Enda Walshe reports on Utility Trust St Paul’s latest basketball superleague outing which saw them lose out to a fancied Brunell side on a 90-83 scoreline
After the high of the previous Monday night’s win over Glanmire, Utility Trust St Pauls headed over the county bounds to take on the reigning national cup champions Brunell in the Parochial Hall in Gurranabraher.
Having faced form side Liffey Celtics and – the 2022 and 2023 league winners – already and reigning champions Killester next weekend, it really is a baptism of fire for James Fleming’s side.
They will have learned two things already – there are no easy games in the top division and that they are also well capable of being competitive. Having those four games early in the season will steel them for what lies ahead and a chance to carry those learnings with them throughout the winter.
Brunell had won one and lost one of their opening two fixtures and seemed to be having trouble nailing down their professional player. Trinity Hudson, the star of their win over Galway Mystics with 49 points, was absent from their line-up but what they do possess is a lot of know-how with the seasoned Danielle O’Leary leading the charge. Alongside her, Ava Walshe had made a fine start to the season and it was this duo who set the tempo from the onset for Brunell.
Rheanne O’Shea struck early from downtown as Megan Ormiston went to work inside but new signing Deaja Lynn Richardson introduced herself to the Cork faithful and soon the home side was 16-7 to the good.
But back came St Pauls with Rheanne O’Shea, Lorraine Scanlon and Gracen Kerr squeezing up the game. Fleming was running his bench in an attempt to find a formula to get back into the game and just when it seemed he had cracked it Irish underage international Kelly Sexton and Richardson pushed the lead back out to 24-17 at quarter’s end.
Anja Markovic hit an early three as did Gracen Kerr and that shaved it back to three again, 28-25. Brunell soon found new momentum following an intentional foul being called on Marinkovic with the other Sexton, Rebecca and O’Leary putting their best foot forward.
Team fouls were an issue for St Pauls all afternoon but they pushed on through the promptings of Kerr and Ormiston. Meabh Barry put in a big stop thereby setting up Leah McMahon for a nice basket and it yielded a golden period for St Pauls. Kerr and Ormiston embellished their work to help their side into a 46-43 interval lead.
Despite a Laura Hannigan basket, it looked like St Pauls were ready to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Kerr, who was outstanding all through, took it to the rim and an improving McMahon also struck.
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