National League

Mar 16 2024

UCD Marian clinch top spot in North Conference while iSecure Swords Thunder reach last four of League Trophy

An impressive 91-73 home victory over Kavanagh’s Portlaoise Panthers saw UCD Marian clinch top spot in the InsureMyVan.ie Division One North Conference on the closing night of the regular season, while in the last eight of the MissQuote.ie Division One League Trophy, iSecure Swords Thunder earned a convincing 79-45 triumph over Moy Tolka Rovers in ALSAA.

UCD Marian secured Number One seed in the InsureMyVan.ie Division One North Conference following their 91-73 victory at home against Kavanagh’s Portlaoise Panthers on Saturday night.

UCD Marian, Drogheda Wolves and Portlaoise Panthers are all still in the hunt for home court advantage in the @InsureMyVan_ie Division One Playoffs 🤩

Their path to promotion becomes clear later this evening on https://t.co/HqBGMOAjRW 📺#BID1 | #BITV
— Basketball Ireland (@BballIrl) March 16, 2024

A combined 42 points from Jonathan Jean and Sasha French, together with the 14 rebounds that Tobias Christensen soaked up, went a long way to seeing UCD avenge their last reversal in the league back in January against Portlaoise, who were unable to capitalise on the big performance that David McEvoy (25 points) served up this time around.

“We couldn't be happier at finishing at the top of the National League” said Ioannis Liapakis, head coach of UCD Marian.

 UCD Marian Head Coach, Ioannis Liapakis

“It was an extremely physical game, but we managed to take full control of it, and all the credit goes to our players for their phenomenal defensive performance which was key, not only for this win, but for the whole season” he said.

Despite Tiago Dos Santos Pereira and Darren Townes totalling 61 points for Drogheda Wolves, the Louth side missed out on a home quarter-final in the play-offs after they were edged 102-99 away to Killarney Cougars in Presentation Gym.

The visitors had opened up a nine-point lead early in the second quarter, but were left reeling by the huge 37 points that Killarney managed to card in the third quarter alone, Martin Hill and Darius Hopkins each netting 11 in that period on their way to a combined 62 on the night.

South Conference champions, Limerick Celtics dished out a 116-83 defeat to SETU Waterford Vikings in Crescent College.

While Idris Joyner chalked up a massive 42 points and 17 rebounds for the visitors on the night, Da’kquan Davis was also in ruthless form for Limerick, amassing 37 points while Andrew Whistett supplied a further 22.

In what was only their fourth win of the campaign, Titans BC earned a big 89-81 success on the road against Limerick Sport Eagles in UL Arena.

Deontae Robertson led the charge for the Galway side by way of his huge 29 points and 15 rebounds as Titans boasted four players on double figures by the close of proceedings against a play-off bound Limerick outfit, for whom Sam Finley also put up 29.

Scotts Lakers Killarney arrested a run of three straight defeats after they recorded an 89-83 victory over SETU Carlow in Killarney Sports & Leisure Centre.

 Both Scott's Lakers Killarney and St. Paul's Killarney players at the National League launch in September

Trailing by 13 at almost the midway point in the second quarter, the homeside stormed back thanks in no small measure to the 33 points that Leondre Washington put up in the face of the combined 46 that Michael Wallace and Kevin Donohue bagged for Carlow.

A much improved second-half performance, in which they outgunned their opponents by 14, saw Moy Tolka Rovers dig out a 78-72 home win over Team NorthWest.

Inspired by the 37 points and 10 rebounds that Christian Simmons contributed that evening, the visitors opened up an eight-point lead by the half-time recess, but a combined 42 points and 18 rebounds from Jaja Davis and Karlo Lebo went a long way to hauling the Dubliners back for the win.

Meanwhile, in Malahide Community School, BB Chuks-Mady, with 24 points, was the most prolific of the five players who hit double figures for Mater Private Malahide in their 91-80 triumph over Joels Dublin Lions.

Less than a week after they were crowned MissQuote.ie Division One champions, St. Paul’s Killarney booked their berth in the semi-finals of the MissQuote.ie Division One League Trophy following a hard-earned 81-68 triumph over Abbey Seals Dublin Lions in Duagh Sports & Leisure Centre.

Sofia Paska served up 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the hosts, while Khiarica Rasheed weighed in with 16 points and nine rebounds to help the hosts weather a dogged challenge by their Dublin rivals, for whom Gillian Wheeler emerged the game’s top scorer on 25.

 St. Paul's Killarney player Sofia Paska

Beaten Division One finalists, iSecure Swords Thunder preserved their hopes of adding some silverware to the North Conference title they earned this season after they progressed to the last four of the League Trophy following their 79-45 dismissal of Moy Tolka Rovers in ALSAA.

Jensen Caretti was back in top gear for Swords, netting 24 points, while Kate Kelly hit 18 and Peggy Black mopped up loose possession under the boards on no less than 15 occasions.

“We’re happy to advance to the next stage of the competition and set up another home semi-final against a tough Limerick Celtics team” said iSecure Swords Thunder head coach, Paul Carr.

 iSecure Swords Thunder Head Coach, Paul Carr

“It was good to get some minutes for our younger players and I was very impressed with Kate Kelly, Aoife O'Connell and Zoe Egan as they continue their development” he added.

Facing Swords in the penultimate rounds will be a Limerick Celtics outfit who beat McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles 81-64 in their quarter-final in Crescent College on Friday night.

A blistering start saw the hosts open up a 16-point lead by the time the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, and while they did cough up some ground in the second, steady scoring from Amy Buckley (18), Samantha Coleman and Lucy Devoy (17 apiece), helped them steady the ship over the remaining 20 minutes of play to secure further progress.