Inside Basketball: Tralee, Eanna, Killorglin and Neptune maintain perfect records
STATEMENT: Tralee's Eoin Quigley under pressure from Daire Murray of Templeogue in their Men's Superleague clash at a packed Tralee Sports Complex. Pic: Domnick Walsh
Tralee Warriors built on a big opening night win with two more over the course of this weekend. The noteworthy performance came in the first half in Dublin on Sunday as they built a 25-point lead (56-31) against a Killester team expected to challenge for trophies. What made the weekend’s double win even more impressive was that they did it without American, Brandon Mahon. Tralee look built for what this year’s Super League is all about, they have long, versatile players able to cover multiple positions. I said pre-season that Tralee were in the second tier of favourites, but they are right there at the top after a brilliant start to the year.
Tralee’s opposition Killester went 0-2 for the weekend as they took a poor second half against Maree into the first half against Tralee. This was the hardest double-header of the weekend, but Jonny Grennell will still be concerned about his team. They are small, which in itself is not a massive problem, but they are also not one of the league’s more prolific three-point shooting teams which means they are going to need Paul Dick and their Americans to score a lot of contested midrange shots and layups. Neither American was prolific over the weekend and Killester fans will be worried that when they come up against size they may struggle. That said, they’ve just played two of the physically strongest teams over this weekend and it may just be a blip on their way to better things.
It was another solid weekend for defending champions Eanna, who beat both St Vincent's and Maree over the weekend. I thought Eanna were a bit off on Saturday, but they showed a lot on Sunday beating Maree in Dublin. I was concerned for them with no Sean Jenkins, but they did their regular thing of having balanced scoring with seven players scoring eight or more. As everyone focuses on new signings and who looks good, the defending champions are almost flying under the radar and just winning games. Maree will be disappointed after a difficult week with off-court drama causing a major cloud over their season. They were excellent against Killester, particularly in the second half, but they would have known that they are one of the teams most susceptible to losing the second game of back-to-backs given their lack of depth.
Meteors got their first Women's Superleague win of the year in a low scoring win over Killester. Meteors shot poorly as they missed 10 free throws and hit only 10% of their three-point attempts. That won’t concern them though as they dominated on the offensive glass, getting 10 offensive rebounds which ultimately split the teams. For Mark Grennell, the frustration will be that he was missing Irish International Hannah Thornton who would have helped his Killester side rebound. Thornton remains sidelined due to an ongoing registration appeal and Killester have paid the price this weekend for it. Despite that issue, Killester could still have won the game and there will be questions over American Destiny Strather who managed just 3 points in 22 minutes.
Portlaoise is not an easy place to play women's Superleague, yet Liffey Celtics looked completely at home as they marched to a 74-51 win. Karl Kilbride’s team had seven players score six or more points and more significantly they absolutely stifled the Panthers offence. The home side turned the ball over 21 points and shot 0/17 from three. Kilbride has a group of guards who can rotate and put pressure on the ball all game. It’s just two games in but Liffey are definitely very impressive so far.
Both Wildcats and Brunell got their first wins of the season thanks to wins over Fr Mathews and Mystics respectively. Wildcats used prolific Irish offence to get their win as the Hickey sisters combined for 41, with Kate leading the way on 25. Fr Mathews got 20 from the ageless Grainne Dwyer but didn’t have enough depth in scoring to cause Wildcats trouble (losing 90-68). Brunell went a different route as American Trinity Hudson went for 49 points and 17 rebounds in their 104-48 demolition of Mystics. There were fears for Mystics before the season and they have only grown after this weekend. They have some good young talent, but they look completely overmatched and it could be a long season for the Galway side.
UCC Demons are one of the other winners of the weekend, as they went 2-0 against Marian and St Vincents. The Demons faithful won’t like that both were closer than hoped for, but wins are all that matter for Danny O’Mahony’s team. Killorglin will also come away as winners after a double home win over Sligo and Templeogue. Killorglin are 3-0, although they’ve had a nice schedule to start the year. Their trip to Eanna next weekend will tell us a bit more about them.Â
Neptune have started well going 2-0, although they will acknowledge having a home game as day 2 of the weekend, after a night off Saturday was a big advantage. They shot poorly from downtown in their win over Marian but they defended well overall and were deserving winners. Both Ballincollig and Sligo probably come away as minor winners of the weekend, picking up their first wins of the year, although Ballincollig will be disappointed that they let a chance for two wins slip as Sligo took the game from them on Sunday.
Both Vincents and Marian will be disappointed as they pushed good teams over the weekend but they both sit with Templeogue at the bottom with no wins from three games. The three Dublin teams are expected to be in a battle for relegation with two teams due to go down, so the only solace for them is that their competition haven’t won yet either. The other weekend loser is Belfast Star who move to 0-2 after an overtime loss in Ballincollig. Star looked stagnant and overly reliant on Tamyrik Fields at times at the weekend. Last year De’Ondre Jackson helped run the show and whether Star have the right American to compliment Fields is still to be seen. A rematch of last year’s dramatic playoff game with Demons next week will be a big test for Star as they try kickstart their season next weekend in Belfast.
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