UL and Team Montenotte battle way to decider
Their opponents on Sunday week will be Team Montenotte from Glanmire, who beat hot favourites, DCU Mercy 46-45 and who now have three teams in finals. Eight Cork teams have qualified for national finals this year.
It was a somewhat unusual situation at the National Basketball Arena when Tony Hehir, who coached UL Aughinish to three cup titles and four Superleague titles, found himself up against his old club as he is now coach to Wildcats, where he was joined by Michelle Aspell who has the distinction of winning cup and league titles with both clubs.
Corkman Jim Nugent, who won two titles as a player with Neptune and two more as coach, replaced Tony Hehir at UL and got off to the perfect start with his new club.
“To be honest I came in with a huge burden on my shoulders,” he admitted. “I was joining a very successful club but it worked out well today.”
After leading by a point (22-21) at the end of the first quarter, UL took control of the game and had built up 10-point lead (43-33) by half time thanks to a 10-point contribution from Fiona Scally and nine points from Dearbhla Breen.
Hehir’s new signing, Crystal Coston, kept Wildcats in touch with 15 points in the first half but Michelle Aspell was off target early on and they suffered as a result.
UL went into the fourth quarter with a 55-44 lead and when Aspel cut the deficit with a three pointer, Fiona Scally hit back with three baskets in quick succession, Dearbhla Breen landed a three pointer, and when Scally added two more points from the free-throw line, UL were never going to be seriously threatened.
Fiona Scally, a 20 year old student at UL, ended up their top scorer on 21 points, with Dearbhla Breen on 19 and Courtney McDaniel, who was signed by Tony Hehir last season, on 18.
Crystal Coston was the game’s top scorer on 25 points with Aspel on 16, including four three-pointers, and Grainne Dwyer on 11.
Team Montenotte, who were at full strength for the first time this season, won a bruising battle with DCU Mercy to earn their place in the final. It was not a pretty game to watch, with close marking and long stretches without a score, but coach Mark Scannell was delighted with the result.
“It wasn’t pretty but it was the only way we were going to win,” the coach admitted. “We had one player, Denise Walsh, out there who is awaiting surgery on her knee next month and Michelle Fahey has not played since she broke her foot in a pre-season friendly with the national team.
“We were without our young players who played in the under-18 and under-20 semi-finals, so I have to hand it to those girls here tonight. They gave it everything defensively and that is how it had to be. We were not going to win this game playing ball.”
They trailed 19-9 at the end of the first quarter but battled their way back to lead 30-26 at half time when DCU were denied a three pointer by the buzzer.
A low-scoring third quarter had them leading 34-33 and when DCU took the lead, they never gave up. Marie Breen tied the game with 3:40 on the clock and then gave them the lead with two free throws. When DCU battled back, it was Marie Breen who again came to the rescue.
“Nobody knows how hard those girls have worked for this,” Scannell said. “We were up against a very good team today and Mark (Keenan) is a very good coach and we came through. It has been a magnificent weekend for the club and they did it all. They were there every night. All I did was put the teams out on the court. They did the rest.”
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