ST. BRENDAN’S BASKETBALL CLUB NOTES
RESULTS
Mens Div 1 Cup Semi Final
St. Brendan’s 75
Tralee Imperials 34
Brendan’s started off really well with the players geared up for a good game. Conor Donaghy Jamie Lowham and Cathal O’Sullivan were in fine form in the first quarter and helped Brendan’s to build up a 7 point lead.
Superleague players Fergal O’Sullivan and Kieran Donaghy dominated the second quarter which ending with Brendan’s up 38 to 22. Daniel Molyneaux and Kieran took over the 3rd quarter with some great defence from Jamie, Dale Counihan and Cyril Wallace and at the end of the 3rd Brendan’s pushed on to lead 51 to 29.
Darren O’Sullivan started the 4th with a bank shot followed by some great shooting by Cathal, Cyril and Brian Boyle maintained Brendan’s control of the game. Imperials allowed their frustration to show in the final quarter and persistent fouling did not help their cause.
This made the job of seeing out the game easier for Brendan’s who ran out easy winners on a final scoreline of 75 to 34. Roll on the Cup final. Top scorers for St. Brendan’s were Fergal O’Sullivan with 14 and Cathal O’Sullivan with 13.
Mens County League Div 1
St Brendan’s 54
St Paul’s 59
Brendan’s started off really well with some good shooting from Cathal O’Sullivan and Jamie Lowham and some great defence from Conor Donaghy and Cyril Wallace had the home side up by 2 at the end of the 1st quarter.
Some great work in the 2nd quarter from Cyril and Daniel Molyneaux and Cathal O’Sullivan managed to get away for a number of fast breaks and Brendan’s finished up 8 at half time. The 3rd quarter saw Paul’s step up the pace but Brendan’s still led by 2 going into the final quarter.
The 4th quarter say Rob Mulcahy being withdrawn with a calf injury hurt and was a huge loss to the cause. In addition a number of big calls went against Brendan’s and when Cyril was fouled out the task became even harder.
The momentum shift continued with Paul’s getting some important scores in the final quarter and this allowed them see out the game with 5 points to spare. Well done to all. Scorers Cathal O’Sullivan 18, Jamie Lowham 13, Daniel Molyneaux 5, Rob Mulcahy 2, Cyril Wallace 6, Conor Donaghy 2
Boys U14 Div 2
St. Brendan’s 35
Gneeveguilla 50
The Boys U14 Div 2 team played their first home game of 2017 on Sunday against Gneeveguilla in Moyderwell. The first quarter got off to a great start with Cian Griffin opening the score for the home team.
This was followed by three baskets from Andrew Wallace, as well as a basket from each of the remaining starters – Coren Hughes, Donal O’Sullivan and Jack Doyle (Gaelscoil) with the result that the home team were leading by 14 points to 10 at the end of Q1. Quarter 2 was an equally close affair with the home side outscoring the visitors by 8 points to 6.
Once again, Andrew Wallace scored some great baskets, with Fiachra O’Connor and Simon Carey in supporting roles. Strong defensive play by Ian Begley and some great rebounding by Jack Doyle (Scoil Eoin) restricted Gneeveguila’s scoring and St. Brendan’s were leading by 22 points to 16 at the half time break.
Gneeveguilla came back into it in the third quarter with an outstanding performance by their no. 10 who racked up a series of unanswered points before Tom Flavin got the home team back into the game with a great basket from a difficult angle.
This was followed by a basket and two well taken free shots by Donal O’Sullivan, however the quarter ended with the visitors taking the lead for the first time – 28-32 was the score at the end of Q3.
The visitors put their stamp on the game in the final quarter proving to be too strong for the home team. Nevertheless St. Brendans never gave up and battled bravely with Joshua Roche fighting for every ball.
Andrew Wallace, who had a fantastic game, registering a further 5 points during Q4 but it wasn’t meant to be and Gneeveguillla pulled away, outscoring St. Brendan’s by 18 points to 7.
The home team battled all the way to the final whistle and the final scoreline of 35 points to 50 did not reflect how close an encounter it actually was or how much pressure was applied to the Division 2 leaders by the home team. Well done to one and all.
Final result St. Brendans 35 Gneeveguilla 50
Boys U12 Div 2 Plate
St. Brendan’s 40
St. Bridget’s 28
When these two teams met before Christmas, St. Bridget’s were victorious by 5 points so Brendan’s were eager to reverse the result. The game was keenly contested before the home side through the brilliance of Kieran Arellano finally pulled ahead in the third quarter. St. Bridget’s started strongly with Eamon O’Mahony and David Healy to the fore.
David Scally and Harry Wallace were working hard in defence while Olaf Michalezuk, Brian O’Donnell and Shane Kelly scored to keep Brendan’s in touch and they trailed by 2 at the end of the first quarter.
Peter Doyle had the opening basket of the second quarter before Kieran started to dominate in offence ably assisted by Eoghan Bradshaw, Rory Clifford, Brayden Pierce and Shane Cotter.
At half time Brendan’s were 17pts to 13 ahead. Brendan’s started the second half very strong and it was during the third quarter that the game was won, during this period good team work and outstanding play by Kieran who scored 13 pts in the quarter saw the lead stretch to 34pts to 17.
Bridget’s to their credit showed great determination and never gave up with Ben Conway and Cathal Sheehan scoring 10pts between them in the final quarter but it was not enough.
Team: Kieran Arellano, Harry Wallace, David Scally, Eoghan Bradshaw, Brayden Pierce, Brian O’Donnell, Rory Clifford, Olaf Michalezuk, Shane Kelly, Shane Cotter, Peter Doyle
OTHER RESULTS
Lee Strand Boys U14 Div 3
Cahersiveen 25
St. Brendan’s 20
Lee Strand Boys U14 Div 1
St. Bridget’s 23 St. Brendan’s 17
U10 Basketball Blitz in Causeway Comprehensive
Congratulations and well done to both our U10 Boys and Girls squads who performed so well at the Basketball Blitz held in Causeway last Sunday. The girls got the action under way on Sunday morning with two great games against St. Paul’s and Rathmore.
All the girls got court time and showed off both their shooting and defensive skills throughout. The boys took to the floor in the afternoon and had two very competive and keenly contested games against St. Joseph’s and TK Vixens.
Again the continuing training is paying dividends with the boys displaying some great shooting, particularly from outside as well as really good defence denying their opponents shooting opportunities. Thanks to coach Deirdre Hartnett who looked after both squads on a busy but very enjoyable day for the club’s U10s.
FIXTURES
Saturday 28th January
Lee Strand Boys U16 Div 3
Gneeveguilla v St. Brendan’s at 4.15pm in Rathmore Sec School Gym
Sunday 29th January
Lee Strand Boys U14 Div 1
St. Brendan’s v TK Bobcats at 11.00am in Moyderwell
Lee Strand Boys U14 Div 2
Rathmore v St. Brendan’s at 10.30am in Rathmore Sec School Gym
Monday 30th January
Ladies Div 2 Pool 1
TK Lixnaw v St. Brendan’s at 8.15pm in Lixnaw Community Centre
GARVEY’S TRALEE WARRIORS
The Garvey’s Tralee Warriors continued their winning ways in the Superleague campaign with a 90-75 win over SSE Airtricity Moycullen in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght last Saturday.
Next up for the Warriors is a visit to DCU for a meeting with Saints at 3.30pm on Sunday next.
The Warriors currently sit fourth on the table but have played two games more than their big rivals for a playoff position in Pyrobel Killester.
The Warriors will need to secure all three Superleague points when they host Killester in the next big Saturday night game in Tralee on the 11th February. Make a date for the diary and don’t miss out on what promises to be a thrilling encounter.