Killester have leapfrogged Ballincollig into second place in Basketball’s Men’s Superleague (both 11-5) after edging Ciarán O’Sullivan’s Cup winners 81-80 at MTU Arena on Monday.
Having lost to UCC Demons on Saturday, Killester needed a good performance, and they got one as they outlasted Ballincollig down the stretch. The home side had a chance to win it as Adrian O’Sullivan shot three free throws with just seconds remaining, but he made just one and Killester survived. Ballincollig won’t be overly concerned as they played both games this weekend without Latrell Jossell and to run Killester so close without him, as well as easily handle UCD Marian, is a testament to their depth. Killester as has been written for a number of weeks remain a team to watch for the playoffs. They are tough and experienced and once they get a run of games together, they could be hard to beat.
The Super League weekend couldn’t have gone worse for Neptune, as they saw rivals UCC Demons win both their games. Neptune had a nightmare as they went 22-4 down to Eanna in the first eight minutes on Saturday. Cian Heaphy then came on and almost immediately suffered a season-ending injury. It was so hard to see for a talented young player who just hasn’t been able to stay healthy for a run of games. Hopefully it’s not as bad as feared but given that Heaphy had to be brought away by ambulance and the game was abandoned, things don’t look good. That Eanna game will start again in the coming weeks with Eanna keeping their big lead. The emotion of that rough night carried into a home game Sunday in a potential relegation ‘six pointer’ as Neptune hosted Limerick Celtics.
Limerick got double digit scoring from six players as they scored 105 points in a 12-point win that was far more comfortable than the 105-93 scoreline suggests. Neptune got just two points from their home developed players, which has been the issue so far this season. They’ve struggled with having their top talents go to the States and not return to the club and they are paying the price for that at the moment. Speculation on Monday pointed to another coaching change, although I’m not sure it’s treating the cause of the team’s issues.
For weeks, we were wondering whether or not UCC Demons would find some flow and they’ve finally done that over the past two weekends, getting three important wins in a row. This weekend they beat Killester in Dublin (84-81), before topping UCD Marian in the Mardyke (100-86). Jordan Washington and Tamyrik Fields have both found their stride hitting 58 on Saturday and 42 on Sunday. Critically Demons got a big performance when they needed it from James Hannigan on Sunday (19), and the Cork side are now in the playoff spots looking up the table rather than back at the relegation zone. That can change again but if they can continue this good form over their tricky next three games, they could easily finish in the top half of the table which was unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
Belfast Star had two home games over the weekend and survived tests by the two Kerry sides. Killorglin were excellent on Saturday and pushed Star for the whole game before falling away in the final minutes, while Tralee (without Daniel Jokubaitis) also were in a tight game before being outscored 27-20 in the fourth to lose 84-78. League leaders Star (13-3) are tipping away nicely without overwhelming teams at the moment. Adrian Fulton will know he needs to prime his team to peak in just over one month’s time for the playoffs as they are almost assured of home court advantage and will likely be the top seeds. Their run of games leading into the playoffs will see them play the top teams over the past couple of seasons – Ballincollig, Eanna, Killester and Demons. So they’re set up nicely to be well tested by the time they need it in the playoffs.
Killorglin dealt St Vincent’s their second loss of the weekend on Monday, 81-78, despite making life more difficult than expected after leading by 15 in the first half. The win lifts Killorglin (5-10) off the basement and leaves Neptune (4-11) stranded alone on four wins. With a game against an out-of-sorts UCD Marian next week, followed by games against Sligo and Neptune, Killorglin will be hoping to be safe before the end of February. Sligo also beat Vincents 87-82 on Saturday, before losing narrowly at home to Eanna 88-78. Sligo are one win ahead of Neptune and now have two huge games coming up against Neptune and Killorglin. These ties will either create a huge logjam going into the final month of the season or create daylight between Neptune and the pack.
Hazel Finn was back and playing well with 21 points as Trinity Meteors shut down Liffey Celtics on their way to a 75-53 win in Trinity. Liffey have now had a prolonged cup hangover as they’ve struggled since losing the Cup final, and they will need to bounce back soon to get a good playoff position. Getting back to full strength will help as Aine O’Connor’s absence hurt them, especially as they struggle with depth at the best of times.
Brunell got an important win over Waterford Wildcats 85-80, while Glanmire showed their offensive firepower in a demolition of Portlaoise 112-56. Both teams are in the top six and are getting primed for a big say in the playoffs. The bigger question mark remains over Wildcats who are now 6-7 and are in a three-way tie with Cavan and Liffey Celtics. Waterford are similar to Liffey Celtics in many ways, that they have incredible Irish talent but just don’t have the depth that some of the top teams do this year. That said, Wildcats learned the hard way that seeding is irrelevant in the women’s playoffs as we saw last year, so they still have an opportunity to have a say on who wins this league.
