Glanmire sparkle on Leeside’s night to remember

Anyone who has been to Upper Glanmire or the UL Sports Arena to watch the two most dominant forces in women’s basketball tussle each other won’t have been as wide-eyed as the casual observer, held in thrall by UL Huskies and Glanmire at the National Basketball Arena last night.

However, even for hoops evangelists, last night’s overtime cup final was an affirmation of how far the women’s game has advanced in this country.

James Weldon’s UL side lost no face in defeat. Their inside power, delivered by Aoife McDermott and Loretta Maher, waned in the last quarter and the five minute extra period. Not surprising given they were doing the chasing on the scoreboard for most of the night. Though their bid for a third successive cup success came up shy, they have done the game a huge service with the level of detail and preparation Weldon and his players has brought to the table. It isn’t certain the Killarney man will be around to bring them into next season, and if he is not, the Huskies may find themselves in an unwelcome rebuilding process.

But in holding their primary Superleague rivals from Cork at arm’s length these past three seasons, they challenged the likes of Glanmire to step up to their level. Last night, with their 93-87 OT final victory, Paul Kelliher’s side proved they were ready to join UL on an elevated plateau in the women’s game in this country.

Glanmire’s 90-80 league win in UL earlier this month franked their own growing belief that they were good enough to go toe-to-toe with Vanderwal, Clancy, Galvin and co. And the manner in which the Cork girls broke from the traps last night suggested they could add a cup success to their league scalp.

Big threes from MVP Grainne Dwyer and Amanda O’Regan gave them a first quarter edge, and though UL’s Rachel Clancy kept Glanmire honest with her outside shooting, Glanmire’s 52-40 half time lead was not flattering.

Even before their league win in Limerick, there were portents that Glanmire had that sporting prerequiste — momentum.

With Claire Rockall returning from injury, and their young starlets like Hanna McCarthy, Hayley Lenihan, Sarah Kenny and Olivia Dupuy challenging their most established colleagues, things were gelling nicely for coach Kelliher.

Their cup semi-final success over DCU was functional, but no more than that but it boosted the self confidence of American Emilee Harmon.

Last night, it was the turn of Áine McKenna, who brought the one thing into the white heat of a final that coaches crave: a hot hand. A stellar performance was lit up by an astonishing 14-point fourth quarter as Glanmire staved off UL’s defiant comeback.

With twin towers McDermott and Maher doing serious offensive damage for the reigning champions, the second-half momentum was all UL’s. Vanderwal was running a structured offence, in stark contrast to Glanmire’s hurry up, panic shooting. Two free throws from the British Olympian edged Limerick 66-65 ahead at the end of the third quarter. Ominously for Team Montenotte, she did so on the back of Niamh Dwer’s fourth foul. When 24-point Aoife McDermott laid up for a 72-67 UL lead, you’d have got long odds on Glanmire’s weekend treble hopes still being alive this morning. The Huskies had outgunned them by double scores (32-15) in the second half, and with 7:15 remaining, the Huskies had Glanmire where they’ve had them for three years — at arm’s length, with a 77-69 lead.

Enter McKenna. Threes started raining in from everywhere. Two from downtown tied it at 79 and when Galvin dared to push UL in front again, Áine McKenna responded in kind. In the end it required a desperate lay up from UL’s McDermott to force overtime.

“We stuck together, that’s what we’ve been emphasising — whatever happens stick together,” explained MVP Gráinne O’Dwyer (21 pts) afterwards.

“Áine had the game of her life, but it was a fantastic team effort.”

In truth, UL’s offence wilted in overtime, as Rockall and Harmon edged Glanmire to glory.

Given their Under 20 and Under 18 talent, it’s easy to interpret last night’s drama as a changing of the guard in women’s basketball.

Let’s hope the standard-setters of UL Huskies sidestep Father Time for a little while yet. This rivalry is just getting going.

By contrast, UCC Demons march to a sixth men’s National Cup success was pedestrian. Dublin Inter provided the romance of the competition this season, but given Demons’ rollercoaster route to the final, even they must have feared the script was preordained in favour of Colin O’Reilly’s men. Blessed to emerge from a home and away quarter final against UCD Marian, Demons pulled out a semi-final from nowhere, overturning a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to Killester at the Neptune Stadium.

Niall O’Reilly nipped a hint of a fourth quarter revival from the eastern Europeans in the bud with a killer three before Shane Coughlan — picking up his fifth cup winner’s medal — fast-breaked Inter into oblivion. It finished 82-64.