The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Win keeps Warriors in play-off contention
MEN’S SUPERLEAGUE Garveys Tralee Warriors 90 SEE Airtricity Moycullen 75
HAVING already beaten them in October in Tallaght Garveys Tralee Warriors returned to the National Arena last Saturday and repeated the feat over Moycullen in a contest that was notable and significant for the scoring of Trae Pemberton. His individual brilliance ensured that Warriors, after a tentative opening few minutes, always maintained a scoring advantage from midway in the first quarter through the contest, and with 26 points separating the sides at one point in the third quarter the outcome was a foregone conclusion long before the final buzzer.
With a distinct advantage in physical terms Warriors utilised that advantage fully from the very start, with 6’11” Dusan Bogdanovic and 6’10” Goran Pantovic starting together and complementing each other fully as Moycullen struggled to contain their imposing presence close to the rim.
Moycullen led 8-5 early on but with Bogdanovic extremely productive in the post up position and scoring fourteen points in the opening quarter, the Tralee side overhauled the deficit and led 2217 at the end of that first period. However, with, Philip Lawrence Ricks and James Loughnane prominent the Galway outfit kept very much in touch, and, were only five adrift (32-27) at the midway point in the second quarter. However, a purple patch from Pemberton which yielded nineteen points during this period meant that Warriors extended their lead to 51-39 at the interval.
Certainly, the ability of the American point guard to shoot some stunning baskets from distance, he ended up with a tally of eight point scores, along with his neat conversion of lay ups on the spin, was a key component in terms of Warriors scoring advantage at the interval.
Twelve points still separated the team with 6.10 left in the third quarter, and, with Moycullen still very much in touch, Warriors stepped up a gear, with Pemberton continuing to dictate the pace and trend of proceedings. Ryan Leonard shot a three, Pantovic skipped and slam dunked in spectacular style after Darragh O’Hanlon had opened up the lane for him, followed by another brace of threes from the prolific Pemberton, and one also from O’Hanlon to increase Warriors lead to almost unassailable proportions (70-44), a margin which was reduced (74-53) going into the fourth and final quarter, with Moycullen’s brave efforts just about keeping their fading hopes alive.
With Pantovic sitting out a period, Moycullen seized the opportunity to reduce the deficit to fifteen points (74-59), and really for a brief period Warriors were guilty of some complacency, certainly their concentration levels lapsed, resulting in a few needless turnovers, and the clinical efficiency which had been a feature up until then was momentarily absent.
The overall quality of the encounter dipped with air balls at opposite ends, but, baskets from the scorers in chief, Bogdanovic and Pemberton tidied up matters ensuring that Warriors always had enough in hand, with the luxury of being able to sit out most of their starting five, with Gary Fernane, Gary Murphy and Paul Mc Mahon all being introduced off the bench in the final few minutes.
The win, which was achieved without Kieran Donaghy who was unavailable, put Warriors temporarily in third spot overnight, but UCD Marian’s win over the previously unbeaten Templeogue on Sunday has pushed the Tralee side back down to fourth, ahead of Killester, who have two games in hand.
A lot to reflect on with a great deal of satisfaction for Coach Mark Bernsten, and a lot to look forward to with Warriors still very much involved at the business end of the season.
“We went with the idea of going to Goran (Pantovic) and Dusan (Bogdanovic). We were brilliant inside, where we wanted to go, Goran and Dusan together, that’s the first time we have done that for a period of time. Almost forty points from your number four and five.
“Once we did that they changed defensively. We were getting open jump shots, Trae (Pemberton) was always coming through, he had some really nice moments, eight three-point scores. People shared the ball well, we ran some good screens, double figures (the difference) for the rest of the game, after the first quarter. Seventy-five is a nice few points, but they scored seven or eight of those in the final minute.
“Maybe I substituted a bit poorly, should maybe have got people in earlier. It’s late January and we are playing for something. That’s where you want to be, in contention for a play-off spot. This is our seventeenth game and we have had a full panel on just three occasions.
“We have beaten Marian and Swords at home, and lost to Templeogue without Kieran (Donaghy). Looking at some of the remaining fixtures we play Marian and Templeogue away, and, have Killester and Swords at home, and, it’s possible that all of those four games will go down to the fourth and final quarter, and if we have a full panel, well, we will have to wait and see.” Top Scorers Warriors: T Pember ton (41) D Bogdanovic (26) G Pantovic (12) Moycullen: P Lawrence Ricks (27) J Loughnane (16) P Freeman (8) Warriors travel to Dublin to play DCU Saints next Sunday, with a 3.30 game in the DCU Complex.