The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Warriors rue missed chances in Cup exit
HULA HOOPS NATIONAL CUP SEMI-FINAL Pyrobel Killester 76 Garveys Tralee Warriors 70
GARVEY’S Tralee Warriors hopes of making it through to this year’s Hula Hoops National Cup final ended in disappointment on Saturday as they were outpointed and for large parts outplayed by Killester in front of a capacity crowd at the Mardyke Arena in Cork.
Despite a spirited comeback, a combination of a slow start and Pyrobel Killester’s Ciaran Roe producing an outstanding display from point guard with a marquee MVP performance to end the game with 34 points, means that the Warriors bid for National Cup glory will have to wait another year.
Killester raced out of the blocks dominating the opening exchanges with Royce Williams and Luis Garcia Hoyos firing in early scores. Dusan Bogdanovic found the target twice for the Warriors before Williams and Kieran Donaghy traded big three pointers. Ciaran Roe then landed his first score of the night and when Williams and Hoyos followed suit Killester led by 17-7. Eoin Quigley with two from the line and Paul Dick’s first of the night cut the gap. But Roe’s ability to drive at the heart of the Warriors defence was causing major problems for the Warriors. The Killester point guard was getting to the board with relative ease and he fired in another three first quarter scores. On the buzzer Kieran O’Brien laid up under the board to give Killester a 29-13 lead.
Keith Jumper lifted the Warriors spirits with a spectacular effort early in the second but Ciaran Roe picked up where he left off in the first to fire in another score for Killester. He followed that up with two from the line before assisting Andy McGeever to knock down a huge three and suddenly the lead was out to 21.
Warriors needed to react and Paul Dick kickstarted their response with a three and when Jumper hit back-to-back baskets and Jordan Evans opened his account the gap was cut to 12. A lay up from Quigley and a three from Evans reduced the deficit to 7 and it looked like the momentum had shifted towards the Tralee side. However, Roe and Hoyos gave Killester some extra breathing space at the half time break as they pushed the advantage back out to 43-32.
Dusan Bogdanovic got the Warriors off the mark with an inspirational effort early in the third but Alan Casey cancelled that out in the next play. With Ciaran Roe rested Paddy Sullivan took over ball carrying duties and he made a huge impression with a three and two from the line to see Killester hit the 50 point mark and lead by 16. The Warriors needed another rapid response and had their fanatic supporters on their feet as Quigley and Fergal O’Sullivan (pictured) drilled back to back threes and when Jumper added two from the line and O’Sullivan got to the board with a show and go the lead was down to a manageable 6. But everytime it looked like the Warriors had reeled the Killester in, Brian O’Malley’s charges found a crucial response, invariably from the peerless Roe and when he assisted Hoyos and Casey to score the advantage was kept intact at 56-48 as the sides turned down the stretch.
The final chapter opened dramatically with the heroic Kieran Donaghy taking flight to spectacularly rejectWilliams at board and the when O’Sullivan and Evans both laid up and Donaghy himself added the Warriors had cut the gap to 4. But just when it looked like the Warriors comeback was gaining momentum a number of chances failed to drop and Hoyos and the relentless Roe push the Killester lead back out to 9. The Tralee side were also in foul trouble so despite two big threes from Paul Dick and Evans giving the Warriors every chance to conjure up an unlikely win, Roe and O’Brien were unerring from the free throw line as the Tralee side desperately tried to halt the Killester offence. Eoin Quigley bravely got to the Killester board to leave just a single score between the sides. However, it was probably fitting that the outstanding MVP Roe took both responsibility and full value for two trips to the line hitting four from four to see Killester through to the Cup decider in two weeks against UCD Marian who saw off the challenge of Belfast Star by 9167 to set up an all-Dublin final.
GARVEY’S TRALEE WARRIORS: Paul Dick 15, Jordan Evans 12, Eoin Quigley 11
PYROBEL KILLESTER: Ciaran Roe 34, Luis Filiberto Garcia Hoyos 13, Royce Williams 11