Basketball Ireland Development League
Mens League Final
Limerick Celtics 84
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors 72
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors bid to retain their BIDL Mens League title came up short when they succumbed to a determined Limerick Celtics side by 84-72 in the League Final at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght on Saturday.
The Warriors got into gear after Celtics Martin Frawley struck for 8 early points with Dan and Steve Bowler, James Fernane and Josh Osayanrhion combining either side of majors from Olaf Michalczuk and Aaron Fleming to see the Tralee side 14-8 up midway through. Celtics replied in kind with threes from Matthew Barry and Bryan Morrison bookending a 10 volley from the Limerick side to see them edge 19-18 ahead at quarter time.
Josh Osayanrhion was on the mark from either side of the arc to take back the lead for Warriors early in the second but a quickfire 8 points from Celtics Sean Ryan either side of a score from Philip Kearney saw the Limerick side restore their one point lead half way through the quarter. Kearney continued to torment the Warriors defence with a 9 point salvo but at the other end Bowlers Dan and Steve and Osayanrhion kept the Warriors in touch. Kearney drilled another major to put Celtics 6 up but Olaf Michalczuk arced in another cracker from outside to beat the half-time buzzer to cut the Celtics lead to 43-40.
Celtics Eoghan Donaghy chose his moment to light up early in the third and four scores from him yielded the challengers 10 points and despite baskets from Osayanrhion and Fernane and another signature three from Michalczuk the Warriors trailed 53-48 just past the midway point of the quarter. However the Warriors had the better of the late exchanges with Dan and Steve Bowler again on the mark either side of four for four from from the line through Osayanrhion and Aaron Fleming to pare the Celtics lead back to 60-59 going into the final quarter.
Celtics were very much the team to beat early in the fourth after Sean Ryan heated up to fire in 8 points either side of scores from Kearney and Connor Donaghy. Despite a tough effort from Steve Bowler and another trademark major from Michalczuk the Warriors suddenly were down 72-65 as the game headed toward the business end. Two more strikes from distance for Limerick proved decisive with Matthew Barry and Eoghan Donaghy stretching the advantage to double digits. A double from Steve Bowler and another inside effort from Osayanrhion didn’t spark the late run the defending champions required and MVP Kearney and Matthew Barry combined in the final seconds to apply the finishing touches to the Celtics 84-72 win.
Scorers:
Limerick Celtics: Sean Ryan 20, Philip Kearney 19, Eoghan Donaghy 13, Matthew Barry 13
Garvey’s Tralee Warriors: Josh Osayanrhion 20, Steven Bowler 15, Olaf Michalczuk 12
Thanks to Liam Ryan for the images.