Basketball round-up: Vincents get critical win over Killorglin, Demons survive Templeogue scare
CRITICAL WIN: St Vincents guard Samuel Henderson protects the ball. Picture: David Creedon
When Isiah Gaiter missed his first free throw with five seconds left in regulation, it looked like an amazing chance to win would slip through Vincent’s hands, but they rescued it with a brilliant overtime to earn a well-deserved win.
JaRon Thames has been a consistent scorer all season for Vincents and the American delivered again with 37 points in the win. Vincents are now tied on four wins with Templeogue but have two games in hand.Â
Next week, they host Maree and Marian in Glasnevin before welcoming Neptune a week later. One win out of those three could be enough, and two would likely secure their survival.
Killorglin's loss is their fourth loss in overtime this year, and they are now running out of time to secure a playoff spot.
They face a Kerry derby next and need wins as soon as possible to get into the top eight.
Waterford Wildcats beat Killester thanks to a last-second Ashia McCalla three-pointer. McCalla had already come up hero at the end of regulation when she stole a Killester inbound pass and hit two free throws to get the game to Overtime.
Wildcats showed great resolve to get to overtime but will be thankful that they didn’t shoot themselves out of the game as they shot forty threes in the game, connecting on just nine.
What matters most is that they won the game and in beating both Killester and Meteors over one weekend, shows the measure of where this team currently are.
As they develop momentum towards the playoffs, excitement has to be growing that this team is capable of winning it all.
UCD Marian have impressed with another double-win week after beating Killester in the IWA on Wednesday 114-100 before returning to UCD and beating Maree 106-97.
On their return to the Super League, the Dublin side were expected by many to be in a relegation battle, but they’ve exceeded expectations.
The signing of Lovre Tvrdic has been a big part of that as the Croatian showed again on Saturday night scoring 48 points in the win over his old team Maree.
Tvrdic averaged 16.6 points a game last year for Killorglin but he’s taken that up to 22.6 this season as he forms a dynamic backcourt with Jon Jean. Marian still have a long way to go but the building blocks are there for a promising future.
Demons almost paid the price for underestimating Templeogue in the Parochial Hall before a late surge saw them secure a key win.
In a week where Killester had lost already, losing would have been a disaster for Demons but thanks to some big contributions from their bench they got over the line.
Templeogue will be disappointed, but this wasn’t a game they would have pencilled in as a potential win. Sam Henderson continued his great play since signing as he scored 36 points, and caused Demons issues all day.
The schedule isn’t kind for Templeogue in their last four games, but they are competing in a way that they hadn’t for much of the year. Although they hold the head-to-head against Vincents they likely need one more win to survive.
Sean Jenkins sees Belfast Star and it’s almost red to a bull as he regularly delivers against the northern side.
Earlier this year there was bad blood after an Eanna win, and Jenkins was a thorn in Star’s side again scoring 14 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as Eanna came from behind to win 81-76.
That 26-17 fourth quarter was the different as Jenkins 3 three-pointers proved the difference. Eanna are right there with UCD and Ballincollig battling for the fourth spot currently and the defending Champions will feel that, if they can build momentum over the next month, they can make another run.
Star host Killorglin in their next game and a win could be crucial in their attempt to secure a playoff spot.
Del Jane Williams was the standout performer as Glanmire topped Fr Mathews in a low scoring 67-56 win. Williams scored 26 as many of the other top names underperformed.
Glanmire are 7-7 and will worry some of the top teams when it gets to the playoffs, given their experience and the ability of Williams and Callie Cavanaugh.
They may not have had the same show as we’ve come to expect in The Complex, but Tralee’s new home in MTU still gave them home-court advantage as they raced out to a 20-point first-quarter lead over Sligo and never looked back winning 103-70.
Tralee’s blip earlier in the season is a distant memory, and we’ll see now if they can build momentum for the playoffs. Their team is settled, and they will be tough to beat if they can fire on all cylinders.
I have sympathy for Sligo who had to travel to Cork on Wednesday night and Tralee then on Saturday.
They split those two games but were never in contention against Tralee. Sligo have winnable games to close out the season and should be a playoff team if results go as expected over the next month.
Liffey Celtics bounced back from their loss to Wildcats with a good road win in Cork.
Alex Navarette had a day to forget against Wildcats scoring just two points, but she rebounded well with a brilliant 29-point performance on Sunday. Liffey won the physicality battle and as a result, got to the line more often and were dominant on the boards.
Liffey looked set to be the 2nd seed in the playoffs and if their post-Cup blip is the motivating factor Karl Kilbride needed to have his team lock in, then there’s a huge opportunity ahead for this talented team.
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