Bad weekend for Cork men's SuperLeague sides with three defeats

Ballincollig suffered a rare defeat when going down to a rampant Limerick Eagles side 96-67 in the Domino’s Men’s Super League at the UL Arena on Saturday night.

This was basketball at its best for the home side who dominated from the opening quarter despite Ballincollig nailing the opening two baskets.

The Eagles soared following a stunning Darragh Horkan three pointer in the second minute and midway through the quarter UL commanded a 13-10 lead.

It was evident the Cork side were struggling at both ends of the court and entering the second quarter they trailed by 14 points 28-14.

On the restart, Ballincollig played better basketball without reaching their best form but with American Jaye Buckley (2pts) having a poor night at the office they still trailed by 17 points at the break.

On the restart the champions went into total meltdown and with the Eagles nailing baskets for fun it was no surprise the game was over as a contest entering the final quarter when shannonsiders commanded a 33- point lead 78-45.

Coming down the stretch the Eagles could afford to go through the motions and with American Alex Carlisle finishing with a game high 31 points there was no way back for Ballincollig.

It was also a bad night at the office for the other Cork side UCC Demons as they suffered a 100-88 loss at Sligo All Stars.

The opening quarter was competitive with both sides trading baskets but a James Hannigan three pointer midway through this period tied the game at nine points each.

Entering the final minute Demons led 21-19 following a basket from Asanti Price who had a very poor showing finishing with 11 points in 34 minutes of action.

Demons led 26-25 entering the second quarter and in the opening five minutes both sides continued to battle with the sides level in the 14th minute at 26 points each.

Indeed, in a strange period Demons despite not playing nowhere near their best basketball were still level two minutes from the interval.

A late Cian Lally basket was good enough for the westerners to have a two- point cushion at the break 45-43.

Whoever wrote the script of the third quarter certainly wasn’t a Demons fan as they were torn to shreds in this period.

The Cork side were simply awful as they looked a totally disorganised unit and backed by their fanatical home supporters Sligo outscored Demons 30-12 to take a 22 point lead into the final quarter.

Coming down the stretch Demons made a rally in the opening exchanges with a Scott Hannigan jumper reducing the deficit to 13 points with seven minutes remaining.

That’s as good as it got for Demons as the closing minutes were equivalent to a scrimmage as this was a poor performance from the Leesider’s against an average Sligo All Stars side.

On a dismal weekend for all three Cork teams in the Men’s Super League the display of Gurranbraher Credit Union Brunell in the Women’s equivalent was encouraging.

After losing their opening game at home to Waterford Wildcats a trip to Limerick Celtics was a potential banana skin for the Nellies but they showed enough their class to win 88-70.

In a solid opening quarter Brunell took control despite Celtics taking a 7-2 lead in the third minute following a Meabh Purtill basket.

Credit to Brunell they responded to the wake- up call and when American Alayna Contreras drained a three pointer the sides were tied a minute later.

The Brunell defence were working hard and a neat Francesca Kyamagero jumper ensured they had a nine- point cushion entering the second quarter.

To be fair, Brunell continued to play controlled basketball at both ends of the court and but credit to Celtics Jennifer Levine she kept them in the game as they only trailed by 10 points at the break 37-27.

On the restart Edel Thornton continued to drive her team forward and with their second American Katherine Vaile doing well on the boards they looked in total control entering the final quarter when increasing their lead to 19 points.

The Brunell coach Keith Daly could afford to use various rotations coming down the stretch and he will be encouraged going into next Sunday’s game against Killester.