Eurobasket.com All-Irish Premier League Awards 2014 - Apr 15, 2014
Eurobasket.com All-Irish Premier League 1st Team 2014
Hosford
Bonaparte
Colbert
Callaghan
Provizors
Player of the Year: Michael Bonaparte (196-F-82) of Killester Guard of the Year: Kyle Hosford (175-PG-89) of UCC Demons Forward of the Year: Michael Bonaparte (196-F-82) of Killester Center of the Year: Martins Provizors (202-C-87) of DCU Saints Import Player of the Year: Michael Bonaparte (196-F-82) of Killester Bosman of the Year: Martins Provizors (202-C-87) of DCU Saints Domestic Player of the Year: Kyle Hosford (175-PG-89) of UCC Demons Defensive Player of the Year: Darren Townes (201-F-86) of B.Gais Neptune Coach of the Year: Jonathan Grennell of Killester
Killester were crowned Mens Premier League Champions - Mar 9, 2014
Killester were crowned Mens Premier League Champions today after their 19 win over Bord Gais Neptune. Following their impressive 20 point win on Saturday night against UL Eagles 80 60, the men in orange and black needed to acquire just one point (losing bonus point) in Cork to take the title. However, they won it in style taking out Bord Gais Neptune 44 63. This is the eighth time for Killester to claim the top prize in Irish basketball, doing so most recently in 2011. However, it was not all plain sailing for the northsiders as their head coach, Jonathan Grennell explains, It was a tough game but we always knew that it wasnt going to be easy. The first half was awful for us but we focused in the second half and pulled through the game to come away with the win. This has been an amazing weekend for Killester, having two tough games against UL Eagles and Bord Gais Neptune made it difficult to get over the finish line but we always believed that we could do it. We have been in control of our own destiny this entire season and it was up to us to go and earn this title. Im lucky with the players I have, they have all been coached so well throughout their careers that they knew what needed to be done to achieve a title like this. Everyone wants to be League Champions, the best team in the league with the best record. Going forward now into the Champions Trophy we will continue to stay focused and hope to build on the momentum we have created.
Cand S UCC Blue Demons lift Champions Trophy Title - Mar 24, 2014
Basketball Ireland Weekend Review League Finals : C&S UCC Demons exacted some sweet revenge over rivals Killester in the Champions Trophy final as the National Cup champions defeated the Premier League winners 79 60. Killester had won the sides previous meeting in Cork when they stunned Demons 69 93 in UCCs Mardyke Arena, a result that all but ended Demons hopes of winning the Premier League. A loss just would not have done again, especially to Killester, said Demons guard Kyle Hosford after Sundays final. We thought all season we were the better the team, they thought they were and they won the league so obviously they were but we felt like coming away from the season with two out of three trophies would be justice for us. In searching for that second trophy of the season, Demons opted for size in their starting line-up, giving French forward Christian Anon a spot in the first five. Anon responded by being the games top scorer pouring in 19 points in the contest along with collecting the games MVP honours. Anons scoring touch along with the playmaking of Hosford and a combined 30 points from Lehmon Colbert and Colin OReilly meant that Demons simply had too much firepower for their Dublin opponents on the day. While neither team shot the ball exceptionally well, Killester will be particularly disappointed with their 3 from 18 stat line from behind the three point arc as the long range effort has been such an integral part of their attack all season. Meanwhile earlier in the day, an awesome performance from Team Montenotte Hotel saw the cup champions add the Womens Premier League title to their 2014 trophy cabinet, defeating UL Huskies 81 to 71. Led by a combined 44 points from sisters Grainne and Niamh Dwyer, Montenotte dominated from start to finish as they crushed Huskies hopes of a historic fourth league title in a row. While Montenotte were tipped by many to upset the favourites Huskies, few could have predicted just how superior they would be on the day. Honestly I felt like they were more capable of blowing us out than we were of them, admitted Montenotte coach Paul Kelleher. From the start however, Montenotte looked like a team brimming with confidence as they went toe to toe with the league champions and led by four at the half time break. The decisive run then came in the final minutes of the third quarter when Cork outfits lead ballooned from six to 15 behind some stunning outside shooting by game MVP Grainne Dwyer. Controlling the rebounding battle, and with it the tempo of the game, Montenotte never really looked in trouble from that point onwards. While Rachel Clancy would do her best to keep Huskies in touching distance it was not to the Limerick ladies day. The win completed what has been a remarkable 3 month run for Montenotte who have lost just once in 2014 during which time they have collected a National Cup and Womens Premier League title. We lost to Killester on the 21st of December and that was the one time I felt worried about this group, said Kelleher We challenged ourselves then to find our strengths and not focus on our weaknesses and since then so many of the team have been great. Sundays basketball action from Cork had begun with the League Cup final meeting of Dublin Inter and Belfast Star and after having lost the National Cup final in January to Demons, Inter were delighted to exit the season with silverware, defeating Star 73 67. It was of absolute importance for Dublin Inter. We did get to a cup final and lost and I did say to the guys before the game that the only good thing about a final is winning, revealed Inter coach John Glennon. On Saturday, Meteors and Tralee Imperials also left Cork with silverware in the shape of the Womens Premier League Shield and Womens Division One titles respectively. Meteors had to overcome the challenge of Ulster Rockets in their final and in particular the hot hand of Kerri Shields whose game high 28 points included four three pointers. It was not be enough for the women from Belfast however as the general team defence and fastbreak play of Meteors saw them emerge as deserving winners with Beth Meany (22 points) picking up the games MVP award. In the Womens Division One final, Tralee Imperials defended their 2013 crown by once again defeating the team that had bested them in the cup final the previous January. In 2013 Imperials lost to Dynamos in the cup final before beating them in the league final while Saturday they bested Portlaoise Panthers 58 38, just two months after Panthers defeated the women from the Kingdom in the 2014 cup final. We have had a tough year, admitted final MVP, Tralees Emma Sherwood. We had a bad loss in the cup and it was our third year losing in the cup final in a row but like last year we knew we were peaking at the right time for the league and that we could come good and thankfully we did.
Basketball Ireland League Finals Weekend Results
Friday, March 21st
Champions Trophy Semi Finals
Killester 76 (45) (C Roe 15, M Bonaparte 14, I Westbrooks 13) DCU Saints 64 (36) (M Provizors 24, P Lynch 21, E Darling 6)
C&S UCC Demons 106 (59) (A OSullivan 25, L Colbert 22, B ONeill 18) JM&L Auctioneers Titans 68 (34) (T Mitkus 22, C Coyne 15, G Sedebskis 10)
Saturday, March 22nd
League Cup Semi Finals
UL Eagles 75 (36) (D Graham 19, N Campbell 18, J OKeefe 10) Belfast Star 83 (38) (P Dick 22, F Otis 16, D Moreira 14)
Dublin Inter 82 (43) ( M Cepliauskas 18, M Tamusauskas 17, R Dimicuikas 15) UCD Marian 67 (23) (C Meany 23, T King 16, K Foley 7)
Womens Premier League Shield Final
Ulster Rockets 76 (32) (K Shields 28, H Fairbairn 23, M McNally 16) Meteors 93 (36) (B Meany 22, J Daly 18, K Ganser 16) (Meteors)
MVP Beth Meany
Womens Division One Final
Portlaoise Panthers 33 (17) (C OSullivan 11, S Melia 9, S Nihill 7) Tralee Imperials 51 (27) (E Sherwood 16, S Mackessy 15, C Buckley 10)
MVP Emma Sherwood (Tralee Imperials)
Sunday, March 23rd
League Cup Final
Dublin Inter 73 (41) (A Statkus 17, M Cepliauskas 17, A Dimiciukas 9) Belfast Star 65 (28) (D Moreira 14, P Dick 12, M McKillop 8)
MVP Mazvydas Cepliauskas (Dublin Inter)
Womens Premier League Final
UL Huskies 71 (37) (R Clancy 25, L Maher 21, R Vanderwal 9) Team Montenotte Hotel 84 (41) (G Dwyer 29, N Dwyer 17, E Harmon 16)
MVP Grainne Dwyer (Team Montenotte Hotel)
Champions Trophy Final
Killester 60 (35) (M Bonaparte 14, J Behan 13, C Roe 10) C&S UCC Demons 79 (44) (C Anon 19, L Colbert 16, C OReilly 14)
Men's Cup Final Report - Pat Glover - Jan 27, 2014
National Cup Final
Friday nights Cup final between UCC Demons and Dublin Inter started off with all guns blazing. It was a three point fest in the first quarter with neither team really gaining any headway. There was some nervousness early on especially from Demons but by mid-way through the quarter things had settled down. It seemed as if Demons main game plan was to double down on Inters top scorer Aurimas Statkus every time he got the ball in the post. Out of the doubles Statkus made some great passes and the ball was then rotated to open shooters who were knocking down the jumpers. Trakauskas Grierdrius was shooting extremely well while Colin OReilly was shooting well for Demons. The quarter ended 23 vs.19 in favour of UCC.
The second quarter began with Ciaran OSullivan netting a 3-pointer followed by an immediate 2. Both teams continued to play man to man defence, with Demons throwing in some run and jump defence towards the end of the quarter. Colin OReilly was encouraging his team to push the ball at every opportunity with the obvious intention of wearing Inter down over the course of the game. Lehmon Colbert was finishing well and controlling the boards at both ends while veteran Niall OReilly was passing well in particular to this brother Colin who made some nice baskets. Inter took a lot of outside shots luckily enough making almost half of them in this quarter, shooting 9/21 from 3-point range in the first half, but the question was could Inter keep up this high percentage shooting. Demons were leading 49 vs. 40 at the interval.
After an entertaining first half the 3rd and 4th quarters were quite disappointing. Demons upped their defensive intensity forcing a serious of turnovers from Inter. This coupled with poor shot-selection left Inter constantly on the back foot. Demons were capitalizing on every Inter mistake at the other end. At one stage Inter had 6 turnovers in a 3 minute period which all resulted in easy baskets on the break for Demons. With 4:47 left on the clock in the 3rd and with the score 60 vs. 44, player-coach OReilly subbed himself out for the first time in the game. The tide had turned and Inter were struggling with the pace of the game.
The final quarter was a non-contest as Inter failed to eat into UCCs lead. The damage had been done in the 3rd. Perhaps a change in defence and more solid combinations on the floor for Inter may have helped. With 6:21 to go UCC were up by 19 points. Now all of the Demons team were getting in on the act. The final score was UCC 82 vs. Inter 64. Colbert deservedly picked up the MVP award with 21 points and almost 20 rebounds.
All in all this game couldnt be described as a Cup Classic but Im sure Demons will not be too worried about that. A win is a win! Cup final wins are precious no matter how you come by them. Inter should take great pride in getting to this final, knocking off two of the strongest teams en route in Limerick and Neptune. The Inter players wont think it today but sometimes you need to taste the bitterness of defeat to go on to the next level.
Report by Pat Glover
Premier League Select Team for All-Star Game 2014 - Mar 31, 2014
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