Cork Basketball: Brunell suffer a surprise loss at home against Liffey Celtics

Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell were stunned into submission when they lost out by the minimum 66-65 to Liffey Celtics in the Domino’s Women’s Super League at the GCU Arena.

Despite getting a riveting start when forging into a 21-6 lead entering the second quarter the Cork side gradually dropped their intensity and lost the next three quarters with the Kildare side still trailing by 11 points at the interval.

Brunell were still in pole position entering the final quarter when commanding a six-point lead but they were ambushed coming down the stretch.

Celtics, who hadn’t won a game this season, had a stunning contribution from American Brooke Kane who finished as the game’s leading scorer on 26 points.

American duo Brailyn Joseph (26) and Maddie Cluse (16) did relatively well but once again coach Liam Culloty is struggling to get bigger contributions from his Irish players.

Irish Senior International Lauryn Homan despite having a good defensive game only chipped in with four points in 35 minutes of action.

Kelly Sexton and Ava Walshe also had good minutes but only tallied six points and that seems to be where the problem lies for the northside club. Looking at the Brunell stats, it is little wonder they lost as they only shot 38% from 13/42 attempts inside the paint and 4/15 outside the arc that gave a reading of 27%.

Fr Mathew’s remain winless after five games as they lost at Cavan Eagles 82-69. Mathew’s problem in this game was their poor opening quarter that saw them trail by 15 points.

Credit to the Model Farm Road side, they rallied in the second quarter and reduced the deficit to three points at the interval.

Despite putting in a battling second half Mathew’s were always chasing the game as they now can set their sights on their home clash with UCC Glanmire on Saturday.

Just like their Cork counterparts Brunell there is little doubt that Mathew’s are lacking scoring among their Irish players.

Americans Laila Blair (26) and Lexie Givens (17) contributed 42 points and with veteran Grainne Dwyer nailing 15 points that brings the total to 58 points. Granted some of the Mathew’s players are rookies to this league but out of the six that featured only 11 points were executed.

In fairness, Jamie Barry is doing well to keep his side competitive in his first season at the helm but they need numbers from their Irish players, or they could well end up relegated.

It is well documented in recent weeks about the struggle that Energywise Ireland Neptune are going through but after a five-game losing run, they finally clicked to defeat Sligo All Stars 79-75.

Great to get the win but for me to get fans back on seats at their newly renovated stadium, they will need to produce better basketball.

The sacking of Keith Daly didn’t come as a surprise having lost five games on the belt and in fairness, the new coaching partnership of Paul O’Brien and Darren Geaney got the simple things right in their first game at the helm.

The loss of Cian Heaphy is a major blow to the Blackpool outfit and they will need a season-best at Tralee Warriors in the National Cup on Saturday to have any chance of gaining a quarter-final berth.

HIGHLIGHT

The best game of the weekend saw Ballincollig defeat Eanna 97-96 in the Men’s Super League.

Adrian O’Sullivan, with a 21-point tally, had a season-best for the Cork side who now are in second place with a 4-2 record.

The good news for basketball fans is that these sides are back at the same venue on Saturday for a National Cup clash that is surely going to have the MTU rocking.