IWB Senior League Round 7 Roundup

There was some fantastic basketball on show in Limerick last weekend where 6 teams were all in action.

First up it was the hosts Limerick Celtics and Galway Titan Wheelers in the mid-west derby. The Treaty-siders won 3 of the 4 quarters but it wasn’t easy for them. Wheelers pushed them all the way with Stephen Melvin, Gerry McLoughlin & Tim Creedon to the fore. Melvin and McLoughlin scoring 27 points between them. For Limerick, the spread of scorers will please their coach Joseph Hargrow who himself got 6 points on the board. James McCarthy was their leading man notching 12 points followed by Captain Tiernan O’ Donnell and Tom Doherty. The game finished 48-37 in favour of Limerick Celtics.

Game 2 saw Ballybrack Bulls go up against Kingdom Wheelblasters. This game was a cracker! The Kerry side took charge of the opening proceedings winning the first quarter 12-10. By the end of the second quarter, the Dublin side had taken some control back and levelled matters 10-10 leaving the HT score at 22-20. Ballybrack Bulls took charge of the remainder of the game but Kingdom Wheelblasters made them work for every score. The game finished 39-27 in favour of the Dublin side with Jonathan Hayes and Jack Shannon Cole top-scoring with Valene Ryan taking 12 rebounds. For the Wheelblasters, Tadhg Buckley got 10 points on the board with Cian Horgan behind him on 6 while Paul Ryan led with the rebounds and assists.

The 3rd game of the day saw South East Swifts and North East Thunder do battle and it was the Swifts who controlled this game and came away with the win 37-23. In saying that, Thunder won a low-scoring 3rd quarter. South East Swifts were very strong on the day with Jake Hennessey and Patrick O’ Neill doing most of the damage on the scoreboard. North East Thunder battled hard throughout with Martin Murphy and Brendan Thornton to the fore. The Dundalk based side are also down Turlach Cotter due to injury.

The final game of the day saw Limerick Celtics and Ballybrack Bulls both play their second game of the day. This was a very close game throughout and the Bulls will be disappointed not to have come away with the win having won the first 3 quarters. Limerick Celtics will be happy with how they battled back in that final quarter to win it 20-10 and this is where the game was won and lost. It was a shootout between the Bulls’ Jonathan Hayes and Tiernan O’ Donnell of Limerick Celtics with the former winning that battle 27-22. The game ended 48-42 in favour of the home side and wrapped up a great day of action in St Munchins College, Limerick for Round 7.

Round 8 is up next and takes place in Dublin with Ballybrack Bulls the hosts.