Eurobasket.com All-Irish SuperLeague Awards 2006-07
Player of the Year: Craig Walls (201-F) of Killester Guard of the Year: Robert Taylor (182-G) of Ballina Forward of the Year: Craig Walls of Killester Center of the Year: Ben Bridges (201-C) of Hoops Import Player of the Year: Craig Walls of Killester Domestic Player of the Year: Isaac Westbrooks (191-G-85) of Killester Defensive Player of the Year: Jermaine Turner (195-F-74) of St.Vincent Coach of the Year: Mark Keenan of Killester 1st Team Craig Walls of Killester Robert Taylor of Ballina Wilder Auguste (198-F-82) of Tigers Jonathan Reed (183-G) of Hoops Jermaine Turner of St.Vincent 2nd Team Isaac Westbrooks of Killester Chris Smith (183-F-82) of Ballina David Fanning (183-G-80) of Tigers Kenneth Gamble (201-F-75) of St.Vincent Niall Murphy (185-G-86) of UCC Demons Honorable Mention Ben Bridges of Hoops Damien Sealy (193-F-70) of Killester Matt Hilleary (202-C) of St.Paul's Benito Flores (198-F-80) of UCC Demons Ramell Ross (196-G/F-82) of Belfast Star Michael Quirke (198-C-80) of Tigers Ronan McGarrity (178-F-81) of Ballina All-Domestic Players Team Isaac Westbrooks of Killester Niall Murphy of UCC Demons Damien Sealy of Killester Michael Quirke of Tigers Ronan McGarrity of Ballina All-Imports Team Craig Walls of Killester Robert Taylor of Ballina Wilder Auguste of Tigers Jonathan Reed of Hoops Jermaine Turner of St.Vincent Killester won the Play-offs of the Irish Superleaguee DART Killester 95 Merry Monk Ballina 90 DART Killester are the 2007 Nivea For Men SuperLeague Champions after a superb tussle against Merry Monk Ballina at the UL Arena this afternoon. The game was a tense affair with the two Northern Conference sides looking for their firt piece of silverware of the season. Mark Keenan's side had less time to prepare for the game after a tough battle against UCC Demons on Saturday evening and also surrendered the game to a hungry Ballina side in the final quarter. It was DART Killester who took the early lead with Craig Walls and Michael Goj scoring early points for the Dubliners as they took a 7-2 lead in the first quarter. Ballina responded with points from Robert Taylor and Orlando Melendez and kept Killester firmly in their crosshairs but Paddy Kelly was in flying form and the eventual MVP Award winner was scoring feely. However, Ballina finished the opening quarter strongly and took the lead with Robert Taylor providing the firepower for Terry Kennedy's men. Killester refused to concede any ground and by the end of the first quarter the sides were level with 20 points apiece. In the second quarter Merry Monk Ballina stormed ahead with Scott Kinevane and a three pointer from Orlando Melendez sticking the knife in DART Killester. Michael Goj struck back for Killester with Damien Sealy and two free throws from Paddy Kelly bringing the Northsiders back to within a point of Ballina 29-28. DART Killester then seized control of the encounter and baskets from Isaac Westbrooks and a string of scores from Paddy Kelly saw Mark Keenans men sieze control of the game. Further points from Damien Sealy and the American Bryce Burch mean that DART Killester went in at the half-time break seven points to the good over Ballina (47-40) The penultimate quarter saw Killester continue their dominance with the American pair Bryce Burch and Craig Walls netting scores for DART Killester. Merry Monk Ballina now lay ten points behind but a brace of three pointers from Captain Jay Marriott and a basket from Scott Kinevane helped alleviate the pressure. Ballina now were just two points adrift in the game but DART Killester stepped up a gear yet again with Michael Goj netting the final basket of the quarter for the Northern Conference Champions to leave the score 69-65 going into the final quarter. The encounter heated up to an intense level in the final quarter and with both Craig Walls and Bryce Burch fouling out for Killester it looked as if Ballina would steal back into the game. Robert Taylor was proving the sentiment correct as his string of scores brought the men from the west into the lead 76-75. Killester stole back the lead with stalwart Jerome Westbrooks amongst the scorers before Melendez and Taylor reeled them back in and powered Ballina ahead by 7 points with just over 3 minutes left on the clock. Heartbreak was to follow for Ballina as Michael Goj chipped in with some vital scores for Killester with the Polish star putting the Dublin outfit back on top where they were to stay for the remainder of the contest. Ballina were on their knees and the killer blow was struck by Isaac Westbrooks and rounded off by Paddy Kelly as their free throws sealed the victory for DART Killester in the final seconds, winning out 95-90. Tigers Roar To Cup Victory Abrakebabra Tigers 85 - UCC Demons 70 Abrakebabra Tigers are the 2007 Men's SuperLeague National Cup Champions after a stunning team display saw them wrestle the coveted trophy out of the grasp of UCC Demons at the National Basketball Arena this evening. Dave Fanning lead the charge for the Tigers and was instrumental to their success on the day. His performance earned him the Most Valuable Player Award amongst the Irish Media who turned up in abundance to witness one of the best atmospheres present at the National Cup Finals for many years. Tigers pushed forward from the tip off with Wider Auguste and Fanning running rampant in the offensive areas. Demons struggled to get moving in the opening exchanges and with just over four minutes played the Kerrymen were ten points ahead, 12-2. Demons clawed the deficit back to seven points thanks to some wonderful offensive plays with LeShon Sheffield and Benito Flories benefiting in the scoring stakes. Seven points remained the gap at the end of the opening quarter with Tigers leading 21-14. The second quarter saw the Tigers accelerate further into the lead with Dave Fanning netting a superb three point score. The Tigers' Point Guard trumped this with another 3 pointer straight after to demonstrate his desire for National Cup glory. The Demon's retort was swift from Niall O'Reilly and Benito Flories whose three point efforts found the net with ease. Tigers remained a consistent eleven point lead over their Munster Rivals with Kerry GAA All Star Kieran Donaghy getting in on the scoring act with smashing dunk and constantly urged his side onwards. The gap between the sides was all the more apparent when Fanning's basket mid way through the quarter increased his sides lead to 15 points. It was do or die now for Demons and Pat Price's men went on a scoring spree with scores from Sheffield, Flories and Michael Pilchta to close the gap to just six points. Dave Falvey will have been shocked to see his side lose a large advantage but Tigers went back to work and at the halfway stage the scoreboard displayed 44-37 in the favour of the Tralee side. In the penultimate period Demons came racing out of the traps with Niall Murphy endeavouring to close the gap to four points. Tigers retorted with a string of fine scores from the American star Dave Fanning once again with John Teahan popping up with a fine score for good measure. The game once again witnessed a Demons backlash with Flories and Niall Murphy reeling back the rampant Tigers to five points. Tigers continued to probe the Demons defence with Fanning again leading the line along with Quirke and James Mooney but it would be Demons who would finish the game on the stronger footing, dominating in defensive rebounds and David Murphy showing a keen eye for the basket to end the quarter 64-59 behind and still within a shout of turning the game around. Sadly for the Rebels, the current SuperLeague Southern Conference leaders were unprepared to watch the Silverware slip through their fingers. James Mooney and Wilder Auguste scored freely around the key and with ten bocks during the game, Auguste ensured that Demons would not mount a comeback. Tigers suffered a blow in the latter stages of the period when Kieran Donaghy ran into foul trouble but Falvey ran his bench with efficiency throughout the afternoon and a reserve was on hand at all times. Demons put everything into a late revival but Tigers closed the game down and with the clock running down the finishing line appeared ever closer. The beaten 2005 Finalists gained their revenge on their victors that day and Abrakebabra Tigers lifted the cup, winning out 85-70. Top Scorers Abrakebabra Tigers: Dave Fanning 24, Wilder Auguste 16, Michael Quirke 13 UCC Demons: Michael Quirke 13, Niall Murphy 20, LaShon Sheffield 16 MVP Dave Fanning (Abrakebabra Tigers) Courtesy Fran Burke ...BasketbaIlIreland. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Men
Women
Subscribe
Login
Dart Killester the
Irish Superleague Champion 2007 (Photo: Killester)
Abrakebabra Tigers
won National Cup 2007 (Photo: basketballireland)
