Tralee rebound in style

Abrakebabra Tigers 85 UCC Demons 70

The spotlight was on Kieran Donaghy who skipped a trip to Dubai with the All-Stars and while he impressed, this victory was more about the collective than the individual.

His sidekick, Mike Quirke dominated the boards as he has done all season — 14 rebounds and 13 points after 38 minutes on court — and Donaghy who had 20 minutes of playing time, had seven important rebounds and nine points before he was fouled out with three and a half minutes remaining.

But Tralee’s American players made the difference by outplaying their Demons counterparts. Dave Fanning, with the game high of 24 points, turned in the MVP performance, Wilder Auguste hit 16 and James Mooney, driving their game from the back, had 12 points to underpin his performance.

Benito Flores, with 21 points and 15 rebounds, could hardly have done more for Demons but LaShon Sheffield struggled, Bosman Michael Plichta, only managed two points and it was left to Niall Murphy, who ended up with 20 points, to stem the tide.

It was all of four minutes before Demons put the ball in the basket as Tigers took early control of the game. They led 12-2 after seven minutes and were 21-14 clear at the end of the first quarter.

“We had a poor start. We just failed to click,” Demons’ coach, Pat Price, admitted. “What we had been saying we wanted to do they did to us.”

Quirke dished out more of the same with a jump shot at the start of the second quarter, Fanning and Niall O’Reilly exchanged three-pointers, and just when it appeared as if Demons might do something Quirke put his side further ahead.

Auguste slam-dunked before Fanning made it 35-20 in favour of Tralee. Baskets from Sheffield, Niall Murphy, David Murphy and Flores saw Demons cut the lead to seven points going into the break.

“We dictated the pace early on which was great for us. A lot of times this year we came back from tight games,” Tigers coach, Dave Falvey, said. “But this time we were always in control and we were never going to relinquish that lead. Now we just kept doing what we have been doing all season.”

Demons came out fired up for the third quarter but Quirke took them by surprise with a big three pointer. Niall Murphy responded with two three-pointers and, suddenly, the margin was reduced to four.

Mooney stretched it again with a three pointer and Demons suffered a major blow when Shane Coughlan, just back from injury had to leave the floor with a groin strain.

Demons hopes were further dented after a personal foul called on Niall Murphy was immediately followed by technicals on Benito Flores and coach, Pat Price.

“I don’t want to be moaning about it because I don’t believe it affected the outcome of the game in any way,” Coach Price said. “But the technical foul was called on me for shouting at my players.”

Demons battled on and they trailed by just eight points, 67-59, going into the fourth quarter but Fanning stretched the Tralee lead to 10 points and, with 14 points between the sides going into the last few minutes it was clear that there was no way for Demons.

“To hold Demons, one of the top teams in the country, to 70 points was a remarkable feat by any standard and we did it today,” Dave Falvey said. “If it was not for stupid turnovers — non-pressure uncontested turnovers — we would have won that game by 20 or 30 points.”

Donaghy was delighted he had made the correct decision pointing out that the Tigers’ basketball club is an important part of his life.

“I just could not leave them to go on a holiday,” he said. “I was a bit ring rusty today but I was very disappointed with my last foul. I did not think it was a foul at all.

“Demons are a very big club and they are always tough to beat. Their supporters are great. They are roaring at you from the sideline and then they come up a give you a hug after the game. I thought it might be closer but this was a great start to the year for me. We play again against Mayo next week so it is back to training in Killarney tomorrow night.”

Top scorers for Abrakebabra Tigers: D. Fanning 24, W. Auguste 16, M. Quirke 13.

Top scorers for UCC Demons: B. Flores 21, N. Murphy 20, L. Sheffield 16.