Friday night hoops: Demons stride clear of troubled Tralee; Meteors scare, Wilson steps up
DRIVE: Energywise Ireland Neptune's Nil Sabata goes for a basket during Friday's Men's Super league clash against NUIG Maree in Neptune Stadium.
UCC Demons' depth proved to be a major factor as the Cork side won a critical game on Friday night against Tralee, opening up a three-game gap between the teams. With Demons controlling the head-to-head too, they will feel that their 92-86 win was a major step towards securing a playoff spot. The trust that Danny O’Mahony has developed with two of his younger Irish players David Lehane and Scott Hannigan was repaid in spades in the fourth quarter at the Mardyke. Tralee were throwing the kitchen sink at Demons but big plays from both, including a Hannigan three to give Demons a late four-point lead, was enough to seal the deal for Demons. Lehane’s development was one of the factors that inspired Demons to get back to Super League level and his impact in this crucial game was huge as he had an incredible +/- of +19, which simply meant that when he was on the floor good things happened. Demons already know they have an ace trio of Hosford, Fam and MJ Randolph but it will be their supporting cast that decide how far they go this year.
What a difference 12 months can make. Last January Tralee were lifting the Men's National Cup for the first time on their way to a League and Cup double - this January their season could effectively be over with both competitions beyond them. They are currently two games behind Energywise Neptune for the last playoff spot and with Northern Conference leaders DBS Eanna next up, there’s no easy route to catching Neptune either. They gave everything they had against Demons and yet the depth just isn’t there this year. The success of their youth development has taken a toll as players head to the United States, but they’ve also missed key Irish contributors like Darragh O’Hanlon in recent weeks. In previous years Tralee both had a depth of Irish players capable of contributing and some of the best pros in the league.
With the Michelsson signing not working out, there has been added pressure on an aging core and they haven’t had enough to get them over the line in close games. Their season isn’t over yet, but it’s fair to say their title defence is on life support.
If you’re Trinity Meteors coach Niall Berry there’s the glass-half-full view or half-empty view after a tricky away win in Galway on Friday. The optimist would say that they went on the road and, despite not playing brilliantly, they came away with an important win. Berry will be particularly happy with Sarah Kenny’s key contribution with 11 points in the fourth quarter as Meteors rallied from behind to win. Kenny could be the barometer of how well Meteors do in their quest for Cup and League titles. If she can continue to shine in big moments there’s huge optimism for Meteors. Taking the half empty view, NUIG challenged Meteors despite not having the physical tools to battle them under the boards. For large parts of the game, Meteors struggled to get any flow in what they were doing and NUIG’s defensive game plan worked well despite their size limitations. In next week’s cup semi-final, DCU Mercy have the physical tools to fight Meteors in the post in a way that NUIG couldn’t, so there is work to do this week for the south Dubliners as they prepare for what could be the game of the season so far.
During the first half of the season, DCU Mercy lost three games and the one complaint about them was that they potentially didn’t have enough guard scoring. Mark Ingle looks to have addressed that concern by bringing in a new American in 5’ 8" guard Tyra Johnson. With 20 points over Brunell in just her second game, Ingle will be hopeful that Johnson and her American backcourt partner Lindsey Abed (who managed 24 at the weekend) are the American partnership needed to really test Trinity Meteors in next week’s Cup game.
For large parts of Friday’s Super League clash, Belfast Star looked like a well-oiled machine, who were going against an Eanna team that are continuing to patch together their team as they miss key contributors each week. And then suddenly in the fourth quarter, Star lost their composure offensively and Eanna’s momentum carried them to a 29-6 final quarter and an eight point win. From an Eanna perspective the speed with which they got back in the game was impressive and there’s no ‘momentum team’ like Eanna in the country. When Josh Wilson or Neil Lynch hit threes it gets the whole team and crowd into the game and when they both do it in quick succession, it’s hard to slow down that energy. Despite Eanna’s good work, Adrian Fulton will be disappointed with how his team responded to the Eanna run. There was a lack of composure offensively as they only managed one field goal in the fourth quarter as they scored just six points. Fourth quarter woes aren’t new to Star this season either, in their four losses across both competitions three of the four saw them score under 16 in the final quarter, and the only exception was the Killester game that they trailed by 21 going into the last. All but two of Star’s wins have been double-digit wins so they will have to find a way to navigate tight fourth quarter situations if their title push has any chance.
Last season when Josh Wilson arrived back into the Super League it never fully worked out for him or for DBS Eanna. The team had two very different Americans on the squad with high-flying forward Devin Gilmore the other option for Eanna. While having two Americans can work, it didn’t really work for Wilson last year and he never looked like his old self. Despite that, Eanna wanted Wilson back and trusted to have him as their lone American this year. That decision alone has been transformative as Wilson is playing the best basketball of his career in Ireland and he personifies what this Eanna team is about this year. Basketball is so often a problem-solving challenge and Wilson has the versatility to find solutions all over the court. On one end he can be guarding a physically imposing forward like Shon Briggs and on the other, he’s hitting step back threes, leading an Eanna revival. For Americans who stay for a number of years in Ireland there’s a place they can get to after three or four seasons where they know the league, refs and their own game and they just look very comfortable. Wilson has that look at the moment and if he can continue to find solutions for Eanna the rest of the league will have a problem.
*One downside to the win on Friday for DBS Eanna was losing Sean Jenkins to what looked like a knee injury inside the first minute. Jenkins looked to clash knees with Mark Reynolds and Eanna will be hoping that no significant damage was done, especially with the Cup semi-final next week. Marko Tomic remained out for Eanna which means his return in time for the cup is increasingly unlikely too.
Going into Friday, this looked like one of the match ups of the year. I hoped we’d learn about Neptune’s fight back and what Maree looked like tested on the road. Neptune played without an American though and Jordan Blount was limited to just three minutes. Maree did their bit, winning comfortably and Charlie Crowley will be particularly happy with the contributions of his big men, Curtuk and Gomez, who combined for 42. Maree will be happy to get a nice run out on the Neptune court knowing they have the opportunity of a lifetime to get to a cup final, as they face Vincent’s on the same court next week. In terms of what we learn for the league for both Maree and Neptune we will have to wait a little longer.
The race for the final playoff space in the northern conference looked like it was going to be a two- horse race between Sligo and St. Vincent’s but Templeogue have blown the race open with a dramatic one-point win in Sligo. It’s the second straight game that Sligo have lost a home game in the final seconds and they will be hugely disappointed with the ease which Templeogue scored the game-winning basket after a clever Mark Keenan timeout. Templeogue are now just one game behind Sligo. For Sligo, they still have the pieces they need to push on, but they haven’t won a game outside of Cork since October and have lost three of their last four including two games to teams below them. This first season was likely to be a roller coaster for Sligo and they now need a big win at home against Killorglin in their next game to settle them back down.
As we close out 2022, Irish players are tolling away at NCAA level with varying levels of success. Just before Christmas Sean McCarthy from Neptune had an incredible performance scoring 41 points in a win for Felician University who play at NCAA Division 2 level. I understand the 41 points are a record for an Irish player at NCAA level and it’s something that McCarthy deserves huge credit for. Sean is an athletic wing who thrives in a fast open game and this performance will raise expectations for what he's capable of moving forward.
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