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Interactive News by Email Hoopchat Frequently Asked Questions Wildcats crash to first loss while Crystal ascend to pole position
The game of the weekend was undoubtedly the much-hyped meeting of Tolka Rovers and Bausch & Lomb Wildcats at Tolka’s home gym in Glasnevin, won eventually by the Dubliners 86-79. The defending champions already had 2 defeats this season, and needed a win to keep their title hopes alive. A win for Wildcat would have almost certainly seen them on course for their 6th league title in seven years. In a game of outstanding team work and individual performances, the teams set the standard for both leagues, with almost flawless performances and crowd pleasing moves that will ensure packed houses for the two meeting in the second half of the season.
Elsewhere, a win for Waterford Crystal moves them into outright first spot in the Men’s league, with Big Al’s not in action this weekend, while defending champions Neptune suffered another away defeat in Dublin and O’Hagan Saints fall to their fourth successive defeat.
ESB Women’s League
University of Limerick 77 (OT)(69) (29) 79 (69) (40)AET Thorn Killester M Guiney 21 19 C Kissane C Fennell 15 15 L Grennell J Murphy 13 14 E Pierce THORN Killester surprised the home side with a strong first half seeing them lead by 9pts at the end of the first quarter. Killester continued to dominate during the second quarter with Carmel Kissane in particular in white-hot form and Leesa Grennell causing major problems for the Limerick defense and the visitors enjoyed an 11pt vantage going in at the break. But the second half was all UL as they fought back with an aggressive offence to cut Killester’s lead and some strong work by International Maire Guiney saw UL level the game at 69 apiece and force extra-time. It then took two periods of extra-time to find a winner, with Gillian Ennis eventually sealing the 2pts for the visitors with two free throws on the buzzer.
Tolka Rovers
86 (39) 79 (39) Bausch & Lomb Wildcats S Kelly 31 22 Jillian Hayes Suzanne Maguire 16 16 Catriona White Rachel Kelly 13 12 Olivia O’Reilly Over the past two seasons the encounters between these two sides have provided some of the best basketball being played in either of the leagues (men or women) and today did not disappoint. The second clash of the season between the league champions Tolka Rovers and Cup champions Bausch & Lomb Wildcats was without doubt the game of the weekend, and the season to date. Tolka had their usual slow start allowing Wildcats to dominate the first quarter and the visitors looked comfortable at the end of the first period, enjoying a 9pt lead. But Tolka came to life in the second quarter and good work from the two Kelly’s - Rachel and the on fire Sharon cut Wildcats lead to just 4pts with less than a minute to go in the half. With 10 seconds remaining, Tolka held possession with 2pts between the sides. Former Irish International Angie McNally coolly held the ball up at the point, letting the clock tick away. With 2 seconds on the clock she drove through the center before a sly back door pass set up the waiting Suzanne Maguire for a baseline shot on the buzzer that saw the sides go in level, 39 apiece at the break.
Orla Dempsey, who worked tirelessly under the boards for Wildcats, scored twice from inside in the first minute of the 2nd half to put Wildcats 43-41 in front, but Rachel Kelly answered this with two unanswered baskets to put Tolka 54-43 in front. Catriona White and Kim Fitzpatrick hit two successive three-pointers to put the visitors back in front 59-45 with 6.38 remaining in the quarter.
The lead changed hands with almost every offensive, as neither side could seem to miss. Jillian Hayes, who had an off game by her high standards, picked up her 3rd foul with five minutes to go, joining Dempsey in foul trouble.
Suzanne Maguire hit a three-pointer for Tolka; White answered her with another three for Wildcats at the other end. The third quarter had it’s fifth three-pointer seconds letter when Kim Fitzpatrick hit her second to put Wildcats 55-53 in front with 3.36 on the clock. But further baskets from Rachel Kelly for Tolka and Hayes for Wildcats saw the sides all square again at 59 apiece with 2 minutes to go. Catriona White missed two free throws to put her side in front, but a basket and 1 /2 at the line from Hayes gave Wildcats the narrowest of margins, 62-61 at the end of the 3rd, setting the stage for a dramatic fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was all Sharon Kelly’s as she dominated inside, tormenting the Wildcats defense. Jenny Coady opened the scoring for Wildcats with a baseline shot following a dump off from White. Two successive Wildcats turnovers saw Tolka take a 3pt lead 67-64 with 7.50 on the clock.
Sharon Kelly then began to exert her presence on the game with two successive baseline moves, which saw her leave the two Wildcats defenders on her completely flummoxed. Kelly pivoted left and right and dummied her opponents more than once before turning basket side to score two unanswered baskets and put her side 73-68 in front with just over five minutes on the clock.
Tolka then stepped up their defense forcing Wildcats into an uncharacteristic 24-second shot clock violation, but Trish Nolan scored a big three-pointer to keep her side in touch, Tolka still leading 73-71 with 4.59 on the clock.
Sharon Kelly hit four more points, 2 from the line to make it 77-71 with 4.22 remaining. Olivia O’Reilly came into the game for Jenny Coady and scored with her first touch of the ball to cut Tolka’s lead to 4pts. O’Reilly followed this up with a steal on the half way line to release Hayes who was fouled on the drive by McNally and duly scored her two free throws to make it a 2pt game again, 79-77 with 3.20 on the clock.
Catriona White leveled it again seconds later with a jump shot under pressure just inside the three-point line. Maguire put the home side in front again, and then Orla Dempsey missed two crucial free throws to tie the game with 1.32 on the clock.
Kim Fitzpatrick’s 3pt attempt hit the rim and fell into the waiting McNally’s hands, she set off Sharon Kelly on the break, but her basket was disallowed for travelling, leaving the score 81-79 with 1.10 on the clock.
Tolka pressure forced White to throw Fitzpatrick a long pass from the baseline which forced the Irish International give up possession through a back court violation and give Tolka possession on the half way line with 44 seconds on the clock.
Sharon Kelly extended the home team’s lead to 83-79 with 26 seconds remaining with another of her powerful baseline drives. McNally stole the ball on the half way line and was fouled by Catriona White; two more fouls followed as Wildcats tried to stop the clock, including an intentional foul on Catriona White with 10.3 seconds on the clock. Denise Walsh hit both of her free throws to make it 85-79, Sharon Kelly getting the last score of the game as she made 1 /2 seconds later to seal a valuable win for her side.
ESB Men’s League
THORN Killester 79 (36) 66 (33) O’Hagan Saints J Leahy 29 22 P Shuttlesworth E Jackson 18 13 D Edge A Fulton 8 12 D Donnelly O'Hagan Saints slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat with a disappointing 13pt loss to local rivals THORN Killester in the live TV game of the weekend. THORN Killester had a great opening quarter, with John Leahy and Adrian Fulton on fire, much as they were in the 3rd quarter against Crystal on Thursday. Game MVP Leahy in particular had a very strong first half with 12pts. Edge worked hard for Saints under the boards in the first half, but Saints finishing left a lot to be desired and Killester ended 26-17 in front at the end of the quarter.
Killester continued to dominate the start of the second quarter, running up a 32-20 lead, with Saints shooting well off mark. The introduction of Karl Donnelly saw Saints lift their game and Pierre Shuttlesworth leveled it at 32 apiece with 2.20 on the clock, but Leahy put Killester 36-33 in front at the half time break.
Saints started the 3rd quarter brightly and looked to be taking control of the game when Karl Donnelly went over on his ankle. The Saints and Na Fianna player had to be substituted with a suspected bad strain or ligament injury. Saints continued to play well for most of the 3rd quarter, Shuttlesworth giving Saints the first lead since the first quarter with 3.44 on the clock. Eric Jackson picked up his 4th call at this point and was substituted out of the game.
But rather than this hampering Killester, three-pointers from Fulton and Leahy gave them a 57-51 lead going into the final minutes of the quarter.Leahy continued to show his presence making the first basket of the game and following up with the bonus shot after he was fouled to make it a 9pt game and Killester went into the final quarter 67-56 in front.
It was game over at this stage, with Killester on form and Saints totally without shape. With three minutes remaining, Adrian Fulton dribbled the shot clock down to 9 seconds before releasing the ball to the waiting John Leahy for his 4th three of the game - a score that killed off any remaining fight in Saints.
Leahy was a deserved winner of the MVP with 8/10 2pt shots 4/7 3pt shots and 3/4 at the line. Stephen McGuirk still seemed hampered by his injury as he hit a disappointing 6pts in the game, and was 0/6 for 2pts shots and 2/9 from the three-point line.
Frosties Tigers 91 (42) 81 (28) Tolka Rovers R Leonard 31 32 J Fazande R Turner 26 11 N McCotter R Patterson 13 8 R Mounts A game which saw Tralee start well and stay on top throughout the game. The Kerry side was 16-10 up at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Tolka coach Owen McKeon picked up a technical foul for behaviour which saw him disqualified at half-time. Thus Tolka Rovers played their entire second half without a coach. This did Tolka no favours and they found themselves down 66-55 at the end of the third quarter. Ricardo Leonard had a superb game, scoring 14/14 from the free throw line. Liam McCotter played well for Tolka Rovers and with the help of Jay Fazande managed to bring the game within 4 points with three minutes on the clock. However, Tolka were unable to sustain the pace and Tralee took victory 91-81 at full time.
Tyrone Towers 97 (50) 90 (42) Gleneagle Killarney C Mason 38 35 W Maysfield J Turner 32 18 W Carty JL Supervia 16 10 S Horgan Towers dominated the first quarter with good boards by Jermaine Turner, Declan Treanor and Shane Treanor, giving them a 15 point lead at one stage. Towards the end of the quarter Killarney rallied through the forceful play of William Maysfield. In the second quarter Shane Horgan hit three quick baskets in a row, to put Tyrone ahead by two. Charles mason and Kieran Goodacre landed three pointers each to steady Dungannon and at the halfway math, the Northerners were ahead by 8pts, 50-42.
William Maysfield had an outstanding third quarter with a personal rally of 14pts, but good boards by Supervia, Mason and Turner kept Towers in the ascendancy, and at the end of the third quarter were up 69-62.
Jermaine Turner and Shane Horgan fouled out towards the end of the game. Towers controlled the last quarter when Killarney couldn’t cope with their one-man tactics, and were lucky not to be more than 7pts down at full time.
Burger King Limerick 102 (47) 91 (51) 24 Connect Star of the Sea C Brown 37 28 G Jackson L Barnes 15 24 K McFarland 19 G McGuire Both teams started well, the first quarter was basket for basket, with Limerick’s Cleotis Brown being particularly impressive. Brown scored two 3ptrs and managed 12 points in the first quarter, to leave Limerick ahead 27-24 at the end of that quarter. Second quarter saw some great offensive playing by both teams. Defense was poor, a reflection on the half time score 47-51. The end of the third quarter Star were up 73-71. Man marking of Cleotis Brown kept him out of the third quarter, but Limerick’s Bosman Walsh kept them in the game. Limerick managed incredible 31 points in the final quarter, with Brown back in the game and taking a couple of big baskets. With 54 seconds on the clock, Limerick were up 94-91, Star got a fast break, missed the lay-up and Limerick took the rebound to increase their lead to a final score of 102-91.
Abbey Foods Sligo 78 (39) 73 (46) Esat Business Demons C Holmes 25 24 J Wiley D Halbauer 19 19 T Carberry I McMorrow 13 12 S McCarthy Abbey Foods Sligo had to work hard to win by 5 points in this heart stopping game. Esat Business demons were ahead for the first three quarters of this game mainly due to the great work of Toby Carberry and Juan Wiley, and Mark Kennedy on the point. Sligo enjoyed a big height advantage and started off in man-to-man defense, which allowed the faster Demons side way, too much advantage. The switch to zone defense produced much better results for the home side as they began to limit the options for Demons. Sligo had great performances from their Irish players in particular Ian McMorrow who had 13 points for the game. Fergal Kelly was in superb form as he won rebounds at vital stages. Davor Halbauer hit three pointers in the closing stages and Sligo ran out winners in style.
Hibernian UCD Marian 101 (57) 98 (58) Neptune K Ward 22 26 C Watson C Akers 14 18 V Daly G Edge/ K Meaney 14 11 G Fitzgerald Game was basket for basket throughout, the first quarter finishing 25-28 in favour of Neptune. Neptune’s newest signing, Andy Meyers didn’t feature in the starting five, but had an impressive first performance for the defending champions. At the end of the third quarter Neptune led 79-78, and the final quarter was again basket for basket. With 28 seconds left on the clock Neptune, were down 98-96. Charrron Watson fouled Gary Edge and possession went to Marian. Seconds later, a foul by Stephen McCarthy sent Kevin Meaney to the free throw line. Meaney made the two to increase Marian’s lead 96-100. With 8 seconds to go, a Marian steal looked to increase their lead even further. A foul on Chris Akers sent him to the free throw line. Akers managed only the first basket, at which time their lead, 101-98 was enough to secure them a victory.
Waterford Crystal 100 (51) 84 (50) Burger King Limerick E Blair 49 26 C Brown M Norris 23 18 L Barnes S Massiah 12 11 G Fitzgerald After Limerick’s victory against Star of the Sea the evening before they couldn’t sustain the pace and went down to Waterford in what was a close game throughout. Waterford were up 22-21 after the first quarter and upheld their one point lead going into half time. The third quarter finished 76-72 to Waterford. Waterford stepped up the pace in the last quarter, to give them a comfortable 16 point victory. Eric Blair managed incredible 49 points and kept Cleotis Brown in control throughout the game.
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