Conor Meany on basketball: Ballincollig seal league and cup double
MAKE OURS A DOUBLE: Ballincollig players celebrate with the cup. Pic: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile.
Killester asked plenty of questions of Ballincollig, but the Champions had every answer as they prevailed in what was a scrappy game that didn’t showcase the heights either team is capable of.
Fittingly in a season where the new two Irish players on the court rule was introduced, it was an Irish player standing tall at the end of the season with Adrian O’Sullivan winning a deserved MVP after a standout performance including 17 points.
Ballincollig got their recruitment right this year, but without an experience and intelligent Irish core around them they wouldn’t have had the success this year, and it’s a testament to Ciaran O’Sullivan that he was able to conduct the orchestra so well keeping everybody involved and happy.
For Killester it is now three league final losses in a row, which will undoubtedly sting. The fact that they shot so poorly will hurt, but they know that was always the threat with this group the way it is assembled.
At the end there looked like some recognition though that this was a loss to a better team, and when we look back on the three losses in a few years’ time, I think the Demons loss will be the one that stings the most.
What’s next for Killester is unclear but hopefully they can make one more run at the elusive title.
Meteors finished the year in joint fourth place yet rode a wave of momentum through the playoffs to be crowned Super League champions ending a 33-year wait.
They narrowly beat Waterford in round 1, before eliminating the two-time defending champions Killester in the semifinal and then stopped Glanmire winning their tenth title with an 87-81 win on Sunday.
Ava Learn and Kyle Horstmeyer both delivered on the big stage scoring 23 each, as they almost equalled Glanmire’s dynamic American duo of Jewel Watkins and Viane Cumber, a feat that few would have expected.
In a game that was higher scoring than Meteors may have liked, they got huge contributions from young Irish talent like Aisling Moran and Helena Keane (11 points in 12 minutes), that was the difference between the two sides.
Glanmire to their credit showed champions resolve, particularly through Claire O’Sullivan but they just couldn’t get enough stops when they needed them.
The title is a fitting end to a week that saw Meteors celebrate their 60th anniversary and also tragically saw one of their former underage coaches Eamonn Prenter (father of Meteors star Grace Prenter who last week was involved in the NCAA Final Four with Texas), pass away.
The wait has ended for the South Dublin club and given their recent production of underage talent, a new era may be on the way.
Alex Carlisle delivered on the biggest stage with 41 points to help Limerick Sport Eagles beat Titans 77-55 and return to the Super League. It completes a league and cup double for Limerick and ends a decade out of the Super League for a club that was a staple of the league winning titles in 2002 and 2012.
With the signing of Ryan Leonard this year, Eagles always looked like a title contender and their signing of Toby Christensen further cemented this. Christensen has now played for four clubs in Ireland and outside of his rookie season he has taken three clubs to league and cup doubles at National League level, while also adding a Super League cup with Demons, a remarkable record that will have any potential contenders for promotion next year enquiring about his availability soon.
For Titans, their Cinderella run went one step too far as they were outplayed and struggled to break down Eagles zone. Realistically it probably came too early on their development journey as they aren’t yet Super League ready, but having reached the U18 and U20 League finals too, the progress is coming fast.
For now, though we will have to look forward to a Limerick derby for the first time in the Super League as Eagles face Celtics next year.
Killester have held the position as the best dual men’s and women’s club in the leagues as they’ve contended for silverware with both their men’s and women’s teams for the past three years.
Limerick Celtics are now the main contender for that title as over the last two years, they’ve got both their men’s and women’s teams promoted to the Super League. It’s a remarkable achievement for a club that is now a staple of finals weekends.
The dream was almost shattered by Cleveland Rockets who will be haunted by how this game slipped through their hands. Scoring late to take the lead by two, Rockets also had the ball from an inbounds on the sideline, which they turned over leading to a last second basket from Celtics to force overtime.
In the extra period, Celtics pushed on and they will now be a welcome addition to the Super League next year.
For years, the Cup was the only big weekend of finals that Irish basketball had to look forward to. The development of the League Finals weekend is a major addition, yet it still hasn’t fully captured the hearts of the basketball public.
At the moment it remains a weekend on the clubs involved really attend, which is a shame because it has the capability to be so much more.
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