Brunell, Demons and Rebel Wheelers lit up the National Basketball Arena

ANOTHER weekend to remember for Cork clubs with UCC Demons, Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell and Rebel Wheelers all getting the job done at the National cup championships at the National Basketball Arena.

The Men’s Pat Duffy National Cup final between UCC Demons and Ballincollig brought a full house to basketball headquarters with a tremendous carnival atmosphere.

Leading the Southern Conference of the Super League Ballincollig rightfully went into the game as favourites and despite putting in a relatively good shift their second-half performance simply wasn’t good enough to win the cup.

Demons' coaching staff had taken some stick about their poor defence in recent weeks but credit to head coach Danny O’Mahony and his assistants Stuart Rodgers and Timmy O’Halloran they got it right on this occasion.

This scribe has always tried to be fair and honest no matter what sport I am covering and I know that sometimes when analysing some folk take it personally but I got write as I see it.

In this year’s final the debate about the selection of MVP was interesting and I must stress that my sports editor John McHale and I are not the main men when it comes to choosing the winner!

Indeed on this occasion, the players we put forward were not selected basically because they are about 10 people with votes and it’s all about opinion.

The eventual winner Seventh Woods Demons was excellent but many folk thought James Beckom, James Hannigan, Kyle Hosford and Elijah Tillman wouldn’t have been out of place in picking up the gong.

Another noticeable aspect of this final was the support that both Ballincollig and Demons brought to the capital.

For Demons stalwarts Jim Dineen, Michael O’Sullivan and Dan Byrne it was great to see them attending the final after almost 60 years of service to the Sunday’s Well club. There were many more too many to mention but the amazing thing about this club is that people who have played in previous years still find time to support them in their hour of need.

When Brunell Basketball Club founding member Andrew Drumm passed away last year there was naturally sadness throughout the club.

This season the club are going great guns with a new main sponsor on board in the Gurranbraher Credit Union who were represented by their chairman Michael O’Connell. Let’s spare a thought for the previous sponsor Tomás Singleton who invested heavily into Brunell for 15 years but never had the luck to be associated with a winning team in the top tier.

Credit to Brunell they saw off their fellow Leesiders Catalyst Fr Mathew’s who to be fair put in a decent shift without ever looking likely winners.

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Well done to their Tralee-based coach Liam Culloty who has done a tremendous job since taking the job and he certainly looked a happy man at the final buzzer.

Just like the men’s final the awarding of the MVP in this final brought some debate when captain fantastic Edel Thornton got the nod.

In fairness, it must have been a close call as Lauryn Homan had a season-best with 23 points and American Jayla Johnson had 28 points. Throw in the display of Danielle O’Leary who drained four crucial three-pointers and the decision gets even harder.

But as I stated previously it’s all about 'opinion' and everybody has one!

On a final note lets salute the five-in-a-row feat of Rebel Wheelers after their success in the IWA National Cup.

Predictions before the final were that the Cork side would defeat South East Swifts in a canter. That certainly wasn’t the case and if the Carlow-Kilkenny side had taken their opportunities they could have produced the shock of the season.