National League

Mar 31 2024

Griffith College Éanna and Pyrobel Killester through to final while SETU Waterford Wildcats inflict first home defeat on FloMAX Liffey Celtics

Griffith College Éanna beat Maree 90-77 in Calasanctus College on Saturday night to secure their place in this season’s InsureMyVan.ie Super League Final in which they will meet a Pyrobel Killester outfit that defeated UCC Demons 98-82 in their last-four fixture in Clontarf. In the penultimate rounds of the MissQuote.ie Super League Champions Trophy, SETU Waterford Wildcats inflicted a first home loss on FloMAX Liffey Celtics this season (76-66) while Pyrobel Killester saw off Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell 91-85 at home.

Griffith College Éanna battled back from 12 points down at the close of the first quarter to beat Maree 90-77 in Calasanctus College on Saturday night and secure their berth in this season’s InsureMyVan.ie Super League Final.

 Neil Lynch of Griffith College Éanna

Yet again, the Dubliners served up a nice spread of scoring with five players finishing on double figures, among them Joshua Wilson and Kristijan Andabaca who each put up 16, with the latter combining with Matthew McClain and Stefan Desnica for 24 rebounds.

Tahmir Gadsden drained all 11 of his free throws on his way to a haul of 20 for Maree, while Kyle Carey and Zvonomir Cutuk bagged 29 points between them, but it was not enough to deny the irrepressible Éanna, who will now face off against Pyrobel Killester for this year’s title.

“Tonight it was back and forth after we dragged ourselves back into the game in the second quarter” recalled Griffith College Éanna head coach, Darren McGovern.

 Griffith College Éanna Head Coach, Darren McGovern

“Our guys stood up and delivered and I'm very proud of them. Making it to the last game of the season is where we want to be.

“The team has stuck together through thick and thin and all credit goes to their attitude and perseverance.

“It'll be a very tough match-up for us against Killester in a couple of weeks, but I'm looking forward to the preparation and going up against a very good side again” he said.

Pyrobel Killester, themselves, served up a huge second-quarter to earn a 98-82 triumph over UCC Demons in their playoff semi-final in Clontarf on Saturday night.

 Paul Dick of Pyrobel Killester, Photo Credit: Martin Doherty

Troy Simons amassed a huge 37 points for the Dubliners as they turned a seven-point deficit at the end of the first quarter into a 10-point advantage by the half-time break, Kason Harrell weighing in with 21 to help them stay on track for the win.

Elijah Tillman accounted for 29 points and nine rebounds for Demons, but even that and the 17 points that Seventh Woods contributed could not spark a comeback for the Cork side.

“Demons came out of the blocks more aggressive and with absolutely no hangover from last week” said Jonny Grennell, Pyrobel Killester head coach.

“It took some excellent shooting from us to get going and our defence then finally caught up.

“We were able to answer every run they had and showed great composure down the stretch” he added.

SETU Waterford Wildcats inflicted a first home defeat on FloMAX Liffey Celtics this season, winning out 76-66 in Leixlip Amenities Centre on Saturday night to set up date with Pyrobel Killester in the 2023/24 MissQuote.ie Champions Trophy Final.

 Kate Hickey of SETU Waterford Wildcats

Looking to avoid a fourth defeat at the hands of their Kildare rivals this season, Waterford produced a hugely intense defensive display to shackle their hosts with Jade Compton putting up 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Alarie Mayze and Kate Hickey each netted 17.

Despite the best efforts of Áine O’Connor, who managed 17 points and combined with Allie Navarette for 24 rebounds, Celtics coughed up a 12-point advantage in the opening quarter of a game in which the absence of Ireland international, Rachel Huijsdens was sorely felt by the homeside.

“We had it all to play for” said SETU Waterford Wildcats assistant coach, Jillian Hayes, who took charge of the team in the absence of Tommy O’Mahony on Saturday.

“We had played Liffey Celtics three times this season and they’d beaten us those three times very convincingly, so we were absolutely the underdogs tonight.

“But we just concentrated on defence all this week and I think that won the game for us. Our intensity on defence was superb.

“We wanted to be in a final. I felt like the top four this year were really close to each other and we could have been winning a league only for one or two slip-ups, but we weren’t going to slip up tonight” she insisted.

Newly-crowned MissQuote.ie Super League champions, Pyrobel Killester weathered a huge test by Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell to record a 91-85 victory over their Cork rivals in Clontarf on Saturday night and subsequently book their spot in this season’s Champions Trophy decider.

Trailing by seven heading into the final quarter, Brunell fought their way back on to level terms with just over six minutes remaining, but the Dubliners held firm as Claire Melia, Jiselle Thomas and Michelle Clarke drained a combined 10 from the free-throw line down the stretch.

Ieva Bagdanaviciene also made quite an impact for Killester with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Thomas totalled 29 points to emerge joint top scorer with Brunell’s Jayla Johnson.

“It was an incredible game, high pace and high scoring” remarked Pyrobel Killester head coach, Mark Grennell.

“Brunell were fantastic and we were great too. It was a really good advert for ladies basketball in this country” he added.

In the InsureMyVan.ie Division One playoff semi-finals, UCD Marian recorded a 107-99 victory over SETU Carlow at home on Saturday night, Jonathan Jean putting up a huge 39 points for the Dubliners.

This season’s MissQuote.ie Division One champions, St. Paul’s Killarney moved to within one game of making it a double after they beat Limerick Sport Huskies 96-75 in Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre on Thursday night to secure their place in the 2023/24 League Trophy decider.