Enda Walshe reports
Hard to know where to start with this one. Do you eulogise the fluidity of the Scott’s Lakers performance in the first quarter?
Or would it be the scrappiness of a third quarter, during which both teams spluttered like an old engine to get anything going?
Or was it the tension of that final quarter when one could have been forgiven for reaching for the blood pressure tablets?
The truth is probably somewhere in between those questions but the bottom line would be that Limerick Celtics came to the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre with a 100 per cent record but went home without it.
Coach Jarlath Lee had the look of a man who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after the game but when he reflected his Sunday morning cereal he couldn’t be but satisfied with the heart, grit and determination his team exhibited, even when their basketball prowess deserted them.
“Our hustle and defence has been superb this season and I’ve no doubt that is down to having Rui (Saravia) in there leading it. The whole team has stepped up in that regard and you can see in the likes of Jamie O’Sullivan – a huge improvement,” Lee said.
The second half irked him slightly though: “Our offence was really good first half but we lost our way in the second. We’ll work on that Monday night at training because we have to learn to keep our foot on the gas”.
Ronan Collins and Jack Ferguson came in for special praise.
“Ronan’s a great player who can get even better as he continues to progress with us. Jack had a tough night, up against a good American in Reynolds and also being double teamed but he got through a huge amount of work for us. He’s a great lad,” Jarlath Lee added.
The Celtics had come to Killarney having averaged 103 points in their three games and in Scott Angus and Joshua Reynolds they had the in-form duo in the league.
But the Lakers defended with huge intensity, limiting Angus to just 11 points before he was eventually fouled out in that scrappy third quarter. That he did not perform could be put down to the contribution of Lakers’ new signing Aron Walker whose imposing stature may have slightly deterred Angus from exerting his usual influence.
That left Reynolds ploughing a lone furrow at times, which he did manfully, but he too was limited to a season low 23 points. So defensively with Mark O’Shea pivotal, the Lakers had dug a solid foundation.
The first quarter was their best with Walker dominating around the key and Ronan Collins probing for every weakness. The duo accounted for the Lakers’ opening scores, leading 11-6 before Jack Ferguson joined the party and the home side led 18-10 and the Celtics had run into team foul trouble as well.
Jack Ferguson, Jamie O’Sullivan with a three and Jack O’Sullivan made it 28-14 before Reynolds kept his side in touch with some points late in the quarter to get the Celtics’ total to 19.
Walker started the second quarter like a house on fire hitting three-in-a-row, Jack Ferguson hit from downtown and it was double scores, 38-19.
Eoghan Donaghy started to impose himself on the game and he and Reynolds cut the gap to 42-28 but indiscipline once crept into the Celtics’ play as they were again called for a technical foul.
Lakers’ captain Rui Saravia got a well-worked score – it had to be with only two seconds on the shot clock – but Reynolds kept the Celtics in the conversation with support from Seamus Hickey and the deficit was now down to a more manageable 12 at half time, 47-35.
The quarter horribilis for the Lakers started in bright fashion with Mark O’Shea and Ronan Collins with a three stretching it to 52-35 but, incredibly, they would fail to register a single point for the remainder of the quarter.
The Celtics were not exactly firing on all cylinders either but Felletti, Reynolds and the increasingly influential David McCarthy drew the game level at 52-52, McCarthy hitting a buzzer-beating three pointer to equalise.
The only thing the Lakers could do with that quarter was file it in the forget-about-it section, and Ferguson hit an early note with a three. Reynolds and Seamus Hickey with a three put the visitors in front for the first time, a lead they pushed out to six, despite Saravia’s basket.
But, credit where it’s due, the Lakers turned up the temperature and Ferguson had the massive home support on their feet with a superb three, soon followed up by a bustling two.
Ronan Collins powered into the game as well with a basket, set up by the diligence of Mark O’Shea and then went two for two from the free-throw line after another Celtics’ intentional foul.
The Lakers lead by one and Ferguson inched it to two before Saravia, playing a leader’s role, nailed two free throws and netted another basket to make it a six-point game, 71-65.
The win was cemented from the free-throw line with two more by Ferguson and the cheers of relief echoed around the centre. Nobody expected this game to be easy and it certainly wasn’t.
Lakers: Jack Fergsuon (24), Ronan Collins (17), Aron Walker (15), Rui Saravia (8), Jack O’Sullivan (3), Jamie O’Sullivan (3), Mark O’Shea (2), Senan O’Leary (1), Marko Bencic, Eoin O’Carroll, Oisin Spring, Jamie Cooke.
Celtics: Joshua Reynolds (23), David McCarthy (15,) Scott Angus (11) and Miles Felletti (5).
Killarney’s premier online news and advertising service. Call 087-2229761 or email news@killarneytoday.com
