Brunell’s final flourish edges thriller
Brunell were guilty of poor perimeter shooting, converting only one from four early.
Imperials hurt Brunell inside, with Sinead Mackessy scoring eight points. Emma Sherwood and Maher pushed Imperials 16-8 clear, with Orla Connolly replying with a three. Imperials led 16-13 at the interval and looked in control.
Tralee played the ‘run and gun’ game in the second half, and Sinead Mackessy extended Imperials lead to 22-13.
Imperials led 28-19 with 3.30 left on the clock. Then Brunell introduced Eilbhis Murphy to shoot a brace of deuces, and Amy Waters levelled from the free throw line with 1-30 left.
Brunell’s Edel Thornton got the winning basket with 30 seconds left to edge victory.
Top Scorers: Brunell: E Thornton 9, O Connelly 7, M O’Leary 7.
Tralee Imperials: S Mackessy 14, L Maher 6, E Sherwood 4.
In the Mens Div 1 Final, Killorglin CYMS, with four ex-St Mary’s players, including Declan Wall and the MVP Gee Saulius, proved too strong for an older St Mary’s side, inspired by former Superleague players, John Teahan, Maurice Casey and Ruari O’Rahilly, with KCYMS winning 33-20.
In the Mens Division 4 Final, Team Trap Door Morris just held out (11-9) against Hill Celtics. The Killarney side won as the heroics of Shane Murphy for Hill Celtics, was not enough, as his shot to force overtime came back off the ring.
Hill Celtics had to play with only four players for the last four minutes but Anthony O’Sullivan, Patrick O’Regan and Andrew O’Regan excelling in a tough defensive encounter.
In the Division 2 Men’s Final, St Mary’s beat Castle Meats 21-20.
In the U14 girls final, St Mary’s edged out St Anthony’s (Cork) 22-18. Ellie Leen, whose mother Deirdre starred with Lee Strand, hit six points for the Cork side, with Lia Burke scoring 10, but Shauna Ahern (10) led St Mary’s to victory.
In the Girls U16 final, St Mary’s inspired by Nicole Downey (7) and Emma Dineen just beat Limerick Celtics 19-16, with Celtics Alanna Braham with 11, getting the MVP.
In the Division 1 Ladies final, St Mary’s defeated Cork side Rebels 19-12, thanks to accuracy of Philomena O’Connor and Danielle McLoughlin.
