with ease. Demons replied through Noah Eddins and Ryan Sheehan but it wasn’t until their top scorer on the day Adam Cox got in range that Demons made any real impact on the scoreboard, shooting their way to 25 by the end of the quarter. At the other end Warriors continued to score freely with Fionan Brosnan helping himself to 9 points and Lucid and Sheehy striking for majors to put the Tralee side 44-25 up at the end of the first.
Demons got to the pitch of the game in the second and made inroads into the Warriors lead with Cox hitting four in a row early. Sheehy replied immediately with a quickfire 7 points and when Burke added from distance the gap was back out to 20. Cox, Eddins and Luke Wolfe combined to keep the Demons in touch but scores from Burke, Liam Rahilly and a three from Pierce saw Warriors lead 64-52 at half time.
The Warriors best spell in the game came in the third quarter when they unleashed a barrage of scores to settle the contest by three quarter time. All six players were on the mark as they amassed a 40 point tally for the period while at the other end Demons looked to Eddins with two threes and Cox with a hat trick for their scores. The Warriors barrage continued as they hit six three pointers in the quarter with three from Sheehy and one each from Rahilly, Burke and Pierce in their fourteen scores from the field and a flawless 6 from 6 from the free throw line saw them 104-66 up going into the final quarter.
The Warriors offensive effort didn’t relent in the final quarter as Brosnan and Pierce were again on the mark early. Adam Cox continued to lead from the front for Demons and hit five scores in the period to bring his personal tally to a game high 40 points. However the Warriors saw out the 140-82 win in style with a late flurry of scores from Rahilly, Pierce, Brosnan, Lucid and the outstanding Sheehy who top scored for Warriors with 39.
Scorers:
Garvey's Tralee Warriors: Ryan Sheehy 39, Jamie Burke 28, Brayden Pierce 25, Fionan Brosnan 25
UCC Demons: Adam Cox 40, Noad Eddins 18, Ryan Sheehan 14
Next up for the Warriors U20s is a trip to the Crescent College in Limerick to face Limerick Celtics on Sunday 16th November with tip off at 5.30pm.
