8 October 2017
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Basketball Ireland Super League Round-Up: Glanmire sees off Killester in opening game while Templeogue struggle against UCD
Ambassador UCC Glanmire got their 2017/18 season off to a winning start this afternoon as they overcame Pyrobel Killester 77-62 at the Mardyke Arena in Cork.
Top scoring from Claire Rockall, Grainne Dwyer and Louise Scannell pushed Glanmire home to victory against a tenacious Killester side, much to the delight of head coach, Mark Scannell.
“We’re very happy,” he said. “We started slowly, we gave them 38 points in the first half and that’s not like us defensively. When we keep teams in the 60s we generally win games.”
Elsewhere, Singleton SuperValu Brunell recorded a big win on the road as they overcame Portlaoise Panthers on Saturday evening while Courtyard Liffey Celtics also secured an opening game win over NUIG Mystics at home on Saturday. Maxol WIT Wildcats had the better of IT Carlow Basketball in the last game of the weekend, running out 55-43 point winners.
In the Men’s Super League meanwhile, there was big disappointment for reigning Regular Season champions Black Amber Templeogue as they fell to their third consecutive loss of the season, this time at the hands of UCD Marian.
“I’m very disappointed, we’re in a bit of a rut now and it’s hard to get out of it,” admitted Head Coach, Mark Keenan. “We played well for a lot of the game and then we hit a wall when UCD got control and we just weren’t able to do something different. We broke it down and we just couldn’t put it back together. We’re not used to losing week after week, we just have to try and keep our heads up and re-evaluate during the week.”
UCD Marian’s Ioannis Liapakis was thrilled to see his side come out with three wins from three games, making them the only unbeaten team remaining in the League after Belfast Star fell at the hands of Griffith College Swords Thunder on Saturday evening.
“We’re really happy with that,” Liapakis said. “We’re looking for 22 finals this year, we don’t want to separate games into difficult or easy – there is no such thing for us. Instead, we have 22 finals and we’re going from final to final, so every win we take is a cup for us.”
Elsewhere, UCC Demons ran out winners over Maree in Galway on Saturday evening, while Éanna won out over DCU Saints. Garvey’s Tralee Warriors and Moycullen played out a thriller in Tralee, with the home side just bagging victory at the death with a huge three-pointer from captain, Darren O’Sullivan.
