Belfast Star complete big Tralee turnaround

Belfast Star travelled to Tralee and came home with an important come-from-behind 87-81 win

Mon, 10 Oct, 2022 - 07:50

Tony Leen

Belfast Star travelled to Tralee and came home with an important come-from-behind 87-81 win over defending InsureMyVan.ie Super League Garvey’s Tralee Warriors.

Adrian Fulton’s side trailed by 12, 73-61, going into the final quarter, but managed a big turnaround, thnough Fulton cautioned that it is still too early in the campaign to get excited. “It wasn't a great performance - we did play well in stretches, but we need to be more consistent. Warriors are a very talented team and they gave us loads of problems. But the players deserve credit for digging us out of a 17 point deficit on the road, Conor Quinn was terrific."

De’Ondre Jackson top scored on the night for Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, with 29, while for Belfast Star, it was Chrishon Briggs who headed their scoring on 25 and Conor Quinn contributed 21 points.

EJ Sligo All-Stars’ dream start to life in the InsureMyVan.ie Super League continued, with a 95-72 victory over UCD Marian. Tom Child’s 22 points was backed up by 19 from Andrew McGeever.

Said Sligo's Shane O’Meara: “A win built on a foundation of disciplined defence and selfless offence. Marian were aggressive and physical, flooding the paint in an attempt to negate the impact Greg (Poleon) would have on the game, but he gave up the ball when needed and Oisin (O’Reilly), Jamie (Hayes), Tom (Child) and Andy (McGeever) were ready to punish them from 3. Our club has put a lot of work into the promotion of this team and having a full house certainly helps! There was a great family feel after the final whistle, something that we value in the club.”

University of Galway Maree remain unbeaten, they were 10-point winners, 94-84, over Flexchem KCYMS, with Robert Alan Kelly Jr. leading their offence, on 35 points.

There was a first win of the season for DBS Éanna on Saturday, Darren McGovern’s side winning their Dublin derby at Killester 90-77.

Griffith College Templeogue also got off the mark, they picked up a road success at Bright St. Vincents, 83-77 while Cork's Energywise Ireland Neptune produce a dominant display against Moycullen to bring to total number of undefeated teams in the top tier to five. Ireland international Jordan Blount led the scoring charts with 22 points, ably assisted by Jordan Evans and Nil Sabata, who combined for 37. The result drops Galway’s Moycullen to 0-2 on the year.

Defending Women's Superleague champions, The Address UCC Glanmire, made it two wins from two with a comprhensive 96-56 win at University of Galway Mystics on Saturday. Coach Mark Scannell singled out American Brittany Byrd and captain Áine McKenna, who hit 26 and 21 points respectively on the day.

“Defensively to Galway to 56 pts was great and then for Áine (McKenna) and Brittany (Byrd) to hit 11 out of 12 three-point shots shows how hard they worked during the week. Five players in double figures and another win, all good. We will start again on Tuesday and get ready for Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics,” he said.

Waterford Wildcats are also two from two, they were also road winners, defeating i3PT Fr. Mathews 90-75. Karli Seay hit 25 points, while the Hickey sisters – Sarah and Kate – had 20 and 17 points.

Stated head coach Tommy O’Mahony: “Fr. Mathews are a very good side and will win a a lot of games this year. We had a great first half, but struggled to contain some of their players. In the second half we managed to get some vital stops and keep the scoreboard ticking over. We still have a lot of improving to do, but to get a win in Cork is never easy.

Another unbeaten Miss Quote.ie Super League team is Singleton SuperValu Brunell. They edged out Ulster University 73-64, with Lauryn Homan to the fore with 21 points, while Ireland international captain Edel Thornton contributed 13. Said coach Liam Culloty: "This is a very tough place to come with the long journey and that probably affected our first quarter. We stuck to the task and won the next three quarters, but Pat (O’Neill) has done a great job with this team and it was never easy. Lauryn Homan was excellent again for us especially in the last quarter.” Killester defeated Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics 77-70, inspired by a 33 point haul from Irish international Michelle Clarke, including 5 three-pointers.