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ESB Women's Superleague
Tolka Rovers snatched the Irish women's Superleague title on Saturday, their celebrations sparked by U Limerick's stunning 65-67 win in Waterford which relegated Bausch & Lomb Wildcats to second place and left the Dubliners with the crown.
Wildcats came within one basket of winning the League prize but it was not to be. Their defeat by UL coupled with Tolka Rovers 56-94 victory over Glanmire sees the Dublin team take the title by the slimmest of margins. UL were worth their win with Michelle Aspel, former Wildcats star doing most to dent the host's aspirations with 26 points. Team mate Sinead Leahy was not far behind on 17 points and a suberb display of rebounding. UL led for most of the game only for Wildcats to claw their way back in the final quarter and go ahead by 3 points with less than two minutes on the clock. UL were not to be denied however and when Aspel was fouled on two occasions in the final minute she made no mistakes from the foul line.
Tolka Rovers had a comprehensive win of 38 points over this years struggling new comers Glanmire. Having had a jittery start the girls from Tolka found their rhythm and started to score at will, finishing the season with one of their biggest scores to win the league.
Dart Killester 57 (32) E Pierce 17, C Kissane 10, G Ennis 10
Sasha Meteors 69 (37) K Hennessey 18, E Bradley 18, N Furey 9B&L Wildcats 65 (28) C white 21, M Maguire 15, O O'Reilly 13
University of Limerick 67 (37) M Aspell 26, S Leahy 17, N Mulally 7Glanmire 56 (27) SJ O'Connell 12, C Lynch 8, D Walsh 8
Tolka Rovers 94 (46) S McDade 25, R Kelly 18, N O'Brien 17
ESB Men's Superleague
Dart Killester v Gleneagle LakersReigning league champions kept their title ambitions alive by seeing off a brave challenge from Gleneagle Lakers in the INEC Killarney last Saturday night. The Lakers welcomed back Billy Gilligan for this tie but lined out without Cormac O' Donoghue and Vince Daly while Dart Killester were minus Jerome Westbrooks. Killester dominated the opening exchanges and with Paddy Kelly and Damien Sealy leading the way, the Dubliners led 17-9 midway through the first quarter.
They maintained that advantage to lead 26-17 at the end of the quarter.Americans Eric Jackson and Chris Davis kept Killester firmly in control but Gleneagle gradually began to claw back the deficit and Billy Gilligan reduced it to 41-34 with threee minutes left in the half. The Lakers finished the half with further baskets from Shane Horgan, Mario Horton and
Gilligan to cut the gap to 44-42 at the interval. The Killarney side were level within a minute of the restart when Billy Gilligan stole the ball out of Damien Sealy's hands and ran the length of
the court to convert a basket. The Lakers then went 48-44 in front with further scores from Gilligan and Horgan but two baskets from Jackson had the sides level at 48 each with 6:30 left in the quarter. Mario Horton pushed the Lakers 52-48 ahead but Jonathan Grennell and Chris Davis levelled it at 52 each midway through the quarter. It was basket for basket until a John Quigley's three-pointer and Paddy Kelly's free throw pushed Killester 62-58 in front with 57 seconds left. Kelly then picked up his fourth foul while late baskets from John Griffin and Billy Gilligan levelled matters at 62 each at the end of the third quarter.Dart Killester started the final quarter without Kelly, Sealy and Davis but it didn't effect them as a three from Quigley and baskets from Jackson and Dermot Kavanagh pushed them 69-62 ahead after 90 seconds. Jackson and Gilligan traded three-pointers but further scores from Jackson and another three from Quigley had Dart leading 79-66 with 6:20 remaining.
Sealy and Davis returned to the fray but a brace of three pointers from Brian Clarke followed by another big three from Mario Horton brought the Lakers right back into contention to trail 79-75 with 4:16 left. Paddy Kelly then returned to the action but fouled out almost immediately. A technical foul on Brian Clarke was a fatal blow to the Lakers as Sealy converted the resultant shot to give Dart a 80-75 lead with 3:43 left. However a massive three-pointer from Gilligan reduced it to 80-78 with 3:07 remaining. Quigley and Jackson kept Dart in control to lead 84-78 with 2:20
left. They still led by six points,88-82, with 30 seconds left as Gilligan reduced it again. Sealy and Jackson were automatic from the free throw line to give Killester a 92-86 lead with just 10 seconds remaining. A late three-pointer from Andre McCloud cut the gap to three points but time ran
out for the Lakers and Killester held on to secure the victory.Esat Business Demons v Hibernian UCD Marian
Esat Business Demons put on a great defensive performance against UCD Marian, keeping American Torian Richards to 2 points for the duration of the game. Demons started well and led for the entire game with John Estick commanding the boards throughout. Coach Pat Price decided earlier last week not to replace the injured Mike Beckles for the clash and so Demons played
with one American this weekend. It is yet unknown if Beckles will be fit for the Killester clash next weekend.St Vincent's v Frosties Tigers
St Vincent's provided the shock in the men's Superleague with a 4-point defeat over League title contenders Frosties Tigers. The 100-96 defeat will make a considerable dent in Tralee's hopes, after Waterford Crystal picked up another victory this weekend.Tralee Tigers led for most of the game, up 24-20 at the end of the first quarter and stretching the lead to 48-43 at half time. Mike Trimmer had an excellent game for Vincent's and reduced the game to 1-point, going into the final quarter 70-69. Vincent's picked up their game in the closing period to rob Tralee of the valuable points.
Burgerking Limerick 94 (46) C Brown 36, BJ McFarland 21
Big Al's Notre Dame 91 (48) A Jenkins 27, B Hughes 26, S Camera 20Waterford Crystal 88 (41) M Keohane 25, J Singleton 21, R Gorman 13
Abbey Foods Sligo 60 (28) (G Burston 23, M Woodson 16, Y Fontenau 9Tolka Rovers 70 (M Quill 21, L McMillan 14)
Sx3 Star 88 (J Leahy 31, M Dixon 18)Tyrone Towers 101 (S Howard 42, M Hand 18)
Neptune 121 (C Watson 49, K Gamble 35)Gleneagle Lakers 89 (42) B Gilligan 37, M Horton 19, J Griffin 11
Dart Killester 92 (44) E Jackson, P Kelly 16, D Sealy 14Sx3 Star 98 (58) G Maguire 30, M Dixon 17, J Leahy 12
Tyrone Towers 91 (46) S Howard 48Esat Business Demons 66 (31) J Estick 19, S Coughlan 17, S McCarthy 15
Hibernian UCD Marian 48 (26) P Shuttlesworth 17, P Glover 12, N Charles 7St Vincent's 100 (43) C Dickerson 29, M Trimmer 22, M Richardson 21
Frosties Tigers 96 (48) B Craddock 26, K McFarland 22, J Turner 21
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