Grainne Dwyer was in stunning form for Fr Mathews yesterday to see her side home to a thrilling 83-70 point overtime win over Courtyard Liffey Celtics to be crowned Basketball Ireland Women’s Champions Trophy champions.
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) April 15, 2019
An incredible 31-point display from Grainne Dwyer was the spark behind the historic win for the club, as she drove the side forward from the off, finishing on 20 points by the end of the first half, and was the one who hit an enormous three-pointer to tie the game at 66 points apiece on the buzzer to send the game to overtime. Her sister Niamh Dwyer took over in overtime, driving up seven early points for her side to put a bit of space on the scoreboard and they drove on to glory from there.
Speaking about her buzzer beating three that tied the game, Dwyer admitted, “I don’t know how that went in! It’s been an amazing season,” she continued.
“It’s been a rollercoaster for us. The reason we’ve played so good for the last few weeks is that you have to fail to win and we failed miserably at Christmas and this is the icing on the cake for that.”
Over in the Men’s Champions Trophy final, it proved to be third time’s the charm for Templeogue as they got their hands on the Champions Trophy for the first time in the club’s history. The Dubliners had lost this final the past two years in a row, and they were certainly determined not to do so again today, running out 77-62 point winner over Belfast Star.
Star came into the game without the services of leading scorer in the league, Mike Davis, but they certainly put up a monster fight against Templeogue, with Sergio Vidal Baldovi and CJ Fulton driving the side forward at every turn. A close three quarters saw Templeogue have the better of proceedings going into the fourth, but Star were not giving up without a fight and a steal by Fulton led to a Paddy McGaharan layup to take the roof off DCU as the game was suddenly tied with just five minutes to go. Rather than worry Templeogue, that run by Star seemed to wake the sleeping giant and they responded with a game defining 16-2 run and drove home to victory.
In the Men’s Division One League Cup final Tradehouse Central Ballincollig put on a shooting masterclass against Abbey Seals Dublin Lions to be crowned Men’s Division One League Cup champions on a final scoreline of 90-67.
A stunning 38-point display from Andre Nation was just one shining spark in an all-round superb team performance, as Nation, along with Ian McLoughlin, Ciaran O’Sullivan and Jack Kelly impressed from the off. Lions had solid displays from Conroy Baltimore, Igor Markiewicz and Muhamed Sabic but it just wasn’t enough in the face of an extremely in-form Ballincollig.
Maree women’s team meanwhile finished off an incredible 2018/19 season unbeaten this afternoon, as they picked up their fifth title of the season when they overcame Ulster University Elks 73-65 to be crowned Women’s D1 League Cup champions. The talented Galway side, who had already earned promotion to the Women’s Super League for next season, rounded off an incredible 24-game unbeaten streak this afternoon, and were lead by a superb 31-point game from MVP Claire Rockall in a dazzling performance from the Irish international. Indeed, Rockall had a super supporting cast in Dayna Finn, Maggie Byrne, Carol McCarthy and Catherine Connaire, and they held off a strong Elks side to see home a memorable win.
