Conor Meany on basketball: Eanna find Championship gear at the perfect moment

Killester ace Paul Dick takes on UCC Demons' James Hannigan in Super League semi-final. Picture: Evan Treacy.

Eanna eliminate top seed Maree 90-77.

Eanna are on the cusp of their first league title thanks to an incredibly impressive road win in Calasanctus College in Galway on Saturday. The core of this Eanna team with Neil Lynch, Josh Wilson, Romonn Nelson and coach Darren McGovern, have been knocking on the door for the past couple of seasons with a Cup Final defeat, multiple semi-finals and now a League Final. 

They've little to show for a sustained period of top-quality basketball but this year’s version of Eanna is their best to date. On Saturday they went down 27-9 in a horror first quarter and yet they never went away from what they do well. They have patience on offence and have all bought into an idea of the collective being greater than the sum of its parts. They have excellent individual talent, but nobody forces it, and they constantly probe to find who is the right matchup to attack on the night. 

No other team in the country could play both Americans for less than 26 minutes and be so successful. Yet that’s what Eanna achieve thanks to their strength in depth. There is a hunger clearly there for the group and Neil Lynch probably personified it against Maree. Coming off the bench trailing 27-11, Lynch was part of a second unit group alongside Reynolds, Nelson and American Matthew McClain that dragged Eanna into the game. Lynch’s +/- figure of +33 was by far the best on either team and his 12 points were a huge factor in igniting Eanna. This team feels like they’ve been through hardship together and they are ready to take the final step. There’s one big step left.

Maree’s strong season ends in disappointment.

AT their best Maree were possibly the best team in the country this year but the nature of the Super League format means you need to be hitting top form in the final weeks. Eanna have now won ten straight while Maree finished the season losing three of their last four games. Saturday’s start may have almost been too good as they raced out to a huge early lead and as things tightened up so did Maree. 

I don’t think Maree will have many complaints, they came up against a very good team in top form and that was the difference. It will be interesting to see what’s next for the 2023 Cup Champions and League runners-up. Can they bring in another group of recruits and make another push next season. Eanna’s success was built on some of that continuity of a journey built over a number of seasons and whether Maree can do similar we’ll see. As good as they were this season, it still feels like the 2023 League will be a bigger regret than this year’s loss.

Killester on for Men’s and Women’s Double

Killester have the opportunity to do a remarkable men’s and women’s League double after seeing off UCC Demons 98-82 in the IWA. I wasn’t sure how Killester would deal with Elijah Tillman but Gregario Adon did a great job bodying him up, while the rest of the Killester team swarmed constantly to limit the big man’s space on a tight IWA court. 

Demons' Tillman had 29 but it was hard fought and Killester found plenty of joy on the other end to balance his points out. Killester actually struggled more in transition than the half court early on and Demons were well worth an early lead as Seventh Woods had 13 in the first quarter. But the signs were ominous for Demons from early on, they were playing a lot of zone and Killester were getting whatever shot they wanted, they just weren’t hitting them all. 

A second quarter barrage from the three-point line (7/10) blew open the game as Killester went from seven down to ten up at the half. I know better than many that there’s few places you’d rather be in Ireland than the IWA when Killester start shooting well, and once it started it opened up everything for the Dubliners and they never looked back. Last week I mentioned how Jonny Grennell’s call to bring in Troy Simons had paid off and this week it was even greater vindication as the guard scored an incredible 37 points and should have had more than 40 but missed five free throws. Killester are in top form and are the only team to have beaten Eanna since Christmas in a one sided 110-91 game that Kason Harrell scored 50 in. It’s set to be a brilliant final and as much as Eanna have had some hardship some of this Killester group have lost League playoffs and been through a lot over the past couple of seasons and they have a powerful story to tell themselves.

UCC Demons disappointment

The rollercoaster has finally come to an end for Danny O’Mahony’s side after a season that had so many highs and lows. Elijah Tillman helped transform their season, but they also got huge performances from Irish players at key moments throughout the season. We have possibly seen the end of Kyle Hosford and Carlton Cuff, so the young talented core now needs to become more dependable next season. They have the talent but can’t switch it on and off like they did this season.

Part of being great is doing it every week and that’s the next evolution for Demons. Will the depth be there next year? We’ll see, but if it’s anything like this year it won’t be dull anyway.

Brunell just short against.

Killester’s women had no league title hangover as they managed to get to the Champions Trophy final courtesy of a 91-85 win over Brunell. Ieva Bagdanaviciene’s 24 to support Jiselle Thomas’ 29 was the difference in what was a competitive game throughout. Brunell will obviously have questions of what could have been this season, but their final game also pointed to huge hope for the future. Ava Walshe and Rebecca Sexton both had big games on Saturday with 17 between them and with Katie Walshe also adding in eight there is plenty of hope for the Nellies. They recruited in two good Americans this year and if they can get that right again next year and keep developing their young talent they’ll remain part of the title conversation.

Wildcats end Liffey Celtics season 76-66

It wasn’t a shock to see Wildcats come in and beat a heartbroken Liffey Celtics team fresh off their league playoff loss last weekend. Liffey had beaten Wildcats two weeks ago to get to that playoff and to beat them again all while coming off a major disappointment was too much to ask. Wildcats performed well with Kate Hickey’s 17 giving them a huge boost. Liffey were without Rachel Huijdsens who helps anchor their defence but their struggles came primarily on the offensive end as their Americans combined for just 19 points. It’s brilliant for Wildcats to get a taste of a final as they continue to build and for Liffey it has been a great season that unfortunately ended with a very difficult last two weeks. They have the Irish talent there, with the right pros next year and Ciara Bracken returning they will be right at the top table again.