Rebel Wheelers the only bright spot in Dublin as UCC Demons fall in the fourth quarter against Killester

The hype, hope and excitement of the basketball National Cup finals is over for another year with the Rebel Wheelers IWA win the only title going to Leeside in this campaign.

Yes, UCC Demons fans travelled in force to the capital, but a very poor fourth quarter proved their team’s downfall in what was a very close encounter up to that period.

Back to the Wheelers win it was another incredible performance for the Cork club and for Adam Drummond producing an MVP display for the second consecutive year put the icing on the cake for the former Neptune star.

Over many years travelling to cup finals in Dublin this grade never seems to disappoint as the skill levels have to be seen to be believed.

Ballybrack Bulls who finished second best on this occasion put in a battling display, but this Wheelers side have so much depth when you think that players like Dylan McCarthy and Derek Hegarty cannot make their starting five.

The next step now for the Wheelers is to participate in the European Cup and this will be a huge boost for the Irish champions and it will be interesting how they fare against far better opposition.

On the plus side their management team should take a bow for bringing so much happiness to a squad of players who have unique talents.

Back to the Demons game and one could sense the disappointment all-round the National Basketball Arena following their 92-75 loss to Killester.

The performance of Demons professionals has been well documented but the sad thing for me was that the final scoreline didn’t do Demons justice when you study their stats.

First of all let’s look at the free throws and Demons had a 18/31 over four the quarters in comparison to Killester who nailed 14 from 17 attempts.

Moving on to the three-point line shooting Demons attempted 29 shots and only made seven with Killester also struggling in that department with an 8/30 average.

Demons will rue many aspects of the game but credit to Killester they have looked the best in the country this season with their high tempo game.

No disgrace in losing to a quality side but I keep thinking what might have been if Demons key players had managed to show up, but they will now have put this display behind them quickly and concentrate on getting some more wins in the Super League.

The good news for Cork Basketball fans is that we are back to a cracking local derby on Thursday at the Neptune stadium when they entertain Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig.

Not a shock that Neptune have recruited a new American signing in Tamyrik Fields who played last season with Belfast Star and started the season again with the northerners.

There is little doubt Fields looked a quality player last season but his performances this season for Star were not up to the required standard and they duly released him.

The Blackpool club in the last two seasons have used a number of professionals and the player that came under the axe on this occasion was Jahmal Wright a nice young man both on and off court.

The problem for Wright is that he wasn’t putting up the numbers but maybe coach Pat Price still has hopes of making a bid for Super League honours.

Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig have been playing decent basketball without excelling and the O’Sullivan brothers Ciaran and Adrian will be crucial in this game.

The Ballincollig Americans Jake Wolfe and Quashawn Lane are able scorers but their Bosman Joshua Tomaic although a good defensive player is struggling to put numbers on the board.