By David Naughton
Maree won bragging rights in the second Galway derby of the season as they were 86-79 victors over Moycullen in Calasanctius on Saturday.
Despite getting off to a strong start through Patrick Lyons and Paul Kelly, Moycullen couldn’t maintain it and faced big difficulties with Maree’s American, Sean Sellers, who finished the game on a whopping 31 points in a superb display.
After the game, Maree head coach Mike Lynch said, “We really had to capitalise on what we work on in training. I feel we lose focus for a certain period of time but we used the bench until we found a fluid motion that saw us out in the end.”
Maree Women’s Division One team remain unbeaten this weekend after they stormed home to a comprehensive 97-46 point win over UL Huskies at home on Saturday evening. Big performances from Dayna Finn and Claire Rockall were the talking points of the game ahead of the team’s Cup semi-final clash next weekend.
Elsewhere, Gamefootage.net Titans lost out on the road 95-70 to Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney in a tough test of the cross conference fixtures. Tom Rivard was once more the stand-out player for the Galway side.
Elsewhere
Templeogue lead the way at the top of the Men’s Super League after a thrilling 81-83 point victory over Belfast Star.
It was Star’s second game of the weekend having overcome Pyrobel Killester in nail-biting (92-88) fashion on Saturday evening as part of an action-packed two days of top of the table action. Sunday’s game saw them stage a late comeback against the Dubliners to see the game in the melting pot right up until the final buzzer, with Neil Randolph and Stephen James getting some crucial scores at the death for Templeogue to send them home to victory. Templeogue’s American, Dee Proby, was also one of the standouts on the day, finishing the clash with 21 points. Speaking afterwards, Templeogue head coach Mark Keenan said: “It was such an intense battle. We had a ten-point lead but Star fought until the end and I’m just relieved that we came out on the right side.”
Elsewhere, it was derby weekend around the remainder of the Men’s Super League with C and S Neptune getting the big result of the weekend, edging UCC Demons 88-91 in a hotly-contested clash at the Mardyke Arena. Neptune boss, Paul Kelleher reflected, “This is a fixture that Cork basketball and the Men’s Super League needs and it’s good to see people coming out and giving us the support we need on a Friday night.”
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors meanwhile came out 68-77 point victors over local rivals Keane’s SuperValu Killorglin in a big Kerry derby that truly lived up to its billing. Tralee’s Jordan Evans top-scored with 18 points in an excellent all-round performance. The last derby of the weekend saw DCU Saints run out 76-71 point winners over UCD Marian with Kevin O’Hanlon having a standout game for DCU, scoring 21 points as the north siders weathered the storm of their south side counterparts.
Over in the Women’s Super League, Courtyard Liffey Celtics got 2019 off to a bang as they maintained their unbeaten run with a 65-73 win over Maxol WIT Wildcats. Allie LeClaire led the scoring for Celtics with 28 points in an extremely close affair, with the visitors just managing to stretch the lead out in the fourth. DCU Mercy also continued their impressive winning streak, defeating IT Carlow Basketball 39-65 on the road on Saturday to keep the pressure on Liffey Celtics at the top of the table. Sarah Woods top-scored for the Dubliners with 19 points as they controlled the game from start to finish.
Indeed it was wins all round for the Cork teams, as a 21-point display from Aine McKenna helped Ambassador UCC Glanmire home to a 58-79 point victory over Marble City Hawks on the road, while Singleton SuperValu Brunell defeated Pyrobel Killester, 72-66, in a fast-paced and competitive game at the Parochial Hall on Sunday. Linda Rubene top-scoring the hosts home to victory.
In the Men’s Division One meanwhile, the big upset of the weekend saw Tradehouse Central Ballincollig suffer their first defeat of the season when they lost out 85-96 at home to KUBS in the first cross conference game of the season. A whopping 44 points from Elijah Tillman for KUBS proved the difference on the night.
Basketball Ireland Results: January 4-6th, 2019
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
UCC Demons 88-91 C and S Neptune
Belfast Star 92-88 Pyrobel Killester
DCU Saints 76-71 UCD Marian
Keane’s Supervalu Killorglin 68-77 Garvey’s Tralee Warriors
Maree 86-79 Moycullen
Belfast Star 81-83 Templeogue
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
IT Carlow Basketball 39-65 DCU Mercy
NUIG Mystics 51-68 Fr Mathews
Marble City Hawks 58-79 Ambassador UCC Glanmire
Maxol WIT Wildcats 65-73 Courtyard Liffey Celtics
Singleton SuperValu Brunell 72-66 Pyrobel Killester
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
IT Carlow Basketball 67-74 EJ Sligo All-Stars
Tradehouse Central Ballincollig 85-96 KUBS BC
Limerick Celtics 58-90 DBS Eanna
LIT 66-91 Abbey Seals Dublin Lions
UL Sports Eagles 72-89 Bad Bobs Tolka Rovers
Waterford Vikings 77-51 Ulster University Elks
Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney 95-70 Gamefootage.net Titans
Portlaoise Panthers 95-78 LYIT Donegal
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Limerick Celtics 47-71 Phoenix Rockets
Maree 97-46 UL Huskies
Swords Thunder 54-71 Trinity Meteors
Team Tom McCarthys St Mary’s 65-69 Portlaoise Panthers
Fabplus North West 62-88 Ulster University Elks
Basketball Ireland Detailed Results: January 4-6th, 2019
Basketball Ireland Men’s Super League:
Maree 86-79 Moycullen
Top scorers Maree: Sean Sellers 31, Niels Bunschoten 19, Paul Freeman 12
Top scorers Moycullen: Patrick Lyons 16, Paul Kelly 14, Isaiah Harris-Winn 13
Half time score: Maree 46-49 Moycullen
Basketball Ireland Women’s Super League:
NUIG Mystics 51-68 Fr Mathews
Top scorers NUIG Mystics: Ailish O’Reilly 21, Amy Hasenauer 10, Kayla Morrissey 9
Top scorers Fr Mathews: Niamh Dwyer 16, Grainne Dwyer 14, Shannon Brady 12
Half time score: NUIG Mystics 29-35 Fr Mathews
Basketball Ireland Men’s Division One:
Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney 95-70 Gamefootage.net Titans
Top scorers Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney: Mark Greene 22, Papito Hersisia 21, Sean O Brien 17
Top scorers Gamefootage.net Titans: Tom Rivard 30, Ben Kelly 14, Kelvin Atu 8
Half time score: Scotts Lakers St Paul’s Killarney 46-30 Gamefootage.net Titans
Basketball Ireland Women’s Division One:
Maree 97-46 UL Huskies
Top scorers Maree: Dayna Finn 21, Claire Rockall 18, Catherine Connaire 16
Top scorers UL Huskies: Abbey Jeffrey 15, Abbie Goodsell 8, Kate Whelan 8
Half time score: Maree 54-21 UL Huskies
Basketball Ireland Fixtures: January 11-13th 2019
HULA HOOPS NATIONAL CUP SEMI-FINALS 2019
Saturday, January 12th, 2019 – Neptune Stadium
Hula Hoops Women’s Division One National Cup Semi-Final
Maree v Swords Thunder, 16.00
Sunday, January 13th, 2019 – Neptune Stadium
Hula Hoops Under 18 National Cup semi-final
Moycullen v Dublin Lions, 13.00
Hula Hoops Men’s NICC National Cup semi-final
Glasnevin v Presentation College Athenry, 15.00
