Trinity Meteors were crowned Women’s Division One champions in style yesterday afternoon in Leixlip as they ran out 80-65 point winners over Team Tom McCarthy’s St Mary’s of Castleisland in the league final.
The game certainly lived up to its billing, as the sides were neck-in-neck from the off with just one point separating the teams at the half. A huge start to the third quarter from St Mary’s saw them edge into the lead behind superb work from Emma Sherwood, Lorraine Scanlon and Denise Dunlea, but Meteors weren’t behind for long and, led by taliswoman Edel Thornton and superb performances from Lauren Grigsby and Sarah Kenny, they edged back into the lead by four points going into the last.
It was raining threes for the Dubliners as the final quarter got underway though, with Thornton and Grigsby both draining a number of key shots from outside the arc, and despite a superb comeback charge from St Mary’s, with Siofra O’Shea and Sherwood leading in superb fashion, it wasn’t to be, as Meteors became clinical on finishing and stormed home to league title glory and promotion back to the Women’s Super League with an 80-65 point win.
Speaking afterwards, Meteors’ Eimear Mairtin said: “It’s great to win. We’re delighted to get back up to the Super League. We lost the Cup this year, but it was all about consistency in the league for us and we only lost once in that, and that was against Castleisland. We knew this was going to be a tough game, so it’s nice to get the win and get back to where we wanted to be.”
Things are just as dramatic in the Men’s Super League this weekend, following another round of hotly-contested showdowns as the season entered its penultimate weekend. Conor Quinn was the hero for Belfast Star when he slotted home a game-winning half court shot to see them home to an 79-77 point win over Coughlan C&S Neptune to continue their chase at the top of the table.
Speaking afterwards, head coach Adrian Fulton said: “It’s incredible, obviously we are delighted to win the game, it wasn’t pretty. The first half we were very good, while in the second half, Neptune were terrific. Neptune are talented, and you look at their win/loss record and you think why are they in that position, I know they have lost a lot of games in dramatic fashion but none more than tonight.”
Neptune had a second game on Sunday as they travelled to Dublin to face DBS Éanna who took home victory, 98-88. Éanna were also coming into the clash off the back of another game on Saturday evening - which saw them win out over Moycullen in dramatic fashion in Galway, 81-82 - and in Dublin today, it was Stefan Zecevic and Marko Tomic who led the charge for the Dubliners, as they knocked down a huge 60 points between them to take the win.
Elsewhere, Garvey’s Tralee Warriors secured a routine home win over Abbey Seals Dublin Lions on Saturday evening, running out 96-54 victors. Warriors set the tone from early on, opening up a 51-29 point lead at the half, and drove on to victory in style from there. DCU Saints earned a solid 73-78 point away win over Maree Saturday afternoon, with Charlie Coombes and Michael Bonaparte in top form from the start to lead Saints to victory. Griffith College Templeogue also secured the win on Saturday evening in their Dublin derby with Pyrobel Killester, closing out strong to win 98-89, while neighbours, UCD Marian stood firm in the face of a tough challenge from Keanes Supervalu Killorglin in Kerry to win out 64-87.
Over in the Women’s Super League, champions DCU Mercy lost their final game of the season to Ambassador UCC Glanmire in a cracker in Cork, 69-65, on Sunday aftenroon. Mark Scannell’s charges were led by a dazzling display from Shrita Parker who hit 27 points, while Casey Grace and Tatum Neubert also caused trouble for the champions. Elsewhere, IT Carlow Basketball lost out to Maree on the road, 73-63, despite two strong displays from Kaitlyn Slagus and Alyssa Velles. A big push from Carlow in the second half kept Maree on their toes right down to the final buzzer, but the hosts had enough to push out to win.
Speaking afterwards, head coach Joe Shields said: “I’m happy with the win. We have had a fab season and wanted to finish the regular season with a victory in front of our own fans. Carlow made it tough for us and in Kaitlyn Slagus I think they have, if not the best then certainly one of the best American players in the league.”
Pyrobel Killester needed a big second half performance to hold off the test of Fr Mathews on Saturday evening in their 79-67 home win. Fr Mathews were led by a superb display from Grainne Dwyer, who finished the game with 27 points, but a quick second half regroup from Killester saw Mimi Clarke and Adella Randle El fire them home to victory. Leixlip Amenities Liffey Celtics were clinical in their final league game, winning out comfortably in the end, 89-62, over Marble City Hawks. Brianna Green, Karen Mealy and Kate O'Flaherty led the charge for the hosts to see them to victory. The final game of the weekend saw Singleton SuperValu Brunell and Maxol WIT Wildcats dish up an overtime thriller in Cork, with Wildcats just pulling through in the extra period, 73-77. Huge displays from Sinead O’Reilly and Aryn McClure kept Brunell in contention right the way through, but ultimately, the combined scoring power of Jasmine Walker, Stephanie O’Shea and Sinead Deegan for Waterford was enough to get them over the line.
