Basketball round-up: St Vincent’s stun Ballincollig for a second time
Keelan Cairns calls on the supporters to make some noise for Ballincollig. Pic: Larry Cummins.
Ballincollig’s winning streak ended on 13 as St Vincent’s stunned the league leaders for the second time this season, 86-85.
Going to Glasnevin the week before the Cup final and facing a team who had already beaten them this year was never going to be straightforward.
It is not an easy gym to go to at the best of times, and with one eye undoubtedly on the Arena, there was always the chance of a slip up. What was surprising in one way, was that Ballincollig did enough to win this game and were leading by eight with just over 90 seconds to go and let it slip.
In all three losses this year, Ballincollig have led in the fourth quarter and let the game slip through their hands. It may come across as nitpicking for a team that has won so many games, but it’s been written about already that Ballincollig have a bad habit of tightening up late in games.
Vincent’s deserve credit for another big win, as they seemed surprised themselves that they managed to win the game from the position they were in.
For Ballincollig the pressure of the streak is gone, and this will undoubtedly be turned into a positive restart ahead of the cup next week.
Similar to Ballincollig, a trip to UCD wasn’t ideal after beating them last week in Cork. This week’s game was a great back and forth battle, with Tralee less dominant physically on the boards as they had been the previous week.
John Dowling will be delighted in the way his team dug out the win especially with Daniel Jokibaitis quieter than normal. Irshaad Hunte was brilliant scoring 27 to go with 15 rebounds and he caused Marian issues all game, while Jordan Perkins came up with a number of big shots especially down the stretch.
Tralee will know they need to tidy up their turnovers, they had 19 in the game, but their aggressiveness saw them balance that with a massive 35 free throws.
What could have been a hiccup instead turned into a huge positive for Tralee, and they are building momentum ahead of the final next week.
Glanmire avenged last weekend’s semi final loss to Killester with an 86-71 win in Cork.
Killester were flat with many of their experienced core struggling to score. Last weekend Killester scored 77 so it wasn’t a major difference offensively, the big variance was on Glanmire’s offensive end.
They shot brilliantly on Sunday hitting 14/30 from downtown, compared to just 7/32 the weekend before. Viane Cumber and Jewel Watkins were brilliant with 26 a piece but this time it was Glanmire’s support cast who contributed more scoring than their Killester counterparts.
Killester have now lost two league games in a row and will be wondering if the cup has arrived at the wrong time or is the opportunity to avenge last year’s cup loss to a very familiar foe is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Demons are tied with Neptune again on three wins and critically are now just one game off Killorglin and hold the head-to-head against the Kerry side.
Killorglin had another new American in, with Pearse Unlacke the third American this year to try and fill the void inside for the Kerry side. The Kerry side still didn’t deliver though, as their guard play just doesn’t create enough problems for opposing teams.
As much as the focus has been on Americans for Demons for much of the year, it was their Irish cohort who won this game for them with James Hannigan breaking out of his slump with 19, while Daryl Cuff added 19 of his own too.
It’s fitting that in a do or die game for Demons, neither of their Americans ended up playing even 20 minutes, as the home core delivered in style. Killorglin don’t have that luxury with Irish depth and they will now have to wonder if they are fully in a relegation battle themselves.
For a team that started the year 2-0 they have now won just two of their last eleven games in all competitions and they have gotten worse as the year has gone on.
Liffey Celtics continued to build momentum with an important win over Wildcats 90-85. The Kildare side got 20 points out of three different players with both Americans scoring well, and Katie Williamson stepping up again.
Williamson is the team’s x-factor for me, she has been brilliant in recent weeks as she’s finally settled into the league after a number of years in the States. Liffey are steadily climbing the league table and will be excited for a huge opportunity next week against Killester in the Arena.
For Wildcats, the scoring was there but to get outrebounded like they did (35-21), including giving up 14 offensive rebounds, just can’t happen.
Killester got revenge for earlier in the year, with an 82-76 win in Rathfarnham. Killester did a great job on Kiki Andabaka and Stefan Desnica who both struggled to score and with no Sean Jenkins, Eanna just didn’t have the firepower to get it done down the stretch.
Killester showed what they are capable of especially with their full group together. Paul Dick was back with 22 points, while Andy McGeever also had a breakout performance with 21 points.
With Matt McGrath also chipping in 14, Killester had 57 from their core Irish players which will get them over the line against most teams in the league.
Limerick Celtics don’t deserve to be in a relegation battle and their big win over Sligo will help ensure that doesn’t happen. Sligo were without both Americans, which is likely a sign of changes on the way out west.
Incredibly Sligo gave up 39 points in the first quarter and 71 in the first half, as they never got a hold over Limerick who were excellent and had four Irish players with eight or more points and seven players all contributing in a big way offensively.
Sligo on the other hand were shorthanded and although they got good scoring, this game was over well before the end. Sligo are only one game off the bottom two teams themselves, and those changes are likely necessary to change their fortunes.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
