Tigers’ double hopes dashed as Neptune hit the heights
Neptune beat Tigers 84-75 in Tralee, Demons beat Queens 109-70, St Vincent’s beat last year’s runners-up, Star of the Sea, 81-68 and Dart Killester beat Hibernian UCD Marian 92-84 but there is no doubt about the shock of the weekend and the celebrations went on until late at the Gleneagle in Killarney after Lakers’ 103-77 win over Shamrock Rovers.
“The most we can hope for now is a home game when the draw is made at lunch time tomorrow,” Lakers’ Coach Mark Scannell said as he sung the praises of the Irish players in particular on his bench.
“We have been playing well in quarters but today we put it all together. I knew last week we were turning the corner. We were very good against Demons and we were excellent today.
“Ger Noonan was outstanding and so, too, was Damien Kennedy. He won a cup medal with Demons last year so he knows what it’s all about. And Tim Sullivan was in spectacular form - shooting six out of eight from the three-point line.
“Defensively we were superb - we held them to 28 points in the first half and at one stage we were 40 up and I was able to give all the Irish guys a run in the fourth quarter,” he said.
“This was a great day for Killarney basketball. They had not won a first round cup game since 1996 and now there are a lot of the big guns gone out of the competition. And we are back on track in the SuperLeague just behind Demons and Limerick.”
Horan’s Health Store Tigers went into their game on Saturday night on the back of an unbeaten SuperLeague run which included two victories over Neptune to their credit but the Cork side - four times cup champions, brought them crashing down to earth.
Gerry Fitzpatrick’s side was quite superb and once they exploded from the blocks to lead 11-0 after two and half minutes with three pointers from Stephen McCarthy, Kenny Gamble, and Gordon Fitzgerald, the game was never competitive, as Tigers were simply not allowed play and their meagre return of 24 points for the first half tells its own story. Fitzpatrick said his team were unable to raise their game mid-week but were determined to make amends. “The cup is always different and we knew we had to play for forty minutes, and it just shows you with a very substantial lead, we are still hanging on against Tralee.
“So we always knew if we were to win the game, it would be at a high level of intensity. In fairness to the fellows, they came out and did what they had to do, and I thought they were very professional. Tigers are a hell of team this year and they are going to take a lot of beating in the league, but we just played well tonight and that’s the cup, there are no second chances.”
Tigers coach Rus Bradburd was philosophical about the loss: “I thought we panicked when things were not going our way in the first half and made poor decisions. Stephen McCarthy was the best guard on the floor and that included any Americans who were out there and I think his experience and his savvy showed. We just did not have answer and we just did not have an answer for their intelligence.
“We did not show a lot of energy early in the game when they went up 11-0, so we got off to a poor start and never recovered. They outplayed us in every aspect - they were on top early, we shot poorly and I think it was a credit to their defence. I know we were bad with 24 points for the half but was it the excellence of their defence, we never quite figured it out.”
Neptune, leading 21-13 at the end of the first quarter, upped the tempo further with threes from Stephen McCarthy and Michael McGinn, and some fine baskets from Gamble, Watson and Fitzgerald.
Neptune led 41-24 at the end of the first half and they moved 23 points clear (57-34) with just three minutes left in the third.
Tigers suddenly woke from their slumber and successive threes from Mason had the Neptune’s lead at 62-43 entering the final quarter. The home side did show fire in the fourth as they hit an incredible 32 points, but they never got closer than nine, Neptune had too much experience. Gordon Fitzgerald was voted the MVP.
Dart Killester maintained their supremacy over Hibernian UCD Marian with a 92-84 victory while St Vincent’s reversed the recent result against Star, who must be wondering if they will ever win the cup at this stage.
Mardyke UCC Demons had little problem overwhelming Queens while Waterford Crystal enjoyed a pretty facile victory over Moycullen to leave Ballina Braves the only Division One team left in the competition after a 114-86 victory over Corinthians.
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