Inside Basketball: Neptune dip in fortune punished, Glanmire gaining momentum
AIR-MAIL: Neptune's Cian Heaphy goes up for the score against Ej Sligo All Stars but it was the visitors who bagged the win.
UCC Demons have been excellent at times this year and yet it felt like they were missing a piece that could help them really challenge the top teams. This week they welcomed a new American MJ Randolph, and his impact was evident immediately as he scored 33 points and helped Demons to a season-high in points as they beat Griffith College Templeogue 107-93. Randolph averaged almost 19 a game for Florida A&M in his senior year, so he has the resume and on early indications he could be a massive find for Danny O’Mahony. Demons still lack some depth, but their core is excellent, and they are not going to be easy to knock out of the playoff contention. With Ballincollig and Tralee up next, the way they end 2022 will have a huge impact on where they end up at the end of the year.
THE Address UCC Glanmire resurgence continued at the weekend with an impressive 73-55 Superleague win over their perennial rivals DCU Mercy. Mark Scannell’s charges used a balanced attack with five players in double digits. Mercy did a good job controlling Brittany Byrd’s scoring as she only managed 15 points (half her season average) but the attention she drew opened up the floor for the rest of her team. Glanmire don’t have the size to dominate like they did last year so they need elite guard play to win. With Claire O’Sullivan, Aine McKenna and Mia Furlong all playing well, it’s a case of picking your poison on defence and the league’s best defence couldn’t hold them out for a full forty minutes.
Mark Ingle and his Mercy squad will have to figure out how to go to Cork and come away with something by next month if they are going to make a cup final. Mercy have had a torrid time in Cork so far this year with one game being stopped due to condensation and then losses to Brunell and Glanmire. Mercy are the best defensive team in the league but against good teams they can struggle to score, particularly if they aren’t creating points of turnovers. They’ve now lost two games in a row in the league and face a resurgent Liffey Celtics away next week. They need a big performance this side of Christmas to keep the pressure on the top teams and build for a showdown with Trinity Meteors in January.
It was the balance of Star’s attack that made the difference in their 86-62 Men's Superleague win over University of Galway Maree. In the Cup game between the two sides last week, Star were very reliant on Shon Briggs to carry the offence but this week they had much better balance. Part of that was the offensive resurgence of the Quinn twins, Aidan and Conor. The way that Star are built, they need the Quinns to be dynamic to really test the top teams. Star have the joint best record in the league and yet probably feel that they haven’t played yet to their full potential. If they can continue to share the ball and have a balanced attack like they did on Saturday they will be a scary proposition.
For Maree, Joe Mvuezolo’s departure to play in Asia was a major concern as he not only averaged over 20 points a game but he also had size and athleticism that helped on the defensive end. The Englishman’s absence was most notable on the offensive end as Maree scored just 62 points their lowest of the season. Coming off an emotional Cup win and having to play the same team again the following week was never going to be easy for Maree. They have the talent to still push on but to do so they’ll need consistency from their young Irish core.
Neptune’s recent dip in fortune was punished by an excellent Sligo All Stars performance on Saturday night in Cork. Neptune’s inability to keep their man in front of them for long periods of the game was the issue again as a balanced Sligo attack picked them apart to the tune of 87 points. The Leesiders sometimes get criticised for trying to win only through their offence and that could be said about them again on Saturday in this 87-82 loss. The format of the season means that Neptune don’t need to panic but they are going to have to find a way to stop the bleeding and they’ll welcome a visit from Moycullen next week.
When Tralee are at their best, they play with emotion and physicality. Outside of Kieran Donaghy, the player who sums this up best is Daniel Jokubaitis. When he’s firing, he’s a wrecking ball of energy, who can knock down outside shots. At his worst, he’s a bit too loose and can shoot Tralee out of games. Saturday was one of the best nights for Jokubaitis as he scored 32, including 25 in just 16 minutes in the first half. On the other end of the floor, Tralee had enough bodies to throw at Stefan Zecevic him to just 12 points and St Vincent’s didn’t have enough options to keep up with the Warriors. This was the first of a three-game road trip for Tralee and their us against the world mentality on the road may be the spark they need to get their season back on the right path.
Despite not winning last week in the Women's National Cup, Liffey Celtics showed glimpses that they weren’t far off the top teams as they ran Waterford Wildcats close. This week they took that a whole step further, using a dominant third quarter to blow Wildcats away 87-79. Starting the third quarter tied Ciara Bracken scored eight points in the first two minutes of the half as part of an 11-0 run for Celtics. They’d eventually win the quarter by 20 and never looked back. Wildcats will be disappointed as they are now two games behind Glanmire and Meteors but to go to a team of Liffey’s calibre two weeks in a row was always going to be a tough ask.
Fr Mathews had a critical home win in a Cork derby against Singleton Supervalu Brunell on Saturday. The visitors were without their American Mary Dunn who has returned home with injury and without her inside presence Fr Mathews were able to dominate inside. Shannon Brady enjoyed a season-high 23 points and Fr Mathews managed nine more two-point field goals than their undersized opponents. With the right American, Brunell can be a challenger to the top teams in the playoffs, if they don’t get the right person in, it could be a huge battle to even make the playoffs.
When our UCD Marian teams challenged for leagues in recent years, Ioannis Liapakis used to repeat the same phrase regularly ‘energy and attitude’. They were two controllables that if we could get right, we wouldn’t have any issues, particularly against weaker teams. DBS Eanna showed on Saturday the stress that can happen when those controllables aren’t taken care of. Moycullen have struggled for large parts of the season, but they were right in the game throughout the fourth quarter before the home side finally put them away 74-63. Moycullen deserve a lot of credit for the way they went about the game and the final score is very generous to Eanna. One bright spot for Darren McGovern was nine points from Alex Dolenko who has continued his return. Dolenko is a versatile defender and excellent role player for Eanna and yet another weapon for the Rathfarnham side as they chase silverware.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
