Basketball Ireland Mens U20 National League Round 1
Tralee Warriors 82
St. Paul’s Killarney 84
Tralee Warriors U20 got their National League title defence underway with a hard fought win over local rivals St. Paul’s Killarney at the Tralee Sports Complex on Friday night. The Warriors were made to work all the way to the final buzzer with Eoin Carroll with 29 and Jack O’Sullivan with 28 keeping St. Paul’s in touch throughout but 36 points from the peerless Joshua Osayanrhion for Warriors was the difference between the sides in the end.
The sides went score for score in the opening quarter with Jamie Burke and Osayanrhion combining for 11 but Paul’s edged the early exchanges through Jack O’Sullivan and Shane Daly to lead 12-11 at the midway point. The Warriors picked up the lead when Evan Boyle struck for the first of his three threes in the quarter to see the hosts lead 27-20 at quarter time.
St. Paul’s bossed the second quarter with both O’Sullivan and Eoin Carroll lighting up to double the visitors score with a 26 point volley that saw Shane Daly and John Hughes also get in on the act. The Warriors response saw Olaf Michalczuk hit from inside and out and Osayanrhion and an and one from David Lucid but Daly had the final say with a lay up to see the Killarney side lead 48-39 at the long break.
The Warriors asserted early in the third and embarked on a scoring blitz of their own sparked by Boyle from either side of the arc and added to by Michalczuk and 10 point salvo from Osayanrhion. St. Paul’s struggled to find the Warriors basket but O’Sullivan and a hat trick from Carroll kept them very much in the contest. However Osayanrhion was in range again with the final act of the quarter to see the hosts bring a 66-57 lead into the fourth.
Michalczuk and Osayanrhion edged the Warriors 71-57 ahead early in the final quarter but St. Paul’s launched a determined run to haul themselves right back into the game through O’Sullivan, Carroll and a major score from Cian Forde to negate Evan Boyle’s fourth three of the night to cut the gap to a single score with 2 mins on the clock. However, despite a nervy finish David Lucid added a quick double before a score from Oisin McGibney and a dunk from the outstanding Osayanrhion sealed the win for Warriors by 82-74 in the end.
Scorers:Tralee Warriors: Joshua Osayanrhion 36, Evan Boyle 17, Olaf Michalczuk 9St. Paul’s: Eoin Carroll 29, Jack O’Sullivan 28, Shane Daly 7
Next up for Warriors is a trip to face Neptune in Neptune Stadium on Friday 22nd November with an 8.00pm tip off.
Warriors U20 National League team that overcame St. Paul’s at the Tralee Sports Complex on Friday night. Back row L to R Paddy Lucid, David Lucid, Brian O’Donnell, Joshua Osayanrhion, Oisin McGibney. Front row L to R: Brayden Pierce, Ryan Sheehy, Olaf Michalczuk, Jamie Burke, Evan Boyle.