National League

Mar 03 2024

St. Paul’s Killarney and iSecure Swords Thunder into final while Limerick Sport Eagles secure play-off berth

Lead Image Credit: iSecure Swords Thunder

St. Paul’s Killarney and iSecure Swords Thunder both secured their place in this season’s MissQuote.ie Division One Final following impressive home wins on Saturday, while Limerick Sport Eagles, Kavanagh’s Portlaoise Panthers and UCD Marian all recorded hugely significant InsureMyVan.ie Division One victories.

St. Paul’s Killarney ran out 75-58 winners over Templeogue in Presentation Gym on Saturday to book their spot in this season’s MissQuote.ie Division One Final.

Sixteen points apiece for Rheanne O’Shea, Khiarica Rasheed and Sofia Paska helped the Kerry side remain in control against a gritty Templeogue outfit, for whom Lynn Tunnah top-scored on 19.

“It was a great performance and we’re delighted with the win” said St. Paul’s Killarney head coach James Fleming.

“Our defence was excellent. We’ve worked hard over the last few weeks on it and the girls really implemented our game-plan against a very tough and well-drilled Templeogue” he added.

Now standing in their way of the title is an iSecure Swords Thunder team who earned their berth in the decider after they ran out 68-57 winners over Limerick Celtics in ALSAA.

https://t.co/lDZHntGfas Division One Northern Conference Champions 🏆@SwordsBball secured the @missquoteie Division One Northern Conference this evening following their win over Limerick Celtics!#BID1 | 📸 @SwordsBball pic.twitter.com/iav2mL6AFR
— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) March 2, 2024

Jensen Caretti was immense for the Dubliners as she bagged a huge 43 points and eight rebounds that went quite some way to seeing Swords establish an 18-point cushion by the half-time recess before then keeping their Limerick opponents at bay over the course of the second half.

"We’re delighted to make the league final and get the win over a tough Limerick Celtics team” smiled iSecure Swords Thunder head coach, Paul Carr.

“Jensen Caretti showed why she deserved ‘February Player of the Month’ with a monster performance on both ends of the court.

“There were a lot things that we weren't happy with in the second half that we need to clean up before the final” he admitted.

This season’s WNLC Cup went the way of Phoenix Rockets after they recorded a 68-63 triumph over Oblate Dynamos in Lisburn.

Powered by Alarie Mayze and Samantha Massey, who combined for 36 on the day, Oblate led by the narrowest of margins at the break, but the homeside edged the second half as Aaliyah Rice emerged with a game-high 22 points and combined with Jay Ashby and Georgie McGrath for 38 rebounds.

In the InsureMyVan.ie Division One, Limerick Sport Eagles held on for a nailbiting 102-99 triumph over SETU Carlow in UL Arena that helps guarantee them a play-off berth.

Limerick’s Sam Finley put up 23 points, while Ignacio Folgueiras and Kealan Coats each weighed in with 22 to help counter the huge 65 that Xabier Arriaga and Kevin Donohoe totalled for Carlow.

“We played very well for most of the game, but fell asleep on their shooter late on, which meant we nearly got caught on the line” admitted Limerick Sport Eagles head coach, Matt Hall.

“Any win against Carlow is a good result, so we’re delighted with that and hopefully we can keep this momentum at the business end of the season” he added.

Kavanagh’s Portlaoise Panthers went three points clear at the top of the North Conference thanks both to their 94-86 victory over Moy Tolka Rovers in St. Mary’s Hall and UCD Marian’s 106-86 success on the road against Drogheda Wolves.

Yet another tremendous performance by Ravel Moody rocketed the Laois side to their 14^th win of the campaign as he amassed 38 points along with eight rebounds and as many assists, while Kerry Richardson was not shy on offence either, contributing an impressive total of 33.

Significant runs in the first and fourth quarters helped see UCD Marian make it five league wins on the bounce as they earned a huge 106-86 victory on the road against Drogheda Wolves in Ballymakenny College.

No less than six players finished on double figures for the Belfield side, including Jonathan Jean, who drained all but one of his six efforts from the three-point line on his way to a total of 21, while Leonardo Marcon and Tobias Christensen supplemented that with 16 points apiece against a Drogheda side who, themselves, had four players in double digits.

“It was a very difficult and very physical game” said UCD Marian head coach, Ioannis Liapakis.

“We were ahead for the whole game and in the fourth quarter we did an amazing job defensively and offensively.

“We managed, in the end, to cover the nine-point loss we had from our first game [against Drogheda] and now we need to stay focused and continue playing like this for the coming weeks” he insisted.

South Conference leaders, Limerick Celtics fought back from 12 points down almost midway through the third quarter to earn a 97-91 overtime win against Joels Dublin Lions in Crescent College.

Da’kquan Davis served up a huge 41 points for the hosts, while Andrew Whistett weighed in with a further 18, along with 19 rebounds, as Limerick weathered a massive challenge from their Clondalkin rivals for whom Evan Blackmon and Brendan Trapper combined for 63 points.

Killarney Cougars chalked up only their second league victory of the season so far and it came in the form of a 93-82 derby win over Scotts Lakers Killarney in Killarney Sports & Leisure Centre.

While Braden Bell did chalk up 29 points for the hosts, Cougars managed to shackle the hugely influential Leondre Washington, confining him to 18, while Martin Hill and Darius Hopkins supplied them with a massive total of 64.

Timely second and fourth-quarter runs propelled Mater Private Malahide to a 90-73 victory away to Team NorthWest.

Christian Simmons again delivered impressively for the hosts with 31 points and 14 rebounds, but 22 points apiece by Matthew Harper, BB Chuks-Mady and Nino Hernandez went a long way to seeing Malahide return to winning ways following their loss to Kavanagh’s Portlaoise Panthers the week before.

Titans BC dealt a severe blow to SETU Waterford Vikings’ aspirations of a play-off berth after they produced big first and third-quarter surges to emerge 95-64 winners at home.