Templeogue women holding their own
GRIFFITH College Templeogue will occupy seventh place in the MissQuote.ie Women’s Division One table heading into 2023 after they suffered a 81-69 reversal to Abbey Seals Dublin Lions at the National Basketball Arena last Saturday reports Daire Walsh.
Played as a curtain-raiser to the Men’s Super League clash between their male colleagues and Garvey’s Tralee Warriors, Templeogue were hoping to bounce back from a recent narrow loss to Phoenix Rockets. Heading into this weekend encounter, the southside outfit had an equal number of wins and defeats from their opening eight fixtures of the campaign.
For their part, the Clondalkin-based Lions had just two wins to their name – the most recent of which was at home to St Paul’s, Killarney on November 1. Yet they produced the goods on the day to give themselves a significant morale boost in advance of the holiday season.
Amelia Motz and Trudy Walker were the go-to players in the Lions team, with their combined haul of 55 points proving crucial in the end. Tara Nevin (8) and Rachel Brennan (6) also came up with some strong contributions, while Katie Flanagan (5), Emily Smyth, Ciara Wheeler (3 apiece) and Ana Postarnakova (1) also played their part on the day.
From a Templeogue perspective, Zoe Hurley (15), Berta Rodriguez Carrera (13) and Hannah Murphy (12) all put their shoulders to the wheel. Aoife Whelan and Camila Casanueva also registered eight points each in addition to the combined nine points that were conjured by the Tunnah sisters, Amie and Lynn.
Although Templeogue initially created some daylight on the scoreboard, two points from Walker at the end of the first-quarter left the Lions just three adrift (19-16) at the end of the opening quarter. The visitors turned the game on its head when the action resumed courtesy of scores by Walker, Flanagan and Motz, before Templeogue eventually settled with a Hurley basket.
Yet the Lions were now playing with extreme confidence and moved 10 points clear midway through the second-quarter. A Whelan three-pointer breathed fresh life into the Templeogue challenge, only for Smyth to match her efforts at the opposite end of the court.
However, it was turning into an end-to-end affair and nine points in the space of just over 60 seconds from Carrera handed Templeogue a slender 38-37 advantage at the interval. They remained in the driving seat, until Motz and Wheeler fired through the hoop to edge the Lions back into the ascendancy with less than five minutes to play in the third-quarter.
Whilst the lead changed hands as the action wore on, the visiting Lions were five in front (59-54) at the start of the final-quarter. They never looked back from this point and in spite of Templeogue’s best endeavours, a Walker score put the seal on a convincing Lions triumph.
Whereas the ninth-placed Clondalkin women will welcome Swords Thunder to Colaiste Bride for their next fixture on January 2nd, Templeogue will make the journey to the high-flying McEvoy’s Cavan Eagles on the same night.