St. Paul’s Killarney secure promotion to MissQuote.ie Super League

MVP Khiarica Rasheed starred as St. Paul’s Killarney secured their place next season’s MissQuote.ie Super League and got their hands on the Division One trophy following their comfortable 71-48 win against iSecure Swords Thunder in the MissQuote.ie Division One final at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday. 

 MVP Rasheed in action for St. Paul's Killarney at the National Basketball Arena

St. Paul’s Killarney set the tone early into the first quarter through Sofia Paska, who racked up six consecutive points, iSecure Swords Thunder fought back well, and took the lead through Jasmine Walker although St. Paul’s Killarney quickly took the driving seat once again, maintaining a lead throughout the game from thereon and took a 14-9 lead into the second quarter.

St. Paul’s Killarney further established their lead, with ex-Glanmire player Rasheed continuing to impress for the the Killarney outfit as she added six points to her tally, while Jensen Caretti led the charge for her side with seven in an attempted comeback, although iSecure Swords Thunder trailed 37-25 at half-time. 

St. Paul's Killarney looking strong going into the 3rd quarter 💪

St. Paul's Killarney 37-28 iSecure Swords Thunder#BID1 | @missquoteie pic.twitter.com/NzeJomFloY

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) March 9, 2024

Another period of dominance from St. Paul’s Killarney saw them build on their advantage further – with no small thanks to Rasheed and Lorraine Scanlon, who contributed 10 points across the quarter to help establish a 19 point lead for St. Paul’s Killarney who were 51-32 ahead after the third.

St. Paul’s Killarney weren’t to be caught and would secure a 71-48 win and a place in next season’s MissQuote.ie Super League.

 St. Paul's Killarney head coach James Fleming

St. Paul’s Killarney Head Coach James Fleming was impressed with his side’s defence, “From start to finish today we were really zoned in, a super team performance defensively, offensively maybe not as good as we should’ve been, but I thought when we needed big shots our big players stepped up.” 

St. Paul’s Killarney captain Lynn Jones added “We got out of the blocks fast, we found our rhythm early and we built up a lead towards the start of the second quarter and we pushed on from there.”

A recap of yesterday's celebrations following St. Paul's Killarney's win over iSecure Swords Thunder to secure promotion to the https://t.co/lDZHntGfas Super League👇#BID1 | @missquoteie pic.twitter.com/VoluZm1ocr

— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) March 10, 2024

iSecure Swords Thunder will have a second opportunity to gain promotion to the MissQuote.ie Super League via the MissQuote.ie Division One play-offs.

St. Paul’s Killarney:

Liadh Tobin, Leah McMahon, Rheanne O’Shea, Lynn Jones, Niamh O’Connor, Aisling O’Mahony, Denise Dunlea, Lorraine Scanlon, Cliona Coffey, Meabh Barry, Khiarica Rasheed, Sofia Paska.

Top Scorers: Sofia Paska (23), Khiarica Rasheed (18), Lorraine Scanlon (13)

iSecure Swords Thunder:

Megan Connolly, Zara Troy, Megan Howe, Zoe Egan, Kate Kelly, Aoife O’Connell, Jasmine Walker, Peggy Black, Aisling Sullivan, Laura Fortune, Jensen Caretti, Tia Kelly.

Top Scorers: Jensen Caretti (19), Jasmine Walker (10), Kate Kelly (6)

MVP: Khiarica Rasheed (iSecure Swords Thunder)